ogilvie

Hi Dean; Both those lines are fun to cast and well designed...similarly,the CND Skagit Lines are almost identical in feel. Beulah is soon to have the new 'Tonic" lines that will certainly be more aggressive to the caster C

Can we get a concensus on this and put it to bed... C

The idea of a club is somewhat of an oximoron in thinking,especially when the topic of conversation within many of the Fly Fishing groups in North America,such as the FFF,BCFFF,Isacc Waltons and so on ,is about the reductions in physical memberships. Those that understand realize that since the normal use of the Internet has become ,just that,normal...many of the people that were in or would have joined fly clubs etc. now are much more likely to get involved via the 'net. In fact ,the age barriers and the "sex" barriers have been bridged and much more positive. C

I tie with both but the pedestal set-up is by far the easiest and most versatile...perhaps the tier that uses all the hollow hairs and needs to really clamp down might find the stability a bit off. My lady used to scream at me when I would clamp down the vice to the antique table...crap it's only an old old table!!?? C

Sometimes I don't know about you guys...The nicest Tube Fly Adapter is the Snowbee adapter...retails for about $34...fits any clamp jaw vice...and of course our store has a complete array of tube accessories. Tube flies are simply put .."on". In FAct,the Canadian Tube Fly Company carries the Snowbee Adapter and has a few in stock.

I'll call around to several of the shops in the area and see if they can house a tying evening...or even the hook n hackle club. As far as the need to actually fish is concerned that is secondary to the casting demonstrations and session. The idea of good parking and access is "on"... C

I cringe with envy when I see these masterpieces presented openly...my creative juices flow way to easily for me to sit and create such fine flies...but I must say that from Spey and Dees flies the bridge to these Dressed flies is much shorter. Having known Warren Duncan for a short time I was really able to marvel at the skills needed to understand the techniques used. Fishing with these flies is to me like fishing with an old Hardy Salmon and a Split Cane Two Hander...sheer bliss!

With a bit more than 3 weeks to go..how's the snow situation and any idea of location? I believe Val is going to be working with the Ladies on both Friday evening and Saturday morning...I'm looking to do a Tube Fly tying demo on Friday night and Spey casting with single.switch and Two Handers on the Saturday..

I to used to use the basic Tube Fly adapter but when I saw the Waldron Vice and it's integrated tube fly accessorie all hell broke loose...the Snowbee Waldron vice is the most versatile I have seen...The products that I use for the Tube Flies are from Eumer/Finland...Hundreds of variations and extensions,weighted bodies and so on. We do carry them at our little store and I am on their Pro Staff and developement team. We are only now beginning to scratch the surface as to the vast possibilities. Was working today on several Salt Water Minnow Patterns useing a braided body over the tube and weighted body and material was Llama...simply incredible! Snowbee also has a great Universal adapte that can be used on basically any clamp vice...retails for around $34 C PS....looking forward to tying some flies for the members and learning some new ideas from serious trout fishers...

Very nice job Colin..Only 10 more? These Are fun little reels and the rod designs are great...there is a market for these within our ranks ....somewhere. Brent,It really isn't difficult to find a reel to match any rod...even Two Handers. It is about your desire to fulfill a need,the look one may wish to portray,the fish being sought and the Balance...simple as that. Perhaps the fly fisher that desires to fish a 3 weight 7' Cane rod that costs $3500 can answer better the need! On all my Two Handers I will fish or use a $400 reel and have every confidence in it's performance. I have had Hardy Reels collapse,Lampson,SA's System 2, Evotec,Leeda and a few others. My needs are somewhat different than most...Salt and Fresh with large fish constantly being a possibility and at times 20-30 --25lb fish in a day of hard fighting! That said,to find a match for a normal single or Two Handed rod can be a simple as matching category weights... In the World of Spey and Big Blue Water Fishing the criteria is somewhat altered and more specific.... Of all the reels that I own and have used there are Two Manufacturers that stand out that gain my confidence...The Hardy Ultralite and Swift(Swift handles could fall off in the first edition) ,and the XS Reels from Snowbee. My needs are simple,,the reels have to work ,and for my buck...no Cork! I hate to hear that screeching noise of dry hot cork,or the sound of the gears disentregateing. Simple is good!

On the Friday evening of the Spey Week-end I would really like to do a presentation on Tube Fly Tying with various weighted tubes and accessories...Ideas would really be helpful and a location Intruders,Salt water./freshwater minnow patterns...a few leeches,terrestrials and so on..

Choosing the right reel for a specific rod is very important but not all that difficult...Capacity and balance are the two primary considerations..then cost. The Hardy Zane Ti (Titanium)weight an astounding 14 ozs..! it also retails at $10,000.00,it's mate the Zane ( Aluminum) weights in at 10 ozs approx and retails at a reasonable $1,100.00;in comparison... Good Spey Reels will generally cost in the range from $400 to $800...and there are plenty of them

' Is that the rod you did for Roger?

