What is the best progression of casts for teaching spey casting.
I watched a few spey clinics and each teacher seems to have his own idea on this. The last in date was today, and the instructor chose single, snake roll and double.
IMHO, the single spey is THE most difficult cast to master. While the double is fairly forgivable, the snake roll is another of the difficult short list.
The very first difficulty for a beginner is the balance of power in between the two hands. The direct application is the roll cast. No, anchor, no position, no rush, no jerk only the pull of the lower hand and the push of the upper. As soon as the line lands straight, it is time to aim higher and get the line flying over the water before landing. NOw, everything is in place to study the switch. Remember that the switch is not a single and the single neither is a switch. In the switch there is no change of direction. So from roll to switch, the step is short. Find the power and the anchor. It is the simplest for of anchor, it is just under the line.
If the anchor is the first milestone of spey casting learning, the next one is to learn to get the line in the air and to keep it as long as needed to put the anchor at the right place. First thing first, get the line in the air. The C-Cast is the simplest move to airborne the line. Whatever the loop, large, big, long, fast, slow everything is good but finish at the right place. Now switch cast.
That’s it, most elements have been touched and the student has enough knowledge to start speyfishing.
What I like to show next is reverse cast. Lets start with the reverse C-Cast as it is a matter of turning counter clock wise. Introducing reverse gives the opportunity to speak of wind (Under the wind) but also to refine the straight casts.
It is finally time to merge all the brand new knowledge and experiment the single spey.
Now we can try the second classical cast, the double. The other casts, the modern group, are nothing but variations of the single. The snake roll and Z-cast are among the finest moves, the fast little loop they need is difficult to master.
