WE HAVE highlighted a few of Kirk Deeter and Tim Romano’s fishing tip videos from the Field and Stream Fly Talk Blog . But this one popped up after we has spent a lot of time in the last week playing with some spey techniques for single handed rods ourselves.
The Snap-T technique the boys show in this video for downstream presentation on dry flies is actually one heck of a good technique for low water nymphing in some of the faster shoals in these parts. Watch the video and read on after the jump for nymphing details.
And don’t forget if you want to learn single handed Spey Casts, then sign up for April Vokey’s Advanced FlyCasting Techniques Class on October 11
For all the acres of words and miles of film footage on the intricacies of fly casting one of the least covered situations is probably the most drama filled _ moving a fly line from 90 degrees downstream to your target. Fly casting works best in straight lines, so the 90 degree bend produces more tangles, bad language and whups upside the head than most other casts.
Kirk and Tim did a good job on one simple “transition” cast with this video and the snap T gives it a little more pizazz and utility. As I mentioned before you watched the video I tend to use it a lot when nymphing faster water rather than the slow pools. Spey casting (with either DH or SH rods) tends to be a little noisy as the line is ripped from the water. But say at Rim Shoals, Wildcat or Dew Eddy there is plenty of water noise anyway.
The Snap-T or any of the SH Spey techniques work really well with nymphing rigs _ easily tangled fly, shot and indicator rigs spend very little time flying through the air which after all is where the snafus happen, plus (and while Im a spey novice) it seems like the nymph and shot serve as a better”anchor” for the cast.
For all the flailing of fly line in a spey cast, the straight line rule still applies. If we break it down into components the Snap T shifts the line from the downstream position to upstream. The next movement is what the Spey crew call making a D, positioning the line in a loop behind your right shoulder. The forward cast is pretty much a fancier roll cast.
The straight line rule applies to the D _ the point of the D is 180 degrees away from the target. Kirk is moving to Draw his D when the fly touches down, his D is fairly shallow and pointed downstream.
I do it slightly differently. When the nymph hits the water I actually pause and let the fly travel downstream towards my right shoulder, and putting some slack into the line. This actually helps me do 2 things, draw a deeper D for a longer cast but also means I can point it 90 degree across stream or a little upstream.
Do a short haul on your forward cast and you will find your nymph sailing.
