Whistler

no.....sorry that cast was ass

The underhand cast was developed over 20 years ago by Goran Andersson who is the rod designer for Loop. Goran also designed some of the early Sage two handers in the European series before getting involved with Loop. As for underhand single hand, it is a cast where the line hand(haul) creates most of the rod load. In this cast the rod hand travells a very short distance(just enough to put the intial bend in the rod to haul against. It is only possible with short heads and progressive action rods and results in the tightest of loops. Hard to do well, super easy on the eyes.

Lone, so first off Maxwell is fairly correct, the greater the distance from the rod tip to the anchor point the more line that can be carried in the D loop. Of course there are a wide variety of ways that the caster can compensate as stroke length and a raised firing position vs a lower side arm position all come into play. Another important factor is the shape of the D : the enegetic driving > of the traditional style vs the lazy sustained anchor ) of the skagit. Please keep in mind that fishing/casting is really an open skill sport. I mean that conditions are always changing and we need to adapt each cast to best present the fly in any given fishing situation. T hese factors could include but are not limited to: wind current speed fly size leader length casters height backcast space desired fly presentation(duh) overhanging brush stealth factor cast length I think it would be great if I had some cute chick(my girlfriend) follow me around with 4 different set ups as I fished and she could hand them to me already rigged as I needed them for the perfect presentation. The crazy reality is most of us want to fish the same line all day and as such must find the best possible compromise for all situations encountered during the day. The rule of 3-1 and 5-1 are pretty rough and dirty yet there is some good wisdom there. In this case it is that head lengths between 3-5 times the rod length will speycast really good .............. provided there is enough weight carried in the D to properly load(bend) the rod. By the way the easiest way to tell is to try it overhead, if it feels light it will be light. If it feels heavy it will be heavy. Now as for style, a traditional approach will allow you to cast a longer and overall slightly lighter line. A true skagit approach will work best with a heavier head. The skagit will feel 'clunky' when cast overhead, hence the development of this style to cast heavy(clunky) tips and flies. There is NO NEED for skagit when casting dry lines and dry flies! -of course you can do it but it isn't the best approach, much like trying to use long belly lines for Chinook Salmon fishing. The underhand approach is a good solution for most fisheries. You get the grace and timing of the traditional technique while getting to utilize the sensible head lengths, stealthy presentation and easy casting of the scandi style lines. As for myself, I don't like to be limited so I like to combine the best attributes of scandi and skagit lines allowing me to adapt my cast as best to present the fly to the fish in any angling situation without restricting me to one perceived speycasting style. The Loop lines mentioned are all fairly short bellied lines and are designed to overhead cast and single hand spey in the underhand style with the greatest of ease. Okay I know I am the Loop guy but the truth of the matter is these lines are somewhat unique in the marketplace and really are magic when properly matched to the occassion. Never before have a series of lines offerred such a degree of control, you can pick them up and place them. Here in town the angling club and shop do a weekly casting night with distance and mini golf(targets). People find there accuracy goes up so much on the mini golf course that these lines sell themselves. As for single hand spey casting, any line that is between 3 and 5 times the rod length and is heavy enough will work just fine., though I would suggest 3 as being a much better option than 5.What the opti lines have going for them is that they are designed to cast with the whole head outside of the rodd tip(shooting head) The lines feature sensible, easy casting head lengths and do not require a lot of effort to speycast. The head lengths are matched to the fishing situation= creek, stream and still water. Factor in your variables (see above posted list) and you can come up with whatever head length works best for your given fishing situation and rod length/action. The first thing to remember is that you will never single hand spey as far as you can single hand overhead, it is alkl about delivring the fly to fish at the normal, moderate lengths 60' or much less, though longer casts are indeed possible. In fact single hand spey is most useful at much shorter distances which is where distance single hand lines suffer. Once you choke up on the head too much there is not enough weight to properly turn over the longer front taper. I really hope this helps Brian Niska

explanation coming......once I get back from lunch

folks keep in mind that the head length has EVERYTHING to do with the length of the rod with your fishing position taken into account. If you are wading deep the vertical distance from your tip to anchor is less than if you are mostly fishing from the bank. Of course you can compensate with your cast(ie high lift before firing) but if you want the best possible match it is important to give this some thought. For most fishing with 9' rods the Loop opt stream is ideal. For longer rods and bank anglking the stillwater versiuon works great. As mentioned, the multi is a nice compromise. the following links are official loop websites(world/usa/Canada) rather than that of a specific us retailer(who I believe is no longer a current Loop dealer). www.looptackle.se www.looptackleusa.com www.looptacklecan.com

