As I wrote in a post last year, I decided to learn spey casting, which uses a two-handed fly rod with water anchors (and no backcast) to cast a fly.

There were a number of reasons for wanting to learn to spey cast. 

First, I had been curious about it after watching videos of casters who did it very well – particularly those fishing for steelhead (a large, powerful anadromous rainbow trout). 

Second, I liked the elegance and grace of the casts themselves (starting with a lift, a sweep, the formation of a D-loop, and then the forward cast).

And finally, I was a bit bored with the overhead cast. 

All of the above reasons have given me an opportunity to begin again with ‘beginner’s mind’. 

As someone gets older, it’s easy to become complacent or self-satisfied with what one already knows.

But there is a revelation in starting a new journey to learn a new skill. It is an opportunity to learn new concepts and principles; to learn the value of ‘practice’; and to approach the effort with humility.

And we live in a time where technology – particularly online videos – provides an easy entry into learning something new. Careful evaluation (an important point) of videos on any subject reveals individuals with knowledge and an ability to teach.

Videos – and some reading – gave me the background and understanding to give me a leg up on my first spey casting lesson – I discussed in last year’s post.

But, the lesson, reading, and videos were only the starting point: the next ongoing step is practice – dedicated and focused practice.

The first step was to get the mechanics of the forward cast down. With a two-handed rod using spey techniques, it is the bottom hand that does the work – the upper hand is more or less a fulcrum. 

So, a right-handed person will typically hold the rod with the upper right hand and pull with the lower left hand.

It’s a bit awkward at first and takes time to develop the muscle memory.

George Cook, a Pacific Northwest spey casting legend, and long-time representative for Sage Fly Rods has said it takes about 20 hours to develop that muscle memory. 

That seems to be about right.

From there it’s learning to position the anchor (where a specific section of the line touches the water) in a consistent manner. Then gaining competence in the small number of casts. Finally, learning how and when to apply a number of the spey casts in different conditions (current, wind).

And the continuing journey of applying techniques to actual fishing.

The question arises, as it does for any learned skill – how long will it all take?

And perhaps the answer is it depends: how far does one wish to proceed?

For myself, I want to be good enough that in most instances I feel (and appear) as if it’s without much effort – being graceful.

Again, how long will that take?

Various time estimates are available.

Malcom Gladwell in his book “Outliers” spoke of 10,000 hours of dedicated practice to achieve world-class expertise in any field.

Undoubtedly that’s true for Olympic and professional athletes, elite chess players and  world-class musicians and singers, and surgeons..

But for the rest of us? Certainly much, much less.

It’s a question that has been long studied.

One of the most notable efforts was the work of Anders Ericsson, a Swedish professor of Psychology at Florida State University. 

His original paper on the subject (working with colleagues) was published in 1993, and was refined in several books published up to the time of his death in 2020

Based on his work, set of milestones was defined:

• 500 hours:     Basic real-world skills
• 1000 hours –  Proficient and reliable
• 2500 hours –  Highly skilled
• 5000- 10000 hours – Expert mastery

Now, even 500 hours of dedicated practice is a large amount of effort – particularly for someone looking for mastery of a recreational skill.

It is less of a goal than an effort. 

As the Zen Buddhists say the journey is more important than the destination – it is the essence of practice.

And it is an effort that should be undertaken with a smile and an acceptance of temporary failures.

I’ve already made it part of my practice to start each session on the water with basic skills practice – focusing on the forward cast. Then I move to working on consistent anchor placement. I spend no more than about 10 minutes doing so.

From there, I move on to practicing different casts as I fish.

And by my count – only about another 480 hours of dedicated practice to basic real world skills.