I think that you are going to find many more reels in the near future offering the sliding reel foot...it is not a new concept and very practical. Hardy did offer this as did several other companies and a few still do. As you say,the light physical weights of the new Orvis and Sage rods along with the Hardy Angel series has opened the door for this to become more featured...and it's not a difficult task to adapt existing reels! C

Little is spoken of the importance of physical balance between reel and rod. Many of the "old time" Spey Casters really liked the big Hardy Salmon ,Cascapedia,Bougle, Perfect, and the Farlow ,Ari Hart, Megoff,and the list goes on. But most of the rods were very heavy...but as we all know the rods have become much lighter in weight and the reels have as well.In the Single handed world this is also very true....in fact several reels made today have adjustable reel seats to slide the reel to your preferred location for your own balance and casting style. The larger 11 to 12 wt Spey reels made of Quality Aircraft grade Aluminum will weigh approx. 7-10 ozs. The classic reels do weigh more up to 15 ozs. for some of the old pre-war versions. An intereesting topic that needs to be addressed when selecting your ideal reel.

Over the week-end of having Novice Casters on the water ..I was able to do some good work with these guys in helping them become better fly casters. What really became apparent was the difficulty with casting off the weak side..for me ,and most that would be the Left hand side. Ocassionally, there are people that do better off their wrong side ,similar in case to Cackhanded! Rusty was able to handle his left side much more efficiently that his right(strong) side(very impressive). Myself and the others have to really work at it in timing and feel. Although I have to say the SnakeRoll is easy off this side.....In my own case I have learned to cast either hand or reel either hand...but prefer cackhanded. Practice that left hand..

Well,If I can get a few shops in your area off their Butts,they will be available in Calgary and throughout Alberta...in the mean time you can order online ...Nile Creek Fly Shop

It was really fun to have three serious fishers along for 3 days...and good fishers they are. In pictures 3 and 7 you can see Steelhead...if you look very closely at picture 7 there about 12 Steelhead laying under the seam...and yes there were several over 20 lbs. these fish are masters at invisibility.... The areas I wanted to fish are all under Snow this year so there was no access...good for the fish but not the fishers....and thats a good thing. These guys were really great..they were conducting some kind of GAS testing in waders????I wonder what thats all about? I am out again tomorrow on the Gold,after those monsters...we had a bit of rain...thats a good thing.. C

The new Snowbee XSD1112 Cassett reel isn't available for another couple of weeks..their web site will reflect this once in the hands of the dealers. It is however listed and pictured in the 2008 catalogue . It is retailing in Europe for 89 GBP...or approx.$180 CDN... To clarify "any line you may wish to choose" the are Spey lines available that will take up the entire huge capacity . SA's XLT ,now reduced in size was about 145' in length and had a belly of near 100 feet. The Carron 95 has a belly of near 95',Snowbee's 4D has a belly of 84',and so on..........even the smaller 6/7 weight Spey lines in these offerings take up a lot of room.Short head Spey lines such as the Skagit,Elixir, Scandanavian,SA's Short Head,Air Flos, Shooting heads and so on have large diametere bodies but are condensed into 27-36' typically....some a bit longer...running lines used for this type of set-up require little capacity use...Ie: I have a Snowbee Scandanavian Short Head Spey line,full sinking head mounted into a Snowbee XSD 780 Cassett reel system,the line is 194' in length(head length is 44') as are all Snowbee SSHS lines....little backing is required... but I am scrapping the coatings on the line.;I just simply don't have enough large reels to go around...and there are "no" quality drag cassett systems on the market until now. Hardy has just introduced the new Demon reel,cassett system,at $500 it should be good . If you are just getting into Spey casting I would suggest you purchase more than just One line....a quality well designed floating line will be the best investment you can make to reduce your learning curve and reinforce your positive abilities. Shooting head systems like the Elixir,Skagit and Scandi' and great fishing tools and make it possible to be relatively successful quickly. As far as matching rod/reel goes,again I would suggest this size reel with any Two Hander larger than a small 5/6 wt.,unless you are getting into the ever increaseing popularity of 13,14,15' plus 5/6/7 trouters. The advantage of a cassett system is it's obvious ability to give many options in hand! And the key to very successful fishing of all types is ability to suit conditions. I would rather fish with many new Hardy Zane Ti's but out of my leaque and a fairly stupid practice. Once you have nailed down your style then make the big purchase of a great reel to then match your then great rod.

From Val and I ...Happy B'day..

Perhaps I can be of some help with this..In my experience,the reel used for Spey casting ,IMO,should be large enough to not only balance the rod but do the job it is asked to do..thats why they make spey reels. Choosing the right line is always a task for Spey Casters and there are many to chhose from...a longer bellied line takes up a lot of line capacity a short head spey line can fit :just" on a Ross Big Canyon #5. I recommend Switch rod casters use a 9/10 reel with capacities such as a Snowbee XS 910, Spey casters use a larger reel such as the XS1112. Many reel manufacturers produce such size reels but do take into consideration physical weight and capacity. It is better to have extra capacity than to ruin the coatings on fly lines that cost $100 plus . Useing Gel Spun backing offers an element of extra space when needed but rarely is the answer. In an earlier post I mentioned that Snowbee has in 2008 brought out a cassett reel that is the big brother to the award winning XSD780 cassett reel system. This reel has been long awaited for from the Spey World in that it not only has a great drag system,salt water friendly but has 4 extra spools and more if you need them...and retails for less that $200...and more importantly,has plenty of capacity for any line you wish to use.

