In a "world premiere" release, WWSD readers get the first look at the inside of Simon Gawesworth's newest book, Single Hand Spey Casting.
As previously mentioned in this column, Simon will be joining us on the Skagit this year for Spey Days 2010. There will be an opportunity to take a personal class with him on Friday as well as to attend his presentation over the weekend. Stay tuned for a full schedule.
In the meantime, many thanks to Simon and the folks at Stackpole Books for affording this sneak peek to the book's contents and the dissection of the Snake Roll.
The plate descriptions that follow correlate with the numbered plates in the slideshow. If you click really quickly it's almost like a cast within a blog post within a blog about spey stuff....enjoy.
If you're looking for a copy of the book, click here. Books will ship on January 2nd.
Plate 1 - The snake roll starts with the line tight and the rod level, pointing directly at the fly and about the height of your head.
Plate 2 - The first move of the snake roll is a slow, smooth, level drag of the rod behind you.
Plate 3 - Without a pause, start to raise the rod and accelerate smoothly through the beginning of an "e" shape.
Plate 4 - The rod reaches its highest point, still accelerating and continuing the "e" shape. The highest point is not above you, but to the side, remaining on the brick wall.
Plate 5 - The rod starts to come down from the highest point and reaches in front of you, accelerating slightly, though still high on the wall.
Plate 6 - The rod reaches the lowest point of the "e" shape (abouth head height) and starts to pull back to create a "D" loop. At this point all the fly line should be in the air.
Plate 7 - The rod tip has leveled out and remains at head height as it passes you.
Plate 8 - The rod rises to the key position and gets there before any fly line has landed on the water.
Plate 9 - The rod stays motionless in the key position as you watch the line tip head toward the water.
Plate 10 - The moment the fly line (or leader) touches the water, the forward stroke commences.
Plate 11 - A perfect cast can only result from a forward stroke that is parallel and close to the anchor.
Plate 12 - A high, crisp stop of the rod will result in a perfect loop that unrolls in the air.
