ogilvie

Like so many things in life ,many answers may suit the moment...a better way of looking at this issue is to consider your fishery and it's variouis approaches. Nymphing in it's many art forms is a wonderful way to catch Trout and Steelhead,and of course other game fish. The whole idea is to manage your presentation the best way possible under the conditions and at the same time detect minute impacts on the line/rod. So. if you are going to use a Scandi head then you (for the Bow River and other Alberta systems) will want to have a Scandi' head in the 39-42' lenght, Floating,Intermediate or even a sink tip version. Using Polytips of various degrees of float and sink may also be an option. My personal favorite fishing line; Bar none, is Beulah's Elixir Line ...it opens the door to most of the fishing situations we encounter except when we have to use very heavy sink tips and monster flies.Then we might want to go to a Skagit head or even a condensed version such as a Compact head or Beulah's Tonic head. If you are using a head of some kind for nymphing then I might suggest to make sure that your shooting line or running line is floating ,possible intermediate...simply these are able to detect hits more efficientlyand are able to be mended. Snowbee has just introduced a complete new range of Scandanavian Shooting heads that are looped and come with a full range of Poly tips...we won't see these for a few weeks yet.Their current range is full ,but at 44' may ned to be cut down and then looped......Great lines. C

last week I was casting a bit with Loop's proto type 10'7" Switch rod...if the new Orvis rod is as crisp as the single handers then these will be a good bet . I really like the Light inhand availability of a cast with Switch rods. C

When Swinging flies there is typically a mend move initially in the cast. If you are able to Stack Mend you can also put extra line into the swing allowing the fly to creep along very naturally without too much influence from the moving water impact on the line. When fishing for Steelhead I am a firm believer in letting my fly stay in the ZONE for as long as possible...this is also true for Trout of kinds. Many times I will swing my fly well into the backing as I would if I were using gear. The change in fly speed encountered during the change of Direction at the end of the swing many times encourages a strike . This particularly holds true when using a larger minnow pattern... Something more important to a swing is the time it takes to get the fly down into the Zone,whatever that may be depending on Species. having worked with weighted Tube flies over the past 3 to 4 years has opened my eyes to the need to get the fly down "NOW"! More hook-ups C

Next week-end(April 3/4/5) if the weather is on our side I will have several Elixir Switch lines set-up for use on Single handed rods doing many Spey Casts. I will also have some of the Snowbee Scandanavian lines set up for Switch rods and small Spey rods... Many lines will fill the bill but IMO I have never fished such a versatile Fly Line as the Beulah Elixir Switch line on asingle handed rod. Hiowever,the rod needs to be at least a #7 and up. The grain weights are quite high for the Switch Lines. C

On April 3,4,5 I'll be at the new Store in Calgary. On Friday and Saturday I'll be doing some fly tying(Tubes/Stingers/Intruders/Salt Water Flies) as well in conversation about Spey Casting and on Saturday will hold Private lessons from 9am-1pm. On Sunday Morning we will have an open casting demonstration and interactive sessions for all during the morning ... SIngle Handed,Switch and Two Handed...please notify me here if you want the private lessons or contact the store ... Cost of $150 for the private instruction only C

Good to see you guys playing with the "ladies rods"... Gordo? And not so surprisingly we now see all the "big" manufacturers putting effort into the Switch Rod market . had a chance to play with many new Switch rods over the past few months and really like what I see. Since Meiser and Beulah began this revolution fly fishers have been able to adapt many styles with Switch rods. The real bonus for we fly fishers is that lines have had to really change to meet the demanding requirements needed. Thus we have the Elixir lines,the Outbound lines , small Skagit lines and so on. I will be at the new fly shop in early April(3 and 4) and will have a full range of rods and lines available to be played with. There are 3 rods that stand out more than any these days and they are the new Beulah Surf Rods...called a "SURF' rod but anything but....at 11' and especially well designed are going to change the face of Switch rods.. C

Love that smile and FYI can still hear the rain drops from that day...wow But here's a better Pic of Jocko...and of course One of his friends C

