Spey Casting

Rating:
Summary: Not just for spey junkies
Review: A book not just for spey junkies (but you have to read on to find out why).

Last year I went to a spey clinic. I'm not a complete spey groupie yet, and so don't remember all the names, but there were many luminaries there: Choate, Nobu, and Gawesworth among them. There were underhand casters, overhand casters, Skagit casters, punchers. In the end, it was like the Baskin-Robbins of spey fishing - there were at least 33 flavors and if you didn't find something that worked for you, you just weren't paying attention.



I liked Simon's lecture specifically. Any spey caster knows that the single spey represents a very challenging cast, but Simon made it look easy, and even moved his anchor 180 degrees (90 is considered extremely difficule). He was soft spoken and entertaining, representing a very "classic" style.


So when I was in fly shop the other day picking up a book for a Christmas present and noticed Simon's new book, I picked it up. I only flipped through it for a minute or so before I was convinced to shell out the $50 cover price. What could make a book worth that much? Well, I'm sure all of us have stopped counting the cost/pound of fish caught (or nearly caught) long ago, but still, this took some justification. I bought it for the following:


1) It's beautiful at 9x12, it's nearly a coffee table book.
2) It's well written. (As a writer and editor, this is a huge draw for me. For instance, Lefty Kreh obviously has a lot to say on a lot of topics, but often I'll thumb through his books and just not be able to understand what the hell he is trying to convey. Lefty: Get an editor.)
3) For all of the time I spend fishing, spey casting, and picking the brains of Aaron Reimer and others at the River Run clinics, there are sometimes after a day on the river when I come home frustrated and want to just be able to look up the answer.
4) It's comprehensive.
5) Simon's style fits my style. It's basic. He uses sound technique when a lot of hotshot casters just seem to have augmented their style with elaborate motions I can't fathom. Spey fishing is like watching a professional baseball player at the plate. You have no idea how some of those guys get from their stance and actually connect the ball, yet somehow over the years they've made it work for them, nobody would dream of messing with their style, but I doubt you'd teach it in Little League.


The book is very straight forward. It starts with basic history (one thing I found particularly interesting is that distances haven't really changed since we used greenheart rods), stance, etc. Then he goes into basic principles and casts. He goes through the evolution of the spey cast, and his own evolution. It's really nice to hear how he's developed his technique, and in fact the book is full of tips on how to use various casts that are currently out of fashion to get the fly to the fish (yeah, the guy actually fishes). He covers crude, traditional, and modern spey casts; single, double, snake roll, circle, snap T, devon switch basic casts; has a section on advanced casts; a section on using spey concepts with a single handed rod; sections of shooting, mending, and gear basics. Throughout, he talks about how to apply the cast in fishing conditions.


After a very clear description there are a series of full page shots (he had a special white rod made to show up in the photos), complemented with illustrations as needed. Then each chapter wraps up with a troubleshooting session - that alone makes the book worthwhile.


I admit, I came to fly fishing bassackwards: I started spey fishing and then moved to a single handed rod. I've always found it unusual the emphasis on the overhand cast when there are actually very few places you can use it. And the roll cast seems really inefficient. Enter a marriage of spey casting with single handed rods. With the right set up, I've always been able to spey cast my single handed rods, even as a beginner, as far as I can through it now that I can double haul. Plus in situations where you just can't get 30' of line plus 9' of leader out of the rod, a spey cast is ideal. So when I picked up the book and read Simon, one of the arch deities of modern spey say "My favorite form of casting is with the single handed rod," I knew this book would improve not just my spey casting, but all of my fishing.


This book is full of grounded, practical advice. If there isn't something in here to improve your fishing, you are a master. Plus, you get to see one of the world's best casters in a truly silly hat.


P.S .This book was also reviewed in the Feb 2005 Fly Fisherman.