Casting Technique Spotlight: The White Mouse

Unleashing the two-hander on the upper Skykomish River.

Casting nerd alert!
This post gets a little technical so bear with us.

Spey casts fall into two main families: touch-and-go and water-loaded casts. Touch-and-go (aka splash and go, aka airborne anchor) casts land your anchor on the water like a plane landing on a tarmac, and they demand precise timing to form a D-loop and load the rod. When we're thinking about these casts such as the single spey, reverse single, and snake roll, it's important to note that these are primarily summer and fall techniques with floating lines, light tips and smaller flies.

However, when prepping for upcoming winter and spring steelhead trips, you can bet we're practicing our water-loaded casts! They use the pull of the line on the water to load up your rod and launch your fly, a technique very well suited to the cooler months of the year. Skagit-style shooting heads are designed to excel at this type of casting, and they’re the main family of techniques that you’ll use to present flies to sea-run fish in the high, cold flows of winter and spring.

The best tip we give when our clients and customers are running into trouble with their spey casts is common prescription: “SLOW DOWN”.  Skagit-style casts, when properly executed, are very slow compared to your single-handed stroke and even the touch-and-go casts of summertime. But how fast are you supposed to go when you “slow down”?

Instructor and guide Ben Waldschmidt demonstrates the White Mouse.

With Skagit style casting. one of the best indicators you’re executing a proper sweep and set-up of your D-loop is the aforementioned White Mouse. It’s the little rooster-tail of spray that appears at the point where your line is peeling off the water. Once you have the basics down, it’s a good thing to start paying attention to because it makes you conscious of how fast you are executing the rod-loading stages of a circle spey, snap-T or double spey. Sweep too fast and the line blasts off the water and no “Mouse” is formed. Too slowly and the little spray of water doesn’t form. What you’re looking for is what’s in the picture, just a little spray that follows the point where your line peels off the water.

For more information on the “White Mouse”, water-loaded casts (aka sustained anchor aka waterborne anchors) and getting the most out of your spey casting technique, come hang with us on the Skykomish river for our monthly free spey casting clinics. More info on how to sign up, here. Spey on!

A Handful of Favorite Trout Streamers

Here are few patterns we love that get the job done:

Sheila Sculpin

Deadly looking in the water.

We hope this fly isn't named after the tyer's significant other. Because if that's the case, Sheila is one rude specimen! Fall in love with the clouser-style eyes, the variegated rabbit strip body and the sparse hackling, and hope this one doesn't break your heart after you hook up.

Dolly Llama

Great smolt imitation.

Known simply as the "llama", this pattern is indispensable. It takes Yakima cutthroat, Lone Lake rainbows and Skagit bull trout with cruel indifference. Articulated with a conehead, it doesn't get much better than the Llama. Try it in black and white, olive and white or pink and tan.

Sculpzilla

A more natural-looking variant on the Llama, this fly is workhorse on the Yakima. Maybe it's the little red eyes that scream,"Eat me!" Try it small (8) and olive; we've also got big (4) and black.

Zoo Cougar

Kelly Galloup's little yellow fly has put a lot of fish on the bank over the years. Spun yellow deer hair offers a bit of floatation and creates a diving motion when stripped with a sinking line.

Fish them methodically, go for the grab and stick a fish!

Our lake and streamer selection is always changing.  

Stop by or call us to order our northwest favorites. 

(206) 362-4030, info@avidangler.com