Some help with a double spey?.....

[EzGoing]

Nearly 8 of 10 times my 2bl spey cast I have the fly come too close [for comfort] to my head on the forward cast. In watching my swing into the forward cast all seems well but something I'm doing wrong is causing the fly to whiz past my head/ear. Should I be targeting the cast down stream more? Am I using to much of a 'overhead cast'? Am I overpowering the forward cast too much? I know without seeing my cast it's difficult to assess but are there "common causes" for this casting error? Any help is appreciated!

[bigbadbrent]

Chances are your anchor is being placed too far upstream..

[speybum]

Go out with the idea of working on one part of the cast until you understand how it works and how it will affect the rest of the casting process.
Your anchor is not being placed in the right position.
Try leaving it down stream further.
The lift during the upstream movement is one of the first times you will feel the drag of the line. This drag will tell you how much power you need to move the line upstream.
Every one wants to throw the line up stream.
Learn to tow the line and do not let it jump out of the water.
This will give you great control in placing the anchor and the fly where you need it.
Now return your rod tip down stream to about a rod length away from the caster to start.
Once in this positions start you back cast stroke.
Try not to have your rod tip any higher than your hip when you start the back cast stroke.
This trick will help you in not dipping your rod butt on the down stream and backcast movements,
Next trick is to keep the rod tip low and rise it up into the back cast. This will form a shallow D-Loop.
The raising of the rod tip is how we form a D-Loop and not the V-Loop.
The D-Loop is much easier to control and better for fishing.

I will pm you a longer version of the Double

[SpeySpaz]

yup, what aaron said/
if you place your anchor too close, when you sweep the rod around the fly will creep up on you... so when you're lined up to fire you'll either get a collision loop or you'll brain yourself with the fly...I know this from experience...
I learned to plan for the fly to creep, and drop the fly a little farther downstream and a little farther forward than it looks like it should, but by the time I'm into the forward stroke it's sitting right where it should (and nowhere near my head)
1) always wear eye protection and a hat
2) practice ABORTing the cast...nobody seems to mention or practices this but it's an essential skill for your own safety. You need to be able to kill line movement at any point in your cast. Alternatively, you can practice hook extraction techniques and wound dressing....
play safe,
Bob

[Rick J]

another possible reason for the line being too close on the forward cast is how you perform the back cast (D loop). Often casters will break the upper-wrist thus rotating the rod tip too far around behind you so when you come forward the line gets very close to you. Watch your D loop formation and make sure you are rising but in a straight line path off to your side a bit - direct the D loop straight back 180 degrees from your target.

[KerryS]

Originally Posted by SpeySpaz

2) practice ABORTing the cast...nobody seems to mention or practices this but it's an essential skill for your own safety.

Some wise words here. There is no pain in aborting a cast. I see to many trying to save a wayward cast and many times this ends up with a hook stuck in something. Hopefully nothing soft containing a dark red fluid. If you don't feel you have control over a cast stop and start over from the beginning. It might embarrass you a bit but it is far less painful then extracting a hook from your ear lobe.

[t_richerzhagen]

nicely demonstrates Rick's comment, about swinging behind the caster, in the RIO DVD set on spey casting.

[speybum]

EzGoing I hope you got the e-mails on the Double. Those notes were to big to post and kind of repetitive.


This is some good stuff in this tread.

The last inch of the rod tip travel is the direction the loop will follow.
If we point the rod tip at the last minute before the stop we stand good a chance to make the d-loop go where and how we want it.
Hooking behind the caster is common fault and can be been caused by a number of things.
But the cause is no stopping the rod tip in straight line.

If we start the back cast stoke off the horizontal and move the rod tip back in a straight flight path and stop it in the same path our loop will go straight.
There is an analogy comparing the back cast stroke to scratching a rod tip along a building.
As long as we can keep the rod tip on the building we will go in strait line.
But there comes a point when physical attributes of the caster will cause the rod tip to come off ( called compassing )the building and at this point we no longer have our strait line flight path.

So from the Analogy we know that the length of the backcast stroke is determined by where the flight path direction changes.
I make sure that the client understands that this will change with his casting position and you can lengthen the back cast by transferring your body weight back as well as your lower hand. This will stop you from reaching with the top hand at inappropriate time during the back cast stroke. (If you are a lower hand caster).
The same is true of top hand dominate casters but the flight path will be longer as you can delayed your compassing off the flight path by pointing the rod tip at predetermined position as you drift back. At this point the top hand becomes the dominant force in repositioning the rod. (oops we are told that we are not supposed to use the top hand).
To sum up.
So work on scribing a strait flight path for your back cast. This is one of the single most faults of the Spey cast. It is call a hook and the cause us not stopping in a straight line.

[rckrego]

Mash your barbs, push down on the shank to disengage the barb, use a mono loopto tug at the bend to pull out. Did I mention mashing your barb?

[Norseman]

Most other things have been mentioned here already, but also be aware of the wind and where it is coming from. Remember your anchor MUST always land on the downwind side or you will wear it one day.

If you are river right with an upstream wind DON'T use a double spey or ANY other spey cast that will land your anchor on your right side...the wind will blow it into you on the forward cast. River left..same thing if the the anchor lands on the upwind side you will wear it.

Anchor placement is always on the downwind side of you regardless. You can push the envelope, and most of us probably have when casting in a less than desirable conditions...but you have to change your anchor location and adjust it according to the wind speed and direction. The cast won't be pretty but it will get out there.

[EzGoing]

Speybum,
I did get your email and replied back.

There was no wind the other day when I was casting. I'll be back at it later this week. It's funny in that a week ago I was double speying some beautiful casts. Then the other day something was off and I was casting to close for comfort. I'll take y'all's advice and re-watch the video.
Thanks for all the comments.

[SpeySpaz]

Originally Posted by rckrego

Mash your barbs, push down on the shank to disengage the barb, use a mono loopto tug at the bend to pull out. Did I mention mashing your barb?