6 Underrated Spey And Skagit Casting Tips!!

[@greenhornflyhorn]

Disclaimer: I am not a casting instructor BUT!!! I used to be a snowboard instructor so you are in good hands 😎

[@FlyGuy420-l1j]

1:29 Oh No no no!!! Milan's new Christmas song instead of Ho ho ho. Thanks for the pointers.

[@greenhornflyhorn]

😆 it happened 3 times! I had to leave it in the edit

[@self-taught_angler]

Couple unsolicited points I offer I think will carry your casting to the next level: First, you are doing a lot of things right, (most importantly you are not using strength but slowly try to find the technique. That is a very good approach.) but the combination is missing. And the missing can be fixed very easily. The problem is your D-loops. They are small, way away from your body thus the tip is too low to shoot them. That is why I suggest using switch casts to perfect your D-loops. For example, at 2:33 when you pulled the line from the water, it was forming a perfect D-loop, close to your body with the rod tip high. Instead of spreading the line on the water to pull back again, if you casted with that initial D-loop, it would have darted all the way to the tree in front of you. Second, when you are practicing pulling back the line using your lower hand, you can incorporate your body into the process too. You can twist/rotate slightly with the rod. This helps both in keeping the rod close and high up and in increasing the tip speed.

[@greenhornflyhorn]

May I ask, forgive me if you mentioned this before. Do you use skagit heads? More specifically short skagit heads(scout, commando, spey lite skagit from SA)? You can do a lot and I mean A LOT with them. Including having shallow d loops, low d loops(which i employ basically 90% of the time - lots of low trees bushes where i fish so i practice it a lot). Anyways, the advantages to doing it this way is well as states before, low cover, obstacles and such. BUT! The wind! My goodness, if you can cast with a low d loops. My hat nods to you. Not sure where you’re from but skagit is extremely versatile and you can do things a double taper, triangle taper, spey, long belly, mid belly, scandi etc. cannot do. Just food for thought. I get what you’re saying but hopefully this opens your mind to the possibility of skagit. Good luck and hope you try one out!

[@self-taught_angler]

@@greenhornflyhorn Yes, I do use skagit heads very frequently. (I do not cast skagit style though.) 14ft 250grain for my 3/4wt 10ft switch rod is my go-to skagit head. As you see it is a very short head. I pair it with many different tips, mostly long sinking salmon versileaders. I make them approximate the scandi taper. (I also built my own heads in scandi taper. Scandi head does not need to be too long. You can even build a scandi tapered head for a single hand rod) I agree that skagit heads are very versatile. I use short skagit/scandi heads when space is the issue. However, restrictions are not choices. In other words, when there is no reason to lower my rod and put the d-loop far away, I don't do it. It reduces the distance and the accuracy. if you have a 11ft rod, no need to use it like it is 8ft. Similarly, when you can load the rod with a 250grain head no need to reduce it with a smaller D loop. You seem to have the patience, and the right mind set, just try it on the water, you will see it yourself.

[@elkhtr8472]

That was perfect timing!😂caught the camera 💥 Nice catch

[@greenhornflyhorn]

@@elkhtr8472 haha no kiddin! Caught that thing so many times 😆

[@barry4fish]

For tip #1, same applies for single handed rods. With some line out of the tip, balance point should be under your grip (about 1/3 of the way back from front edge of the cork). This way, you can relax your grip without having the tip drop down into the water. Of course, this means that, with our ever increasing lightness of new fly reels, a 9 ft 5 weight rod will balance better with a reel rated 7/8. You wouldnt do that for extra capacity, its for balance - so much easier to strip in a fly without the death grip. All of my fly rods are balanced in the same spot on the grip, once you try that, you will never go back. For 2-handers, its more difficult but fortunately, most will choke up on the grip to find that balance point when retrieving your fly. Great tips, I need more 2-handed practice for sure.

[@greenhornflyhorn]

Just buy a cheap reel! Plenty of weight in those things haha! I agree all day long with using that for single handed rods. You ever notice those “squiggly” waves in the fly line on some videos(or uhhh mmm perhaps your cast….from time to time of course 😏) that’s your grip all day long! I am the king of the squiggly fly line cast! When i see it, i lighten up that grip. Thanks for stopping by and of course for the comment 🙂

[@Thesteelheadaddiction]

This is fantastic! Thanks for this 🤘

[@greenhornflyhorn]

@@Thesteelheadaddiction thanks for taking the time to watch! I actually have watched a couple of your videos…..👌digging it

[@Thesteelheadaddiction]

@ absolutely! Thanks for tuning in man 🫡

[@fisher-of-men1547]

Thanks for the information in this video !!! I have a switch rod that I am still trying to get better at casting & this video will help me accomplish that task !! David Fisher-of-Men Fly Tying/Fishing Ada, MI

[@greenhornflyhorn]

@@fisher-of-men1547 nice! Begin with the first two! It will make a big difference

[@fishduckdog]

All great points! Practice Practice and pull out the cell phone and record yourself once in while. You are own best critic to see what you are doing when you cast.

[@greenhornflyhorn]

What a tip!!! 👍Thanks for sharing and appreciate you watching🙂

[@williamblair2934]

That was very timely. I have been focusing on my 8 wt single hand, but pointers totally match with what I was working through yesterday. Fast is no bueno. If you can remind us of the anchor point and angle of cast, that is important. Also, do you ever cast upstream and strip with a skagit?

[@greenhornflyhorn]

Anchor point/Angle of Cast: on it! Will be doing a video on that! Upstream casts: yes absolutely! I do strip steamers with skagit when it’s warmer out(water temps 50 plus). It is especially useful for brown trout in faster flows. Hope this helps!

[@williamblair2934]

@@greenhornflyhorn it does. Thanks