My Apologies Macleod...being of Scot blood myself I should have known..Highlander..thats a good thing laddie!!?? To answer one of the comments there is no retention for Cutthroat Trout unless it happens to be a clipped fish , there are a few,most people simply enloy their beauty ...but wee cutties can sure be tasty. BTW..is this what you mean Gordo...C

Nice coloured water...congrats! C

Yeah...I think so too...this system has some very large Sea Runs in June... and also in September...to watch Cutties bang the sides of 40 lb. Chinook to loosen the eggs is something else...when this occurs Male Chinook will leave the redd and chase the offending fish only to leave the female behind to be abused by TROUT..if ever you get a chance to witness good size runs of Chinook Salmon entering the fresh water you will see them gather in large groups and create a circle in perpetual motion...sometimes as many as 500 fish..Cutthroat trout join the circle only to single out the ripest female and begin their nonesense...a disruption occurs for a brief moment and then the mesmorizing circling continues and so on it goes. C

here's the Cutthroat...note the fly...the same fly I was using for the big Cutties in a lake...Eumer tube,Matuka Style Barred Rabbit...this fish took the fly from a Steelhead's mouth on the Swing...interesting relationship C

Several months ago I was asked by a fellow in Ontario if I had ever fished the 13' Snowbee Two Hander...I have cast it hundreds of times but never fished it...So on this Tuesday past I decided to fish this rod ,the last person to actually fish this particular rod was a guy named McLeod, on the Nitinat...anyway, since I have too many 13' rods I rarely fish One. Anyway, We went Steelhead fishing on One of the Islands Remote Rivers and I wanted to fish this rod lined with a Beulah Elixir 8/9 Spey line...fast sink Polytip and so on...what a blast...super light rod with spectacular Power and agility...not soft at all nor heavy..it may not be a great Bow River Rod but man it can handle BIG. Landed 3 Steelhead and a wonderful Sea Run Cutthroat...If you want to cast Scandi Style then this is the stick! BTW...it was -6 degrees...this winter really sucks. C

Toolman is right! If you want to see this in action try some distance casts,instead of the double haul with you lefthand simply engage your hand on the butt end of your rod and see the dynamics happen. Tighter loops ,greater distance and less physical demand...However,if you want to become proficient with Spey casts with a single hand rod then the fly needs to be appropriate. Normal floating fly lines can perform Spey casts but just OK...of course this depends completely on your needs. If you are fishing small creeks then the line you have will likely do,but if you are wanting better results I would suggest you think about a better line. There are some good ones on the Market. We began to work with the Loop Opti stream line (that is till produced) 7or 8 years ago that seemed to open up Single Hand Spey Casts. Fot the floating line fishers this is One great Line...in all line weights from 2-9, but if you want to fish varios depths then I think the best Line I have used to date is actually a Switch Rod line called the Elixir ,from Beulah. This line needs to be used on a minimum of a 7wt.,but opens the whole world of possibilities for most single hand rod users..combined with the various POLYTIPS you can fish different depths or on top(floating dry fly work). Of course some of the other line manufacturers havae in recent years seen the light and are making efforts to accomodate this same need and market. In this Picture I have landed a Pink Salmon off the beach while using an elixir line on a #7 Snowbee 9'6" rod...like the Bow this situation demanded tight loops and easy casting C

Another colour Purple wit a bit of Blue Crystal Flash.. Nice Trout and Cutthroat

Fishing lakes is not One of the things I do too often...but with the winter Steelhead here on the Island being in somewhat difficulty with the low waters I have resorted to fish a few lakes until the water rises.. This time of year instead of approaching Lake fishing with small insects and minnows,which can be very effective,I have simply altered my retreive a bit and use my steelhead flies from my already over stuffed fly boxes. Here is a nice trout from today...One of 10...all in the same size range...and 6 were on this Chartreuse /Olive small intruderwith a stinger(trailer) hook. A very good colour C