I can only comment on the issues we have had here in BC either on the Island, or the larger rivers like the Dean and Skeena,and it is not always clear. The best rule I have seen for Jet Boats is "no fishing from the boats!"..On the Stamp and a few others the Jet Boaters have been careless and offer little curtousy...although after 10 years fo butting heads over this issue and being in the front I have to say that for the past year or so a respect ,mutually,has been apparent.It seems to have been a learned thing. Drift boats and personal water craft is another issue that has seemed to cross over into dispute too often. According to the reg's the shore fisher has the priority. With that said,a boat entering into an already occupied section needs to basically ,and should,move on or not impede the shore fishing. Although many of us think the fish are always on the other side anyway! We at times run into this off the beach areas where schools of Pink and Coho Salmon will hold for some reason.. the beach waders go out too far into the salt water and move the fish out even further...then the people casting from boats(Belly,Pontoon,Dingy,35' cabin cruisers and other)into the schools from an anchored position come too cl;ose to the waders and only catch eaash others lines...the fish move off never to be seen again!! After it's all said and done it's discussions like this that actually make a good and positive change and understanding.

Dumbell eyes are part of the fly...sometimes hard to cast but clearly a legal presentation... If i Get time during the Spey week-end I would love to do an Intruder session with tube accessories...IMO this is going to be a serious way to tie flies for years to come... Have to get up at 3am...takeing Rusty and friends out for a few days... C

Thats a very good question ..and One that is very widely discussed...knowing that confidence plays a great part in any fishing outing reflects deeply into this particular ,shall we call it a void??!! The criteria I would use is that of a rod that is light in hand,fast but not too crisp,a good full lower grip ,the rod must have a reserve in depth and power but not overpower the simplest of casts. A good example of this reasoning is the G Loomis Company...about 3-4 years ago they brought out 24 new Spey rod models... Another company "Loop" did have Black(adventurer),Blue,Yellow,Green, Grey and the Goran Anderssen series of rods...they now have gone to a simpler formula to un-confuse the caster...the same can be said for Hardy,TnT,Winston, Lamiglas,and a few others. There are a few of the "all round rods" within that group for sure..Ie: the Hardy Gem(13'),Loop Grey (13') ,TnT's (1208), now we have the Beulah 12'7" , CND Black Spey, Snowbee Tamar, Scott Arc,and a few more. What I think makes a good rod is it's ability to deliver as we speak and not Break;either the bank or during a cast. The lengths are somewhat determined by area but for this thread a 12-13'6" rod is more than enough for Bulkley Steelhead or Bow River Browns. Fortunately,the reels are becoming less of an issue ,considering that we now have some great cartridge reels coming onto the market at reasonable prices. In the past we have had to rely on buying an extra reel spool at about 1/2 the cost of the reel...I have 2 Hardy 10/11 Ultralites, 2 Hardy gems Mk 1,and a new Mark2 with spool, Hardy Swift 1000 with Spool,and of course other big reels. This is a lot of Money to spend on reels but it had to be done...and not all at once... We had to but the Leeda magnum years ago to keep our costs down and that was all that was available...but Snowbee has again, come up with an excellent quality Cartridge reel system for we Spey Casters at less thatn $200 for reel and 3 or 4 extra spools...and if you want more spools they are less than 20 bucks.. Have to go to bed...out the door at 5:30...there are fresh fish coming in. C

One would expect crowding near a city of One Million...especially on a Trout River,that has fish,designed for just that! The same conditions apply to Hog Town...3 million crazies,all fishing the Grand,Credit,Willmot,16Mile,Ganny,Notty,Beaver,Saugeen,and others. wisely,the ministeries of Ontario,New York,Michigan<Illinois,Indianna have invested heavily in stocking the great lakes ...with I might add a world class result. I know,we can't compare Hog Town with Cow Town................really??! I have many times joined in on the Stamp River for Sockeye fishing with gear and occasionally on the fly...being a fly fisher at heart was at first a real problem for me. I didn't like lineing fish so I made my gear lighter and lines too weak...what I ended up doing was hooking more fish but injuring more because of the light set-up. So,what I did was to make a change to hook fewer fish but to do it in a more skilled way,within the parameters of the status quo. I could stand shoulder to shoulder within a group of 30 crazed fishers,hook more fish than the average and disturb the line(fishers) more that the average,,,and lose more fish than the average...still. However, the point is... the experience is what counts...for the fly fisher usually... Just ask a serious Steelheader , Permit Fisher,Musky,other great game fishers,....especially a fly fisher, many days with only the anticipation of an encounter. Can you imagine standing in the rotation at Quarryville New Brunswick,25 strong,like minded fly flingers,all after the same thing,a constant rotation,and you hook the fish??