ogilvie

Thanks for opening this dialogue... in my description of "Speed" I am referring to a casting style either Scandi., Skagit,and even underhand.These styles of casting encorporate shorter ,heavier or a more compact weight distribution,of lines....lock and load! A good example of this is the" 1/2 out" rule when fishing or casting with heavy tips,especially when useing these shorter compact line systems. At the "White Mouse" speed in forming your D or preferrably V loop , once your sink tip is approx. 1/2 out of the water you engage your forward stroke. There is so much momentum because of compact weight and short fast stroke that we are able to lift the remaining sinking line out of the water with the fly attached,almost like dragging the anchor to manipulate your loop forward and ironically be able to slightly adjust your desired direction. Longer bellied lines and even softer rods do not provide us with the versatility to enact this movement as efficiently. Interestingly enough,Al has mentioned trying to use the full sinking lines (short head spey 44' "),rather than try to quickly pull that line from the waters depths it is fairly easy to slowly drag the line to the surface against the current or waters resistance ,they quickly performing your desired cast. The Same applies to all submerged lines. C

The Golden Gate area has a very interesting and long history with Spey Casting and long rods. Few know that before the 2nd World War long rods were used off the beaches for Stripers and other such fish. The War effort reduced that interest to almost nil until much later. I fished long rods off the Pescadaro Beaches a bit ...great waters C

Yeah,it's the same week-end as Gordons Clinic...It's likely that Val and I will be in San Francisco for Spey-O-Rama... But there is a large European Fishing show in that time frame that we may go to instead. C

You are correct, the restricted stroke movement of a back handed or cack handed cast sets up the potential for certain delivery...that said,it doesn't stop errors along the way. The question,"Is Skagit Style Casting True Spey Casting"...IMHO ..Yes;of course. And Skagit Style casting involves cack handed strokes openly!and very effectively! Speed of delivery and anchor is much more apparent with this method of casting.And it is this speed of Cast that is somewhat forgiving of the caster and the cast. Gravity and time are our friends during short stroke casting situations. Balance and Rythm...

Much appreciated...whats up with Breakfast?

Some of the bad habits we pick up along the way are more easily adapted to or disguised better with the BackHand Cast or Cackhand! Especially once you begin to use very heavy tips and full sinking line set-ups. As Brian said,longer bellied lines are much more comfortable to cast with proper hand placement. Many years ago when the first XLT Spey lines were developed my task was to master the entire belly doing the Snake Roll and useing only a 14' rod. Of the 5 or 6 rods we were useing the TnT 1409 and the Hardy Gem were the sticks that worked the best ,useing my Left undominant hand. A combination of Muscle memory yes, and the rods were able to respond to the power surge employed to manage so much line out of the water and develope effective loops. That may also explain why my dominant shoulder eventually blew out . C

Golden Gate pond...nice... I was out yesterday until early afternoon playing also with different lines set-ups on the Tamar. The 7/8 Spey Elixir line with the 14' fast sink Poly-tip was working just too easily. The Tamar is a very fast tough rod that feels like it's meant to be where it is. The 13'6" 8/9 Beulah rod is completely different in hand. The Tip action is unbelievable,somewhat delayed almost to a regressive feel. The weather here on the Island is about 4 above,sunny and fishy. The water levels are getting low because of the Colder weather last week...with the next rise in water levels we will see many new Steelhead coming in..out comes the rods! C

Well,was out today playing with the Elixir line again,yes looking for Steelhead(notta)-too much snow on the remote roads. And I have to say that this line amazes me to it's possibilities. Without question it is the sweetest "fishing"line out there! Will be looking at several design changes over the year to enhance the tapers a bit and lengthen the bellies. C

The One area that we have failed to really expose is the Single Handed Spey casts. A broom can Spey cast...so,Single Handers are beautiful tools to Spey Cast with. I will specifically have 4 or 5 rods(single) set-up to play with during the week-end . With the right line match ,Single Handers can bomb out 100' casts with little effort,especially with the small flies used on the Alberta Rivers(mostly). If all goes well and products arrive in time ,we will have some great new lines to play with and a few give-aways. I'm excited about the possibilitles for this to become an annual event,it has been a long time coming and could set a standard.. C

It looks like this thing is going to fly...there is interest from the ladies I see...so,lets get at it. C

well;I have to be a reel prick here and mention that tomorrow morning I'm off to drift a small river for Steelhead in a Watermaster. Doing a bit of scouting...have the store almost back in order and need to swing a few flies...any takers? BTW..a bit of rain is forecast C

