[Steven Mear]

wonder if anyone out there - perhaps someone from the Scottish contingent - could contribute some advice about the origin of the reverse spey cast. By reverse, I mean a cast where, in the instance of the right-hand up caster and a Double Spey from the left bank the right hand comes to a point where it functions as the left hand up. I was taught this by someone who claimed to have invented it from necessity and declared that he had never seen or heard of anyone else using it, but then Derek Brown mentioned in his video that casters up on the Spey and Tay used it. Does anyone know when this cast started to be used and where? It isn't mentioned in 'The Angler's Cast from 1960 or in 'Salmon Fishing' by Eric Taverner & Jock Scott (1972). Neither is it mentioned in Falkus' book 'Salmon Fishing' from 1984.

Anyone have any clue?

Regards

Steven

 

[Gillie]

Steven,
If you are talking about a double spey on river left with the right hand on top, that is how I always do it. I don't change from right on top to left on top. I can't tell you who developed it, only that it has been around a while.

John and Amy Hazel's video and Dec Hogan's video both have very good footage of how to perform reverse casts including the reverse double spey and the reverse circle spey.

I've actually gotten to the point that for casual medium distance casting from river right I prefer the reverse circle spey to the double spey.

Gillie

 

[speyghillie]

speycast

Hi Steven,
The cast you discibe has been going a long time, and i mean years, its not so popular but some guys still use it.
On the spey the casts most used are still the single and double spey, never see some of the other casts decribed.
Casts seem to change over the years and if they dont, there names sure do.
Gordon.

 

[Gardener]

Neither is it mentioned in Falkus' book 'Salmon Fishing' from 1984.

I don't know the origins, but by the time Falkus wrote his book on speycasting in 1994 he was fully conversant with it. He says he taught himself it when, owing to an injury, he found himself unable to cast with left hand up. He then found he could achieve longer casts with both reverse singles and doubles than he could with his left hand up.

To be honest, I think it's the sort of thing that most practical fishermen could work out for themselves. I'm quite strongly left handed, and have been making reverse (or backhand) overhead casts when needed for as long as I can remember, rather than swapping the rod to my right hand. Reverse spey casts are just a logical extension of this, and I would bet that many people have 'discovered' it independently of one another.

Incidentally, Falkus points out how useful reverse casts can be when fishing in those places where the wind can switch from upstream to downstream and back with little warning.

 

[Nooksack Mac]

a.k.a. cross-body casts

I've only played with these casts, but I've seen them in use a surprising number of times in the last year or two. While grass-casting with one of my shorter rods, I was surprised by how readily reverse-body double spey casts would launch the line.
I'm poor at technical analysis of casting technique, but I think it has something to do with how the barrier of one's chest forces one to keep the upper hand up during the backcast, also minimizing any tendency to "trunk" the rod butt upward toward the horizontal.
And I suspect that those who favor it lack confidence in their ability to learn to make standard casts ambidexterously (although I found it came readily).

 

[Andy Wren]

Falkus certainley taught me the reversed casts ,still use them as and when needed ,the muscle memory is embedded so do them with out thought most of the time .

 

[harry jamieson]

long full sunk lines

For all those who have trouble casting in wind, Get a long full sunk 40 yard line and a lesson from a Spey Ghillie and all your problems will be over, Not forgetting a proper 16-17ft Spey rod.
Its the length and height that give you the casting freedom, if you can't leave your 12ft, back your RV closer to the river and stand on the roof, that should help you.
[email protected]

 

[sven kalmar]

hehehe harry! yes going to longer rods just takes a little getting used to. The 17,#8-10 you make is so light,sweet and pleasant to use. I wish more people would get some time with it. It can throw a ling line too.For me its a delightful fishing tool...A frien of mine actually had an alluminum stair?he used to put out in the stream. gained a good 1,6 meters..hehe propably scared a lot of fish too.... :Eyecrazy:

 

[Hammer]

still haven't quite `got it'

with all the different posts `a reverse single' i do that with `river left',tag down slightly downstream from me and to my right,of course i've waded out,keep the loop more `rounded',18ft rods allow this,at least the soft 9wt i have allows me to,i can do many things ambidextrously,casting is not one of them,always `right hand up' for me.i posted once about how i felt the single spey was the most universal cast,this is why;this cast,i'm not sure what it would be called,bad casting technique i guess! :chuckle:

 

[bhe]

I can do reverse casts (with both twohanded and singlehanded rods) and i cast pretty well with both hands as upper hand.

