[NrthFrk16]

Thanks to Doublespey's instruction over the spring and watching him nail the cast over and over again, the Spiral Roll has really been rocking for me lately.

Over the past few outings, after a few minutes of tweaking, the Spiral Roll becomes automatic for me...nice aerilized tight loops (with little tailing), easy to shoot loads of line as I can really pump up the line speed unlike my attempts at other casts and consistent distance.

Anyways...I've tried the Reverse Spiral Roll to duplicate when I can do with the standard but I CAN NOT get my anchor point down. Everytime it ends up dangerously in front of body/face instead of perfectly upstream of myself.

Any hints/ideas?

 

[kush]

Ryan,

What you are experiencing is common with the reverse spiral. This largely has to do with the "cross-handed" grip, by crossing the right hand over your chest you cannot extend it away from your body like you can with the cast off the right shoulder.

I'll suggest a few things that may help. First, make sure that you are not facing downstream, but in fact in the direction you want to cast! This caused me an afternoon of puzzeling a couple of years ago as I couldn't figure out why my anchor was too close for comfort. With your feet facing downstream you throw your D-loop back very close to your body. Too avoid this I now consciously "aim" my feet where I want the cast to land and twist my torso downstream for the pick-up. As I lift the line and roll it I twist back toward the target (this also has the benefit of adding momentum to your cast - much like swinging a bat or throwing a ball).

The second suggestion (and your most likely culprit) is that you are continuing to lift the rod and pull it toward you while you spiral the line up stream. The cross-hand promotes this movement. To combat this I make a conscious effort on the "backstroke" of the spiral (the one that sends the D-loop behind you) to to move the rod tip straight back thereby stopping the drift of my hands back into my body. I do think this is the most common issue with the "back-hand" spiral roll cast.

I have talked of the drawbacks of the cross-hand grip, however, I classify this version of the cast as the very best of all my casts. This I attribute to to the very same cross-hand grip. This grip will not allow you to get lazy and drop your tip, in fact it virtually makes you lift the rod high into the correct firing position. As well, the position of my left hand touching my chin above my left shoulder automatically promotes a strong use of the Underhand Casting stroke which creates a nice tight loop and great line speed.

I hope this helps.

 

[juro]

Cool! I am going to take a few casts before work this AM and test my feet and dee-stroke direction to debug my reverse snake.

I've developed cleaner left handed snake roll than reverse RH snake roll for left bank downwind casting but I'd like to be able do both. I am amazed at the power this cast has watching Tyler over the years.

Strangely, I can get away with a left handed reverse snake roll for right bank downwind casting, but I don't use that cast because my regular snake is better. But for some reason I can do it on that side even left handed.

Odd that my left is better than my right reverse, I think it's my feet and body just as you say Kush. Thanks for the tips, I'll try 'em.

 

[NrthFrk16]

Tyler-
Thanks for the excellent reply!!

Can't wait to tweak my cast and give it a try...will let you know how it goes.