Fish Tales is pleased to offer two one-day Spey Clinics with Internationally renowned spey casting instructor Simon Gawesworth.

“Spey Improver” with Simon Gawesworth course dates:

  • Saturday, July 17
  • Sunday, July 18

Courses will begin at 8:30 a.m. with a discussion of the basic theory of Spey casting including the types of casts covered in the course, the three principles of Spey casting and when to use which cast. After the talk, the class will move to the Bow to check what spey casting ability already exists and where understanding fails. The objective of the morning session is to ensure that the Snap T and Double Spey are understood and that the student has the ability to cast with both hands.

After lunch, the focus will shift to other casts like the Single Spey, Double Spey, and Snake Roll. Time permitting, there will be discussion about sinking tips, shooting line for distance and single-handed rod spey casts.

The class will finish at around 5 p.m. The object of this class is to ensure that ’students’ have a complete understanding of the mechanics of spey casting, as well as the ability to perform the entire range of spey casts to a competent level in any situation.

Course fee: $325/person. Courses are limited to six participants. Contact the shop early to reserve your space.

Simon Gawesworth Bio

Simon learned to fish at age 6 and started fly fishing at 8 with training by his father - well-known fly fishing instructor and author, John Gawesworth. By the time he left school at 16 to teach fly fishing, Simon had become the British Junior casting champion, a feat he repeated the following year.

In the following years, Simon broke seven British casting records and won the adult casting championships three successive times, representing England in two European and one World Team Championship. With the collapse of the British Casting authority and the tournament casting scene in the UK, Simon turned to competitive fly fishing. Over the following years Simon represented England in three home internationals (against Ireland, Scotland and Wales), two European championships and five World Championships, culminating in the prestige of becoming the England Team Captain and Manager for the 2003 World Championships in Spain. During his career Simon has written numerous articles for the fishing press, published two books on spey casting, presented five instructional videos and DVD’s, appeared on numerous television and radio shows, demonstrated casting at fly fishing shows around the world and is recognized as one of the leading authorities on fly casting and fly casting instruction. He is a Master and THCI (Two Handed Casting Instructor) certified instructor and also holds the APGAI and STANIC diplomas for Fly Fishing Instruction in the UK.

Simon works for RIO products in Idaho where he designs and tests fly lines, as well as being the marketing manager for Rio. He conducts fly casting classes and seminars around the world.

Simon is married with two children.