This div height required for enabling the sticky sidebar. If you haven't taken quality instruction you'll very likely develop bad habits or miss out on understanding the little pointers that make a huge difference to the delivery ease of the cast. Spey Casting is easy to learn and is effective for Rainbow … “The biggest obstacle for single-hand casters to overcome is the lack of muscle memory. As two-handed Spey casting has exploded in popularity over the last 20 years so, too, has the technology available in the manufacture of two-handed (Spey) rods. All of these situations require the angler to cast … For Alaska and its kings, both Gawesworth and Cook recommend powerful rods with fast, progressive tapers that will deliver razor-sharp loops. Spey casts are also ideal for handling and fishing extremely heavy sink-tips on the swing, a definite boon for down-and-across salmon anglers. Great Practice for Steelheaders. “On most rivers,” Falkus wrote, “a fly fisherman unable to Spey cast can never realize anything like his full potential.” This includes casting with traditional fly rods, as any Spey casting technique can be applied with the single-hander as well as the double. The traditional Scottish Spey cast has to be fully understood to be conducted effectively and part of that is watching the Spey cast… “In most instances, there aren’t a lot of trees and bushes making backcasts impossible near the prime Chinook water on these rivers.”, Recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on Spey casting, Gawesworth was elected captain of the England team for the 2003 World Fly Fishing Championships and has been promoting and teaching Spey casting professionally since he was 16 years-old. “The extra rod length is a major advantage for better control of the fly during the swing,” he continued. We all have the “spey… For the other 95%, he says there’s about a 20- to 30-hour learning curve before they reach a comfort level allowing them to fish effectively—and that doesn’t just relate to casting distance, but more to a level of comfort and confidence in the new equipment and casting motions that allows them to concentrate on fishing and not casting. But ever since the advent of lead-core shooting lines in the 1950s, technological advances in the manufacture of fly-fishing equipment has made all water—and all species—fair game. Once you get over that, it’s real easy to learn.” He also states that while no one can likely learn to cast from a book or DVD, it’s usually a good idea to have one or the other handy for reference after an initial bout of lessons. “Plus, changing direction is so much easier with the Spey cast, and it’s a lot safer to make a cast with heavy sinking line and weighted flies if you don’t need to lift the fly from the water and bring it past your ear, especially in areas with lots of wind.”. Like all the species of Pacific salmon, Chinook stop feeding after entering their natal streams. Spey Casting Schools and Instructions are are available on the Deerfield River, Salmon River, Miramichi Rivers and others throughout North America by Walt Geryk. This allowed for the development of lighter, … They’re favored with tremendous size and almost unspeakable power and around them swirls just enough myth and mystery to keep everyone interested when the odds suggest we’d all be better off chucking fry patterns at Dolly Varden. The term Skagit Casting was coined in the early 1990s to describe an offshoot system of traditional Spey casting that was being used at the time by steelheaders like Ed Ward on Washington’s Skagit River system. Enter RIO’s T-14 tips, with sink rates of over eight to nine inches per second, which as Cook explained have taken Spey anglers “from fishing an X-amount of water to fishing XYZ.” The tips are matched with RIO’s new Skagit Lines and propelled via the casting system that brought about their advent. Gawesworth explains that one of the most significant differences traditional fly casters will notice is that they’ll no longer need to lift and accelerate to begin their casts. For one, once mastered they can produce consistent distances of 75 to 140 feet without a backcast, opening up water that was previously only within the realm of anglers utilizing conventional gear. For normal fishing this positioning should be approx 1 rod length from whichever shoulder you're casting off and this positioning will give you reasonable loading for the majority of casting ranges. As Don Thomas illustrates elsewhere in this issue, kings require specialized gear and techniques, neither of which are particularly pleasant for the anglers involved. “The efficiency and effectiveness of both casting and line control are absolutely maximized. Spey fishing for steelhead, salmon, trout and atlantic salmon with Walt Geryk. Spey casting is a fly-casting technique that evolved in Scotland in the mid 1800's. He maintains that the techniquewill open up more water to the angler in any situation, even though there may be a lack of bank obstructions in a typical southwest Alaska salmon fishery. The key to the entire deal is to tune your peripheral vision into watching not only the positioning & shape of the anchor point but the timing 'off' the water too. This logically minimises the energy loss by keeping perfect 'straight line' shape true to the intended delivery line angle instead of the line having to unravel a 'dog's breakfast' as it's lifting from the water. As it specifically relates to fly-fishing for Alaska’s king salmon, Spey casting is only beginning to catch on, but advancements in equipment, along with casting styles that are tailored to North American waters and the Pacific’s anadromous fish, make it seem like the techniques are here to stay. George Cook, who teaches classes geared towards Spey fishing for Alaska’s kings as well as his regular casting clinics, explains that the recent advances in equipment design greatly aid the angler looking to make the transition to the two-hander. The River Spey The River Spey is the most famous salmon river in the world and the one I measure all others against. Until recently, Alaska-bound Spey casters were limited to either building their own shooting heads or utilizing lines that incorporate interchangeable tip systems, like the RIO WindCutter or Scientific Anglers Tri-Tip Spey. Enroll in a Great Lakes Steelhead Spey Casting and Fishing School and learn the many techniques in becoming a more successful spey fisherman. www.upstreamadventures.com. For lines, today’s fly anglers find their options similarly diverse. Advantages of spey casting and why you should learn to cast a two-handed rod and how to apply these casts to a single hand fly rod. Success in Speycasting is easily achieved as long as each of the 3 basic steps of the cast are fully understood along with the basic logic associated with the lift, swing & power stroke components. “Perhaps Spey casting hasn’t been as popular in Alaska because many of the best salmon rivers for the fly angler are in the western region of the state,” he explained. “The Skagit Line has truly upped the ante in terms of the ability to cast long and straight with T-14 setups and flies of the lead-eye, Intruder-style variety,” Cook continued. You can also see why they’re so alluring to fly fishers looking for a challenge. It’s still difficult and a guy can still develop both tendonitis and tennis elbow in a single afternoon’s work with a 500-grain line, but it beats split-shot by a fiberglass mile. They’re also most comfortable in power water, often preferring to travel and hold in the deepest, swiftest portions of a river system. T-18 sink tips, versileaders, polyleaders, running line, scandi and skagit shooting heads, and the inordinate number of different spey casting techniques are virtually guaranteed to cause confusion for anyone getting into spey fishing. If you're fishing with one of these modern day 'talent compensator' washing lines and a stiff broom pole action rod then this is going to be a tricky thing to achieve unless you're very gentle with your lift and swing. Spey casts are also ideal for handling and fishing extremely heavy sink-tips on the swing, a definite boon for down-and-across salmon anglers. For further information on Spey Casting instruction or Guided salmon fishing please contact Ian Neale The Single or Double Spey Cast? We can get deep with the kings, effectively fishing the swiftest water, dredging the gravel-bottoms of the deepest channels, and once we find and hook one, we have the rods and reels to stay in the game. 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