She's So Fly Tries Spey Casting

I had my first Spey casting lesson on the White river in Hesperia, Michigan, with river guide Jed Litwiller, owner of Pere Marquette River Guide Service. It was slightly different from single handed fly fishing, but once I got used to casting with a longer rod, I really enjoyed this type of fishing.

Spey casting is a casting technique used in fly fishing. Spey casting requires a longer, heavier two-handed fly rod, referred to as a Spey rod.

The Spey cast is a graceful, flowing and dynamic cast that allows the fly fisher to harness unprecedented advantages in angling. These advantages include line control, distance casting, and access to un-fishable lies. Once proficient with the Spey cast, many steelhead and salmon anglers choose to fish the "two-hander" exclusively and there is a growing interest in using light-weight Spey outfits for trout and other light game fish.


(Spey Casting Techniques shown in this video)

There are basically three types of Spey casts (Single Spey; Double Spey and Snake Roll). The choice of which to use is dictated solely by the direction of the wind in relation to the direction of river flow and is to do with safety. In all cases, the preparatory phase of the cast is set up downwind of the angler, so that when the delivery stroke is made, any sudden gust will always blow the hook away from the angler.


Downstream wind - use a Double Spey or Snake Roll cast.

Upstream wind - use a Single Spey cast


Sage Spey Rods: Always on the forefront of fly rod design, Sage has three Spey Rod Series; from the medium fast action, affordable VT 2, to the fast-action Z-Axis Spey and Switch Rods, to the new, very exciting TCX ultra-fast two-handed rod series.


Thomas & Thomas Spey Rods: The workhorse of two-handed rods, T&T rods combine a crisp commanding action with a design that meets the needs of all casting styles, both traditional and modern.

Winston Spey Rods: As with every rod Winston designs, their uncompromising attention to function is highlighted in their two-handed Boron IIx series. These rods were born to cover lots of water and make precise mends when in pursuit of salmon and steelhead.

If you are interested in a spey casting lesson, you can reach Jed at 517-819-0376 or through his website http://www.peremarquetteguide.com/.