Now Scirroco....only from a good fly tyer would you hear that...these tube flies are fast becoming the way to fish Steelhead and big trout...will definitely target big Lakers this coming Summer in the Yukon with them and of course Steelhead from now to then... What I really like is the way they can work the water columns effectively without having to cast tons of T14...By using small diameter leaders/tippets off a good floating or Elixir line we can get these small weighted flies well down if necessary...the key here is we have the ability to almost select the depths we want to work at.. even in faster water there is less impact on the fly and line from mending and loose line tactics... C

Thats actually a good plan Gordo..we unfortunately had a foot of snow ...what a year..! ANd to add frusration to this winter we are about to have heavy rains on Sunday..meaning floods...so much for my days off. Jmasson..glad you like that big stick(ZR2)...it should be a fantastic Skagit rod for those big Skeena rivers...on another note;Val has had the Torridge for several years now and never let me fish it so this fall we were fishing for Coho on One of the North Island Rivers and she had a floating line on her rod...but couldn't get down to the fish..so,me being the wise guy,I suggested she use my rod and I would play with the Torridge...she hooked a fish,I dropped her rod(on the rocks),helped her land the fish,went back to playing with her rod and snapped the tip about 6" from the top.The other people with us saw this but I put my finger to my lips before they could say a thing..She never found out,replaced the tip in a sneaky way and ordered a rod for myself...very light in hand,fast,powerful and a delight to use. And at 12' is a great stick to travel down rivers in my kickboats with. C

Woke up this morning after a great day Steelhead fishing only to find more than 6" of fresh snow on the ground...however,these magnificant fish make up for all the crap we have to deal with...Like so many other fly fishers I am finding efficient ways to get to the fish without having to throw lead....so,this day the fly was a Eumer weighted tube fly body tied in a bright white/Pink and red with a slight amount of flash...After experimenting last year with these flies on a floating line it was a pleasant surprise to see the depth it was getting to ...especially on the faster and larger systems...a great way to go.Will be on the Skeena Tribs in March to further this method... And no I wasn't using a Skagit set-up...I was using the 7/8 Elixir Spey line with a Intermediate Poly tip and about 5 feet of Snowbee Magic line(14lb) ...the Magic line assist in getting down by it's thin diameter to strength quality. The two hander was the Snowbee 12' 6/7 Torridge...sweet little rod C

Now Gord///you must be talking about Scotland or should we say New Scotland/Nova Scotia! And the girls might be pretty even there.....!!??a lass at last!

Hey Gord.. have to get back to Canada just befoer that show...but will see you in SCotland C

Will be in wee ~Scotland in Late April ...make sure you leave a few Grilse for me...and of course Val C

Hey good going Gord... Written tests are a bitch...after guiding for many years the new gov.'t decided to have everyone do a written test to comply with insurance details...and requirements...so,the test was loaded with trick questions...I failed the first time and barely made the second attempt.. Ie..a non resident alien can fish with their children,which ones need to have licenses and if so,fish quotas apply to which license? Good luck anyway C

A good choice Toolman

Unfortunately,if all you have cast and fished with is a Skagit type set-up then you are really missing a much larger segment of Spey Casting and Spey Fishing... when fishing in close the Flick is a good bet..What did we do before the Skagit was popularized in the market??we fished of course with mid to long belly lines,like the old double tapers. My point being that do broaden your experiences... My favorite line for in close situations is actually an agressive mid-belly line like the Hardy Mach 2 Salmon or the Snowbee 2D , both available with integrated intermediate tip and both a blast to roll cast,underhand Scandi cast , traditional cast or any of the modern casts. Another good line for in close is the CND GPS line.. These lines can be more stealth as well...in Ontario there is a trend to cast Scandi heads and Mid Belly lines...I mentioned Ontario because there you can Nymph Fish with multiple flies as well... An advantage of a longer bellied line is the pick-up can be done with less or more line.Manage your stroke with less demand. We are again this year going to be doing a spey clinic in Calgary ,in March late. Location yet to be announced but it will be a good One. C

That must give you a ROSEY complexion! C