When I was a younger fellow in New Brunswick(some time ago) we couldn't go out after supper because our then government and "knowers of all" were spraying deadly poisons to kill off the people;Opps..Spruce Bud Worm. The Pine Beetle is a greater catastrophe! It will change the face of Western NA to a degree we couldn't possibly conceive. It was a very sad day for me when I saw and came to the realization that there is absolutely nothing we can do but watch and watch more. C

Thanks all...we made it home by mid-night and yes very tired...Fraser Valley was getting pelted with Sleet and a bit of Hail...of course...Steelhead were high on my mind...considering that the temp' on the Island was Zero ,and a light dusting of Snow was forecast..Up at 6AM ...off to the River and had a great Morning swinging large flies ...a bit of iceing of the eyes but nonetheless needed to be on the water to get grounded. No fish..today..maybe Thursday(doing a very remote river) C And a special thanks to CDone for hospitality and care

I'm sure that if the fly fishers in South Western Ontario can have 47 members show up ,you Albertans will not be had by those Hog Towners!...sort of

It was really good to put faces to names this past week-end at the fly fishing show at Spruce Meadows...it is about the fly fishing! Looking forward to returning to Calgary and Southern Alberta to fish and play. Thanks from Nile Creek Fly Shop Val and I appreciate your support Courtney

Sometimes,it is best to have more fun than work...and you guys and gals in the Alberta flat lands are just going to have to show me how to hook into One of those Large Bow River Browns. On the week-end of April 5th and 6th I'm suggesting that the Bow River hosts the "First Bow River Spey Week-end and Fish-out!" My plans are to be in Ontario the following week-end for something similar and would love to be on the Bow before I head EAST!!! On the Saturday there would be casting demos and instruction , question and answer, BBQ , Socialize and so on...on the Sunday there would be a drift for those interested, we will have 3 or 4 Watermaster Kick Boats available,rods ,lines , and a few other toys . A rod draw and raffle. These gatherings are free to all... Can someone pick up the torch and invite me along!!!??? I checked the water levels for that time of year and they seem to be good...as long as it's not 30 below and blizzard conditions!

You guys sure like the cold weather! My diesel was very noisy in the mornings...Returned to the Island late last night and had to get onto the water this morning... Brian is bang on with the need to fish with the cheater...you will be able to get by with out the cheater...longer rods seem to like the cheaters better....We do have CND Skagits and cheaters if you need any... will get back onto this a bit later ...have to get some groceries... C

Thanks Murray, I would suspect that we will be totally bagged by that time...and hopefully about complete... if you do get by drop in C

Bringing my waders and flies...keeping fingers crossed ! Thanks for the update C

Thanks for your offer...how's the Ice in the River? C

If anybody has a bit of free time on Thursday ,likely from Mid morning until 3-4 ,we could use a bit of help setting up our booth... Any help would be much appreciated C

I think many of the Brits at the time were only those that could afford to fish the better beats...the same applies here in Canada at times witht eh Atlantic Salmon fly fishers...wishing only to raise a Salmon to the Dry Fly...and it's great indeed

No,many Streams have "FFO" regs for conservation purposes, some Steelhead Streams are so...F...ed up the remaining fish are too vulnerable....many regs apply only to periodic times and sections. You sound a bit "OFF"...you did not mention "fishing in BC?" nevertheless, reg's are regs and should be enforced or changed. I like High Sticking and Nymphing of all kinds. ..Snowbee has special rods and lines for Nymphing Czech style used throughout all of Europe during the competitions that I surely don't understand....split shot is used widely for this or double and triple flies on the set-ups. A very effective way that catches fish... Have a good day

on a scale of messy I'm about a 6...don;t remind me!

This has been a very good topic to discuss...after a few moments to consider all the comments on this site and another it only stands to reason to understand this thing. Floating lines with AgentX,Ridge Technology and air bubbles...riding on the waters film,just below and so on. If the floating line is dirty,line stick is more of an issue, presentation is poorer and so on. The same can be said for Sinking lines of course...equal but opposite to a degree. Thinking back to fishing the Hardy Mach 1 Clear Intermediate Spey lines it was soon very apparent that the line needed to be cleaned or else it floated too high in the water column...causeing more resistence and difficult casting situations . The intermediate belly is fairly large in diameter compared to their other Intermediate line...so when fished beside each other that would explain why my fishing partner was getting down further;1 being a new line and 2 mine needing degreaseing. Nice to understand this stuff... C