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Underhand Technique or Spey Casting?

What is Spey Casting about?

What is the Underhand Technique all about?

The misuse of the term Spey Casting

The physics behind Spey Casting

The Physics behind Underhand Casting

Skagit just an Underhand variation?

Confusion in Double Handed Fly Casting

by Günter Feuerstein

Bernd Czerr, one of Europe's best Underhand fly casters

Probably in no other field of fly casting a such confusion what concept and style names are concerned rules, as it is the case in fishing with double handed rods. After  the Americans had recognised about 10 years ago that Europe’s double handed fly casting was light years ahead of theirs (citation Mel Krieger at the meeting of the FFF flycasting BOG in Idaho Falls in 1998) and Mel Krieger asked the board to change this, every information that was around in this field was collected and bundled together. Double hand conclaves(e.g. Spey-o-rama) were organized and an FFF certification programme for double hand rods was set up.

Nevertheless, what happened then,  was not for the purpose of many of the invited fly casters from Europe, because all techniques were market under the name Spey Casting without distinguishing between them or regarding their background and the biomechanics behind them. Even in the double hand programme of the FFF the most advanced development in the field of double handed fly casting in the recent decades – the underhand casting technique –  was not more than mentioned only. There was a reason for this, because in the background the marketing machine of the tackle industry was already started with the main purpose to push the name Spey Casting only.

The Canadian Mike   Maxwell, owner of the website speyrods.com was referring about Spey Rods at this meeting and he also suggested in a blazing address to move into this direction. In contrast to the great technology of the old Scots and also the philosophy of   Maxwell  , today's "Spey Casting" is far from the technology of the forefathers(Classic Spey Cast).

It was only a matter of time until this wrong development in case of technical terms would  lead to a big confusion that would finally fall back to the true spey casters: There was this old Spey Casting guide who taught Spey Casting for 40 years and who had to guide and show Spey Casting to an American. The old man was finally told by his upset and unsatisfied client that he had no clue about Spey Casting at all. The American, who by the way learned how to cast a double hand rod in Canada, was of course not showing the old guide a Spey Cast but an Underhand Cast or something close to it which is in Canada also called a Spey Cast. The confusion was perfect!

Is it still possible to untangle the mess again and to clear the technical terms to give at least credit to the forefathers of the excellent roll casting technique called Spey Casting? At present times the name Spey Casting is misused in many parts of the world  and stands for all double handed  fly casting techniques even those which are not even based on the physical casting principle of the founders of Spey Casting and also does not give any credit to the special tackle which was manufactured for that unique technique.

I want  to try to bring some light into the darkness and to lighten up the styles a bit. But at first I would like to thank particularly Göran Andersson for his implementation to the basic technologies. No other double hand fly caster of our time has comparatively experience with the different  fly casting techniques performed with double handers .

The Spey Casting Technique

This very efficient technique had its origin in the 18th century on the big rivers of Scotland. In the primeval times of salmon fly fishing the fishermen only used overhead casts to present their salmon flies. Of course the overhead technique was dependent on the availability of back space. It also lead to problems because of the wind which is more or less always abundant in Scotland. So quite often the flies were banged against the anglers bodies.

As a consequence some tried to roll out the fly somehow to reach the same length and spot more or less consistently. They were of course not very successful in the beginning because their tackle did not support such long roll casts. Then, by a steady improvement of the tackle(Greenhart rods), the results got better and better. The rods used at that time were very long, some up to 24 ft. in length und they were finally able to perform these long roll casts. This was the birth of Spey Casting.

So Spey Casting was a pure roll casting technique based on the physical principle of a rolling ball. The shooting of line after the stop was impossible with this technique because these Spey Rods (this term was taken up only decades later by rod makers) were simply too soft. It was neccessary to accelerate the long DT lines by a very long stroke which even made the rod tip touch the water at the stop from time to time.

The new technique was very suitable to present the fly with a long roll cast to the target. and soon found many followers.  Spey Casting in its original  form is more or less not used any more except by a few people in Ireland and Scotland where some traditionalists still  try to preserve this great technique. I for myself have not met anyone at the river  performing a true Spey Cast  within the last two decades. 

Today the term Spey Casting is misused by many fly casters who use the physical principle of the Underhand Casting Technique with long lines (see Long Line Technique).

The Underhand Casting Technique (aka Andersson Technique)

Mr. Underhand - Göran Andersson

Already in the 50s of the 20th century the Swede  Göran Andersson began to stop the rod consistently earlier. Nevertheless, the change of the technique was only made possible by changing the tackle. He used quicker rods and shorter lines and optimised the tackle constantly. Because his father was a rod maker, Göran learned the art of rod making already at the youth age. His shortening and splicing of the lines can be regarded as the birth of the modern shooting head fishing from todays point of view. The first shooting heads on the world market were  introduced by the Swedish company LOOP of which  Göran is a co-owner. The Underhand Casting Style (aka Andersson Cast) developed by Göran Andersson can be regarded as the most pioneering development in double handed fly casting of the last fifty years and is maybe the most useful DH technik developed ever.

