First off this is an older production now, it dates back to 2008, but once you've watched 5 minutes you'll be thinking it's 1938.....
In case you weren't already aware Mike Daunt took over the Hugh Falkus School of Spey Casting after Hugh passed away in 1996; Falkus taught the young Mike Daunt to Spey Cast.
With that said the second thing you should know is that you should not - under
any circumstance - watch this DVD if you are easily offended. Mike Daunt is an unusual presenter and some of his stories/analogies are not what you might expect of a DVD which (on the face of it) is teaching you how to Spey cast - they're more suited to (perhaps) a public schoolboys common room or a gentlemen's club after
several bottles of something 'cheeky' have been consumed.
So, with the stage set, to the main event.
I had seen this once before and I wasn't sober. This time I was stone cold sober and found the whole production reasonably comedic. That said it is quite logically put together and Mike Daunt reasonably states that to learn to Spey cast you must master a 'simple' roll cast first - fair play - but from there it really shows that there has been no evolution in the 'Falkus method'. Mike Daunt is using the Falkus rules of Spey casting which means he is of the old school of Spey casting and the techniques being explained are rooted in a bygone era.
The casting demonstrated in the DVD is not what I would expect of an instructional DVD and it is my view that the roots of the Falkus method are to blame. That method of teaching Spey casting has perhaps had its day and does not really fit in with the modern world of Spey casting - which is what one might reasonably expect to find when buying a DVD so titled.
I concede that casts are made - not necessarily how I would expect to make them - but we really
have moved on from crashed anchors, creep and other faults in an instructional DVD. Haven't we
The single handed Spey casting section amused me immensely but be assured that plenty of other folk had done it before Mike Daunt on film - despite the claim on the DVD cover that 'single handed Spey casting is shown for the first time ever on film'. Rachel joined me at that stage on the DVD and commented on the astonishing memory on the line that was being pulled off the old Hardy Marquis reel attached to a Sage 10' #8wt rod. 'What on earth is he using that reel for
' she said. 'Because he likes the noise' I said. 'Oh..... silly bugger' she replied 'that line will coil all day long if he keeps it on that reel'. At this point I reached for the whisky that wasn't there
Shortly after it started the DVD finished and I found myself pondering its value. Reading what I have said above you might think I hated the DVD. I don't.
Actually, it's a hoot if you do
not take it seriously.
As an instructional DVD it's not my cup of tea, I don't think I fit into the very niche market this DVD was intended for. However, for me, as pure entertainment it was worth the £1.95 I paid for it on a well known internet auction site and will continue to provide entertainment to me as long as I have it. Sit down with a whisky, don't take it seriously, and enjoy it in its magnificence.
It is very unlikely that anything quite like it will ever be made again.
H