Twohander:
It's fun to know how to do reverse casts, but i have never found a situation where it's preferable over shifting hands. Is there ever a situation where reverse casts is preferrable over shifting hands?

Singlehander:
Here is where reverse casts come in handy for me since my left hand on it's own just doesn't do the job well enough and i haven't had the patience to develop that skill.

 

[fredaevans]

No idea how this thread popped to the top after this many years.

with all the different posts `a reverse single' i do that with `river left',tag down slightly downstream from me and to my right,of course i've waded out,keep the loop more `rounded',18ft rods allow this,at least the soft 9wt i have allows me to,i can do many things ambidextrously,casting is not one of them,always `right hand up' for me.i posted once about how i felt the single spey was the most universal cast,this is why;this cast,i'm not sure what it would be called,bad casting technique i guess! :chuckle:

The rod he's talking about was mine loaded with a Double Taper line. I was totally over whelmed trying to cast that thing. 'Let me try that' sort of thing and he was flinging line like he had a feather in his hands.:whoa:

'Keep the rod!'

Fred Evans

 

[middlecalf]

Yeah, this is a blast from the past, but it's fun to see what folks were thinking 8-1/2 years ago, long before my start in the 2-handed game. I think this is what many today call a cack-handed cast.

 

[fredaevans]

"... today call a cack-handed cast."

Yup, it takes some practice to cast left hand up if your a 'righty.' I sit at my office desk and do 'air casts' to 'keep the feel.'

 

[JDJones]

Cack handed casts

Anyone, & I include myself among those, taught or influenced by the old school contingent from across the pond, was ingrained with that technique being a no, no. Cacka, (sp) being derived from, well you get the idea. So I learned to cast the "proper" way.

But it's hard to fault someone you see chucking dead chickens 80/100 feet with ease. With heavy sink tips and short rods, no less! Back to the drawing board,,,dvd player,,,Skagit Master I.

I can't tell you how many times I watched that thing. Nodding off before it got to where I wanted to be. Reverse to find what I was looking for. Watch that sequence over & over & over again. Why did it work so well? That's not the way it's supposed to be done. Not the "proper" way. But look at that thing go.

It's a good thing there is not too much distance between the river & my dvd player. I'm beginning to get it. To the point the cack handed DS works better, for me, than the "proper" DS :chuckle:

 

[kush]

Reverse casts have been around for a long time. Here is a post with some clips that dana put up in 2004 and I had been doing the cast for 5 or 6 years before the clip was taken. http://www.speypages.com/speyclave/showthread.php?t=18015&highlight=reverse+snake+roll

 

[DWFII]

Reverse casts have been around for a long time. Here is a post with some clips that dana put up in 2004 and I had been doing the cast for 5 or 6 years before the clip was taken. http://www.speypages.com/speyclave/showthread.php?t=18015&highlight=reverse+snake+roll

I've been a member here for some time...I have 560 posts...yet when I click on that link I get a message that says I don't have permission to access the page.

???!!!

 

[fishmhard]

I've been a member here for some time...I have 560 posts...yet when I click on that link I get a message that says I don't have permission to access the page.

???!!!

U wanna see the naked ladies dance, u gott a drop some coin doode-

 

[Wild Bill]

U wanna see the naked ladies dance, u gott a drop some coin doode-

..That would be naked "CAVE" ladies dance.....:razz:

WB.

 

[DWFII]

U wanna see the naked ladies dance, u gott a drop some coin doode-

What does that mean exactly? I didn't know there was a paid area on this forum.

 

[kush]

There seems to be a glitch with the older post. I have asked Dana to look into the issue as it seems to be beyond me... Those who are subscribers to Dana's Newsletter should be able to see the Video section, hopefully Dana can solve it soon.

Sorry for the confusion and inconvenience.