By using the Underhand Casting Technique the physical principle of the rolling ball(G.A.) which is own to the original Spey Casting is substituted with the principle of the shooting of the line like an arrow (like in overhead casting). While with long lines the upper rod hand takes over the lead and so the biggest part of the work, because long lines also require a long way of acceleration(long stroke), this is contrary with the Underhand Technique style. In Underhand Casting the lower hand is the more active hand, while the upper hand moves close to the shoulder  and only performs the lifting together with a slight rotation of the upper body(20°). During the stroke the upper hand does not move much and is never stretched, but remains bent after the stop. Only when using longer shooting heads (for UH usually lines longer than 16.5 m are not used as they reduce the possibilities of angulated casts and need more back space than necessary) the upper hand starts to work a little bit more(see long line underhand casting > long line technique).nbsp] When performing an Underhand Cast the upper hand acts as a fulcrum around which the rod writhes. By the quick and progressive application of the lower hand it comes to a catapult effect which allows to shoot long distances without much effort. In addition, many more places can be fished with short lines in comparison to long lines as you can also cast where only little back space is available, so practically in all places in the river. Another special element of Unterhand Casting is the hand shifting. The off sholder cast is only used by a few, while most underhand casters just change their casting arm when they want to fish from the other bank.  This makes this technology the most universal and versatile technique in the field of double handed fly casting.

Some speycasters argue that already in Kelson's Book in the 19th century an underhand cast was mentioned. Obviously another misunderstanding. The soft rods that were used at that time as well as the DT lines did not allow a strong use of the lower hand to create a short stroke and to shoot line. This is what Underhand is about. In fact to use the tem underhand cast only is misleading in case the reader does not understand anything about physics. It is not the Underhand Cast what it is all about but the great technique with a new physical principle that is hidden behind. So it is wise to always use the term Underhand Technique instead to avoid any misunderstandings.

see Göran Andersson explaining the Basics of the Underhand Technique (video)

The Long Line Technique – a Hybrid Technique

The technique which most fly fishers of our time call Spey Casting has not much in common with the excellent  fly casting technique of the forefathers except the name. Today the name Spey Casting is used mainly for marketing reasons. The technique that is used by many fly casters today is a hybrid technique but definitely no Spey Casting any more as the underhand principle is used(remember the Underhand Cast is not defined by the use of the lower hand as many believe but it is defined by the physical principle behind the cast). Because Göran Andersson was also giving classes in UK and Canada and because English fly fishers  got in contact with his technique in Scandinavia, too, they  started to use more and more elements of the Underhand Casting Technique. Because of their traditional background and the long history of double handed fly casting in Great Britain his postfanatics did not give any credit to the underhand's inventor but went on calling the adapted technique Spey Casting.  This happened on one hand because  of patriotic reasons and on the other hand because they were not aware that the two techniques follow completely different physical principles.

What people call Spey Casting today, is a hybrid technique which uses the principle of the Underhand Technique (shooting of the line like an arrow), however, by the use of long heads (up to more than 30 m) a long stroke with the upper hand is needed(the longer the line the longer the stroke). In addition to that the lines used for the so called Spey Casting today have  nothing in common with the lines used for true Spey Casting. These lines were DT lines while today's lines are far away from that line profile.

In Great Britain some pros are even demonstrating pure Underhand Casting but they still call their casting Spey Casting, obviously to not pull the rage of the traditionalists on themselves. By this abusive use of the Underhand Technique under the name Spey Casting a big confusion was created among fly casters all around the world. Some Scandinavians contributed to this confusion, too. In their film they used the Underhand Technique but called it Modern Spey Casting  As the name  Underhand Cast is protected and it is not allowed to use it for any business  purposes like films - another name had to be used. A marketing machinery had been got going which made it increasingly more difficult to make a clear distinction and to clear the terms again.

What is called Spey Casting today would better be called Long Line Technique and if no business and traditionalist's interests would be part of the game, this term would describe the technique in the best possible way. The advantage of the Long Line Technique(double hand technique for casting long lines) is to be seen at wide rivers where one must wade in breast deep and serve consistently on long distances without any need of doing angulated casts (usually less than 40 degrees) and where you cannot expect to get a take when stripping your line in along the bank.

The Long Line Technique is dependent on a lot of back space and the presentation possibilities are limited, because long lines do not allow angulated casts up to 90°. Because these long movements with long and heavy lines  also require a lot of power, the Underhand Technique can be regarded as the smarter and more economic way of casting a double handed rod.

The Skagit "Style"

During several fly casting courses of Göran Andersson in Canada (mainly Skycomish) the Canadians came in contact with the Underhand Technique, too. A former student of him recognized that the Underhand Technique can  be of great use for salmon and steelhead fishing with heavy sinking lines, too, especially where very limitted back space is available. He shortened the heads according to his needs and just gave the cast a new name - Skagit. By  using very short heads, big and heavy flies can be cast easily and the thin running line does not speed them up so fast. The ultra short heads can be even cast from very little niches. The short shooting heads do not need to be lifted from the water but are just waved forth and back (figure 8th movement) so that the fly is pulled into the upper water layer and finally cast by using the traditional underhand movement. So if you look at it from the biomechanical point of view Skagit cannot be regarded as a style. It is only a variation of the Underhand Technique. Nevertheless the use of the Underhand Technique with this very short heads and heavy flies shows its extreme versatility.