keep in mind folks that the spey isn't about casting big distance, I mean you can butn that is not what it is all about. The fish are still holding where they always do so it really is about the ease of presenting the fly to them. Modern speyrods tend to be light and reasonable in length. Clearly I am a little biased but LOOP makes the lightest two handers around. Check out the 11'6 #7 opti or the 12' #7 multi or the 12' #6 goran - any of these sticks are lighter in the hand than most big(10') single handers. The other big advantage of two handers(other than the speed and ease of delivering the cast) is the ability to toss BIG bugs safely. Speycasts can be done with any single hander but the two handed rod makes everything easy on the body. Will be in your neck of the woods doing a free demo afternoon on May 16 th as well as classes over the weekend. Get in touh with Max or Toolman for more info Brian Niska

Catalogues just arrived today, will get them out to those that asked in the next day or so.

The new Loop 2008 North American catalogue should be here any day now. At the fly show many people asked when these would be ready and I said I would post it on this site when they were done. so.. if you want one send me a pm or email with your address and I will have them sent out. Brian Niska 1-888-822-3474

Try slickshooter( 35#) , won't foul or wear like fireline plus the hook rides better.

Brent, what material are you using to attach the trailer hook?

missed last year but might go this year. Was supposed to set up a mini golf casting course in the trees last year. Fun event, super nice people

I always cast with my right hand high(right handed caster). Switching hands does allow you the longest possible stroke so would be useful with the longest of rods and heads(80+ feet). Normal fishing lines don't require the extreme stroke length and as such I prefer to always keep my rod in the same hand I use while fishing. Most students find the backhand cast challenging at first but once the pick it up tend to cast the tighhtest loops that way after a short time. I believe this is because of the handcuffed shorter stroke length and positve stop backhand affords. Also it is tougher to overpower when back handed so this may explain why novice caster tend to pick up the backhand so well. Since there are advantages to both it comes down to personal preference. Though I often teach with my left hand high, I have a hard time wanting to switch hands while fishing. Not to mention the backhand cast is super fun to do. Brian

actually it's all about the jet ski anyways yos is trying to clean up the video quality and repost on youtube, be patient he is a bouncer/fishing guide so this is new ground for him. In the meantime........ if anyof y'all are on facebook join the Whistler Flyfishing group and you can check it out there B

Tak, no Steelhead in the Squamish in the fall, only winter/spring fish ie Feb-May. The rivers in the video were the Morice, Bulkley,Thompson and Fraser all summer run streams.

what about the 24th and 25th?

my buddy Yos, who made the video is trying to clean up the grainy factor and will repost soon

shoot, you are right it is May long weekend. That might not be the greatest choice as i imagine many folks would want to bolt if the weather is good. Perhaps we should look at the 24/25 or 10/11.

thanks guys, the classes will be full 8 hour days and be limited to a max of 8 as mentioned with both Frank and myself instucting. If there is sufficient interest we would be happy to do 2 days. We will bring a bunch of demo rods and lines for everyone to try as well. I am just putting my calendar together for May but how about the 17th and 18th? I am pretty open at this moment so if earlier or later is better we can make it work. looking forward to getting back out there, Brian

not really a shiner, just play wrasslin around, a bit of a head butt I think

a buddy just sent me the link to a video he just put on youtube, he made it out of random point & shoot clips from fishing this past fall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXRCsAEKQEw

If you are fishing 15' tips you can probably get by without the cheater. Shorter tips will definately require the use of the cheater. As they are sold 4 to a pack and are kinda pricey you may want to try sansd cheater before breaking out the wallet. Personally think the weight recomendation is bang on for the sage, not sure about the beaulah(I am sure that Courtney would know for sure but is probably somewhere between the snowstorm and island paradise)

Thank you for saving some yummy pancakes for a couple of hungry kids from BC and also of course for inviting us over. It was very nice to meet so many of you over the past 3 days, Frank and i both had a great time. We hope to make it back out sometime in May and actually go fishing. An extra special thanks to Toolman for keeping us outta trouble.

a little bit biased but check out the Whistler series from G&L Flycraft, by far the nicest switch out there

the clw and clwc reels do have an exceptional drag for the money. They can be a little fragile if dropped or stepped on. The drag in the composite reels is different than the G3 drag used on top end Loops. Can't say too much now but look out for a new reel from Loop shortly that will feature the g3 drag in a cast reel with some great features. The new reel will be an exceptional value for freshwater use. Loop will be at the upcoming Calgary show, come by the booth and I will give you the 411

I would check out the echo classic series. Great casting rod and well within your price range