[ditchmonkey]

kent, that was dana sturn, prolly one of the better spey anglers out there, and his exact words about that fish rising, " a total fluke"
ditch

[SixX]

That first ‘z-loop’ could be a botched attempt, but looking at the tension in the lower loop I think he just really ripped a long double roll. The only reason I say it could be a botched attempt is from the water splash…could be an indicator. Spey casts are actually done grabbing some water, but it’s usually farther behind, to the far side (or in front) of the caster. Reason being that if you grab water too close to your position that it's a darn good way to end up with a hook in your leg. From the pic it’s hard to tell because it looks like the perspective shows some line more to the right side of the loop, perhaps from pulling the rod tip sideways incorrectly in mid ‘attempt’. I think if that cast was viewed from above it would look almost exactly like the video of the ‘snake roll’ cast. Either way, he must have been using a fairly stout canon.

Spey casting, distilled to its essence it simply casting that requires making minimal false casts or backcasts. Most utilize the water surface for loading the rod. A standard roll cast could be considered a spey cast….just as a stack or a mend can be considered in the spey repertoire. Most fly casters are already spey casting but don’t know it.

You can make that ‘snake roll’ (known to some as a flying D, or Snap-D) with any length rod, although the shorter the rod, the more to the side you usually have to aerialize the start of the cast. That, and a Snap-T are my basic casts when nymphing with cover tight behind with larger/heavy flies, which is what the cast was designed for….no backcast.

A really long rod does allow those bizarre roll casts that look like a barrel rolling across the water for many feet…a very tough cast requiring an almost brand new (fairly heavy) fly line, and heavily treated. I think it also helps to speak the queen’s English and to wear a ratty old wool sweater that smells like salmon.

[T.E.Shuler]

Guys that cast isn't really that hard. Seriously try this:

Go outside on the grass and make a forward cast of about 50 feet. Follow your line to the ground with your rod tip. Now raise your rod slowly to just above head high, now sharply strike downward with your rod tip and make an abrupt stop about waist high and see what happens. A sharp Z shaped loop comes rolling back at you. Some of us use this cast to set up for roll casts or simply to just show off. The idea is to make this snap and then catch you fly in hand as it passes back to you. Makes people stop and look. Plus its a lazy way to get the fly back to you to look at leader tangles when practicing casting. Its fun to do when showing off with friends too.
This cast,as Kent already pointed out, can be done by pausing slightly after making a forward cast. It can be done while the fly is still in the air but is a little easier if you let the fly kiss the water slightly as you start your "snap" to get the line to come back. Hence no water splash in front of the caster in the picture! The splash was probably out of camera frame by several feet!

I don't think thats a splash behind the caster either, looks more like a clump of brown grass to me.