A Breakdown of the Spey Cast

The Spey Cast

The Spey cast, is a water bourne cast with a double handed rod, where the front portion of the line is still in contact with the water when the forward cast is made.

Most spey fishing is done with shooting head lines. Shooting heads are thick diameter fly lines, with tapers to deliver the fly at distance, with minimal back casting room, with a compact stroke that puts less strain on the body.

Shooting heads are connected to running lines. These are thin diameter shooting lines, which are designed to fly through the guides on a fly rod with little resistance. 

The spey cast, starts, when fishing a river, with the line directly below the angler, which is called being 'on the dangle'. The cast is always preformed with all running line stripped in, such that the rear end of the shooting head is at the rod tip. 

The cast begins with 'the lift'. The lift is simply a slow, progressive raising of the rod tip, to break the surface tension of the line on the water. The lift ends with the rod tip at about the 2 or 3 oclock position.

Depending on the cast, there may be an intermediate step to set up the line for the backcast or sweep.

The sweep, is another progressive motion, to send the shooting head back, and up behind the angler, to form the D-loop. The rod tip path between the top of the lift, and into the end of the sweep is a straight line back, and slightly up, at the apex of the formation of the D-loop. 

A slight pause, at the apex of the D-loop formation, lets the line catch up, and put more tension into the rod.

The D-loop is formed with the front portion of the line, usually the leader or sink tip, still on the water, which is called 'the anchor' for the cast. The fact that the anchor remains stuck to the water at the apex of the D-loop, is crucial, to keep tension between the rod, line and water. 

With the anchor in position, and the D-loop formed from the sweep, the forward cast begins. The initial forward acceleration  will load the rod even more deeply, as the line follows the rod tip path forward. The speed and acceleration forward continues into  a definite 'stop', with a high rod tip position, about 1-2'oclock , and the stored energy in the rod is transferred into the line, sending the line out across the river.

The line is typically swung with the force of the river, back down to the dangle, when the running line is stripped back in, and the cast repeated.