Customer Reviews

Introduction To Spey Casting with John & Amy Hazel

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am new to spey casting(but not fly casting) and am learning to use a 'switch" rod(11.5 ft). Although this DVD is not about switch rods per se, all the spey casts in this DVD would apply to this type of rod.

I chose this particular one from recommendations by members of "speypages" forum, and have not been disappointed. All the basic casts required are clearly demonstrated with slow motion clips and line drawings to make learning concepts easy. These casts are summarized at the end.

I would have given 5 stars except for a couple of possible improvements. The type of casts used are dependent on what side of the river you are on and the direction of the wind. I would have found it useful if these casts would have been summarized with this in mind(although this can be figured out by the viewer eventually). Also, all casts are demonstrated using the right arm only, with reverse casts also performed with the right arm. Some spey casters prefer to use either arm when on opposite sides of the river(although again the viewer can certainly adapt their casting style to do this).

Overall, an excellent DVD with clear instruction and presentation and I would highly recommend it.

John & Amy Hazel are not newcomers to the two-handed rod scene and have been featured in other Spey DVD's. Here they are on their home rivers in Oregon. The high banks of the Deschutes River give a good photographer's view for the techniques. The demonstrator narrates their own casts. We get a little insight into the dedication to effective fishing this husband & wife guide team offers their clients. More importantly a useful, succinct overview of the 'how to do it' of flycasting's unique water-anchored, big river Spey style casts. Elegantly presented with a few overlay lines for emphasis, this solid presentation in the great classroom of the Pacific Northwest can help unlock the two-handed flyrod mystery.- Gary Eaton, CCI

This instructional DVD, while good in content, is accoustically flawed -- so much so that I found listening to be an effort. The sound was saturated by background noise from the river, and the narrators were almost shouting -- I assume to overcome the interfering noise. Most cordless ("lapel") mics are highly omnidirectional, and it appears they were used for "Introduction to Spey Casting." But there are directional models with sensitivity adjustments, and these would have been a better choice. So would mics affixed closer to the narrators' mouths.