Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a Spey casting clinic on the St. Johns River conducted by Leslie Holmes from Leslie Holmes International School of Fly Fishing, and hosted by TJ Bettis from Orlando Outfitters. We met up at C.S. Lee around 9:30 and then made our way down to the mouth of the Econ. Leslie demonstrated casting a long belly line, a Scandinavian head, plus a Skagit head, showing us the difference in cadence when casting each line, and then walked us through the fundamental casts such as the roll cast, switch cast, single and double Spey, as well as the snap casts.
The class was made up of six anglers, which allowed Leslie to then provide individual attention and instruction to help us to work through any issues we were having with individual casts. I have been Spey casting a switch rod since 2014, and this was the first time I have been able to work with an IFFF certified Master Casting/ Two Handed Casting Instructor, and I learned a lot! Leslie worked with me on my snap casts, changing how I approach the sweep by starting from a high position rather than placing the rod tip to the water. This small change dramatically improved the tightness of my loop while also reducing the overall circumference required to make the cast. This change will allow the use of the cast in tighter quarters, which will open up new sections of the river to me, and the tighter loop will allow further reach and better wind penetration.
Perhaps even more exciting is that in watching Leslie perform the double Spey, I was able to apply a change to my cast that has transformed the cast for me. The double Spey is a simple cast, that most of us make more complicated than it should be. Applying what Leslie showed me in lifting the rod to 10 o’clock and then bringing the rod tip to the opposite shoulder, resulted in an immediate and repeatable change in proper anchor placement. Also, keeping the tip of the rod high, and following the “brim of my hat” as Leslie pointed out, opened up a new world of power to my cast, while allowing for tighter quarter casting. This was absolutely transformational to my double Spey cast, and I will forever be in Leslie’s debt. Thank you Leslie!
The fishing was solid this day, and the mouth of the Econ was busy. There were several boats anchored up in the channel, a couple others on the west bank, and of course six of us swinging large sticks in the air. My favorite quote of the day was to the effect of “this is likely the nucleus of guys Spey casting for shad on the St. Johns.” While there are surely others that have caught the two handed bug here in Florida, there is a high probability that if you see a strange guy making water borne or aerial casts with what looks to be a strangely long fly rod while you are shad fishing, it is one of us. We are a friendly bunch that will talk your ear off about the joy of Spey casting, so don’t be afraid to say hello to us.
My numbers were not great, catching three for the day, including the smallest shad I have ever caught. It is pictured above, and I believe it actually might be a blueback herring. I have never caught one before, so while its size may not be impressive to some, the fact that it is another anadromous fish making its run to spawn, and I managed to hook one is pretty neat. To be honest, I was really more focused on casting this day than racking up numbers anyway, and I was happy to see just about everyone at the Econ catching fish throughout the day. While the run is not super thick yet, there are indeed good numbers of fish in this area now, which I know is what folks really want to hear. 😉
Many thanks again to TJ Bettis and Leslie Holmes for putting together the clinic!