Snap-T-C, another use / LESSON PLANS

Walter & Group.....

From Pete Humphries :-

Hi Gordy,

 

I use a reverse snap cast that is extremely useful when spey casting from the back of a boat or when you have obstructions up stream.  On the Muskegon river in Michigan we mostly swing spey flies from a anchored boat, but we had problems when 2 guys were fishing - the guy in the back (downstream) would often have to wait for the guy in the front to clear his line before he could make a cast.  The front anglers line would be swinging onto the hang down (often the best time for a fish to take) and laying in front and downstream of the back angler.  The problem came when a snake roll or double spey is performed the anchor placement is in front of the caster and subsequently the back angler would catch the front anglers line with his fly.  So we use a reverse snap T/circle C to fix the problem.

 

A normal snap T or circle C brings the fly line from the down stream hang down and repositions it up stream parallel (or slightly across) to the current.  The reverse snap is performed off the downstream shoulder, so imagine a angler standing at the back of a jet sled or drift boat.  The snap is performed by lifting the rod tip to 11 o'clock and slightly in toward the bank.  Then snap down out across the river in front of you.  This will lay the line perpendicular to the current on your down stream side with the fly anchoring slightly behind you and approx 1 rod length down stream.  A D loop can now be formed and the cast made. 

 

The reason this works so well off the back of a boat is because the fly anchors behind the caster so when the D loop is formed the fly will never catch the front anglers line that is swinging around onto the hang down.  The cast can be performed at any time during the other anglers swing.  The back casters line will lay over the top of the front anglers line, but it doesn't interfere with his presentation and more importantly you will never catch his line with your fly.

 

Hope this is useful info!

 

Thanks,

 

Pete.

 

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Pete....

 

Interesting !   Reminds me of fly fishng with my father (Pop Hill) from a small boat for stripers.  We had done it so often that we got to the point that I could place my back cast loop tight inside his larger loop regularly without a tangle or collision.  (He'd use an elliptical, "Belgian" cast while fishing heavy flies as I was using smaller, lighter flies with straight line overhead technique to simultaneously fish different depths.)

 

One of the advantages of the Spey technique, of course, is that you can manipulate much more line on the water and have better control of a long dead drift.  Another is that you don't need nearly as much room for a back cast.  Since you were fishing from a skiff, I presume the former was the main reason for using Spey technique in the first place.  Am I correct about that ?

 

Gordy

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From Mike Heritage:-

 

Hi Gordy and group,

 

 I have never given formal lessons but recently I have started trying to help other casters, some quite new to the sport and some quite experienced. These guys know they are guinea pigs, I don't charge them because I am learning more from them than they are probably learning from me.

 

 My problem is assessing where to start and what to work on with individuals, some are obviously more advanced than others, some know the aspects they want to work on and others just 'want to cast better'.

 

 There must be a game plan but I don't know it. I would appreciate if some of you could explain how you plan your lessons and are there any DVDs or books that can help me in this.

 

 Many thanks,

 

  Mike

 

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Mike....

 

You have asked a key question the answer to which all MCCI candidates must have !

 

One of my CBOG mentors, years ago, when I studied for the exam was Floyd Franke.  He first taught me to form and use practical lesson plans for formal courses in fly casting.  It, then, became obvious that even though I'd been teaching fly casting for 27 years before that, that I could become much better organized and therefore more effective by constructing at the very least an outline form of lesson plan for every teaching scenario.  This included things like a brief lesson plan for a 1 hr. session with only one student, one for a 10 minute lesson streamside for someone who had never fly fished, etc., etc.

 

This is in contrast with the, "Winging-it" and, "seat of the pants" kind of instruction of years gone by.  Of course, one must have a certain amount of flexibility, but it can be within the context of a well organized plan.

 

Floyd would send me practice "assignments" and I would respond with lesson plans which he'd critique.  My, "final exam" was a real quinella !   He had me come up with a detailed lesson plan for 21 senior citizens who had never fly fished before.  This was to be a 2 day course complete with descriptions of venue, and everything from initial pre-course planning, objectives, scope, goals, instructor/student ratios, bathroom facilities, equipment, teaching aides, fly tackle, luncheon plan, rest periods, safety gear, emergency plan, and every detail as to what was being taught in logical order.  

 

I did it all.    And FLUNKED.

 

You see, I'd neglected to include the time schedule with the exact time of start and finish of each teaching session ..... the time slots for the teaching of each task or group of tasks.  This could well lead to not covering important points as the time ran out.

 

At one point, I advised MCCI candidates to come to the exam with neatly typed detailed lesson plans for brief and extended courses.

 

Most examiners, however, have not been asking for that.  What is more often done during the exam, is having the candidate take a paper and pencil and outline, briefly, a typical teaching event.   It might be as simple as an outline for what he/she would come up with for a 5 minute quick course for a beginner at stream side.  I have noted, over the years, that the examiner will usually come up with a request for an outline for whatever the candidate didn't bring all typed out.  That way, the examiners know that the candidate is able to formulate a logical plan on the spot. (It also avoided an unlikely situation where the candidate may have borrowed someone else's outline to, "submit".)

 

Often, I'll ask the candidate to come up with a lesson plan that he or she has actually used in practice.

 

Your examiners will likely want to know the reasons for some of your choices on your lesson plan.. 

 

 Example I:  Some prefer to teach the roll cast as one of the first events.  Others prefer to wait until the student has mastered the basic overhead straight line cast.  Joan Wulff's reason for teaching it early, is that an on-the-water roll cast is so easy to teach that it gives the new student immediate success with the first task. She also feels that this teaches one half of a standard cast (the forward cast) without the burdon of a later-to-come back cast.  Those who teach it later may do so partly because they look at the forward stroke of the roll cast as exactly the same as that of a standard cast..... so they teach the standard straight line overhead cast before the roll.

 

Example II:  Bill Gammel likes to have the student develop a style of his/her own, early.  Joan Wulff takes the opposite position in that she prefers to teach one style only, with the understanding that the student will gravitate to a personal style later on.

 

There is one trap to avoid:  Be careful to have the fly rod in your student's hand most of the time.... not yours....if asked to demonstrate your lesson plan.  (Your examiner might possibly ask you to be the teacher while he plays the part of a new student and asks you to spend a few minutes teaching him.)

 

As a more direct answer to your question, Mike, I'll say that any MCCI candidate will profit greatly from actually spending time working with an experienced instructor (say a Master or CBOG) to become intimately acquainted with the process of forming and following a working lesson plan in the real world.  One of the things I did, was to take Joan Wulff's course for instructors.  This course had a well organized time-tested lesson plan.  (Courses given by most really effective instructors will be based on such a plan.)  With lots of experience, you will develop a plan which works best for you and your students.

 

 

I don't know of any book or DVD which has this information.

 

This scenario goes a long way to having your examiners know how much actual teaching you have done.  One of the most common reasons for not passing is that the candidate simply has not had a lot of experience in actual teaching.  Putting it another way, there is NO SUBSTUTE for having many hours of actual teaching under your belt before taking this exam.   PERIOD.

 

I'D LIKE TO SOLICIT COMMENTS ON THIS SUBJECT FROM MASTERS AND CBOGS IN THE GROUP ON THIS SUBJECT.

 

Gordy