lethfisher

well i have sharkskin for my 5wt right now, so it looks like I am good to go haha. I just looked it up and see that the loop opti stream comes in WF5 so thats good to know. Do you need to go a line up for single hand spey casting? I have 5wt do I need 5 or 6 or whatever? Ya I could save myself a big headache if I was a master class caster lol

Thanks for all the info guys, I really appreciate it I am starting to lean more towards a longer single hander like Mark was talking about or even just trying out my 5wt also. I really like how far the spey rods can cast and how much river they cover but when I actually think about it I would probably be better off fishing in close where the water might not be as fast and deep. But then again maybe there is a fast current right in front of you and a nice slow pocket on the other side of the river lol I am starting to realize that what I am wanting doesn't "really" exist, have lots of control in close with a nice dry or nymph but also can throw a heavy rig a longer distance. But isn't that kinda what a switch rod does? Does both fairly well but doesn't excel in either? Seems like most guys on here though prefer one or the other so you can get the best of both worlds, just carry both rods!! What if I got an extra spool for my 5wt and put some airflo 40+ or Loop Opti Stream on it so I can switch between lines as I need?? I could just single hand spey cast with the right line? Do they make such lines for 5wts? But if I am doing this its probably better with a longer stiffer action rod ie sage flight aaaah overwhelmed!! lol I need to go talk to Fish Tales guys haha

Ya I want a rod for the bow, all I have now is a 8'6" 5wt and wouldn't mind getting something a bit heavier. I am kinda stuck because I can either get a 12' foot spey rod and use double handed techniques, an 11' switch rod that can spey cast and overhand or just get a larger single hand rod and learn to single hand spey cast properly. I am on a fairly tight budget (I am in school and should be buying books not fly rods haha) so I want to be sure before purchasing something. Demoing something from Fish Tales sounds like a really good idea. I wouldn't mind trying a properly lined 9' 6wt for some single hand speying. Oh well I guess I'll decide eventually lol

Other than the actual switch rod being 1 foot longer, would there be any difference in casting with a 10 ft 6wt with a fighting butt rather than an 11 ft 6wt Switch rod... I am asking because on the TFO site they have 11 ft 6wt Deer Creek Switch for $339 http://www.templeforkflyrods.com/rods/Switch.html#T But you can get a 10 ft 6wt Professional Series for $194 http://www.templeforkflyrods.com/rods/professional.html#T (scroll down a bit to the ones with the fighting butts) Surely only 1 foot more of rod can't cost $145 can it???? Why wouldn't you just "spey cast" with that 10 ft rod... plus you can use to money you save to get line for it...

After fishing with a spey on the Bow I have a couple questions that I was confused about while on the river. The main one is how do you fish in fairly close say 15-30 feet? Whenever I cast in close like that the line didn't really want to go out, it seemed like as soon as you got to that distance where the shooting head ended I could cast fine. Inside this distance it just seemed really akward. I tried casting up stream a ways and letting it drift down infront of me but then I had to strip in lots of line to keep tension in case of a strike. Once it was all stripped in it was a big pain in the @ss casting out to a distance to do the drift over again. Which is kinda my next question as well, how do you get the first 10 feet of line outside the rod tip when setting up on the stream, I usually ended up roll casting or even single hand casting to get it out before the spey cast seemed to work well, is this right? Although I didn't mind the stripping in every time back to the top of the shooting head I was wondering if I was using the scandi (I think) lines as apposed to the skagit shooting head would I have to strip it in every time?? I definitely thought the spey rod was the right tool for the job on the bigger rivers, it just seemed odd to me that I couldn't fish in close if I wanted to. There has to be a way though lol I must be missing something. Thanks!

thanks for all the advice guys. I went out today to the Princes Island park area and was giving it a go. I tried a double bugger rig but mostly 2 nymph rigs. I had a single streamer on but it wasn't weighted and my split shot kept falling off so I said forget that lol Thats an interesting idea about the smaller chasing the larger, that sounds like something i'll try next time out.

I'll be the first to say that they suck haha They used to be decent though... Its a good thing they have Luongo otherwise they would be tanking.

I have fished droppers when nymphing quite a bit and they seem to work pretty well. I have heard of people using a double streamer rig. Does anyone on here do this?? I am sure Max uses a triple rig lol Anyways I was wondering if you tie the dropper streamers on in any special way. When nymphing I usually tie direct to the hook shank of the top fly, would you do that the same way for a streamer rig?? Also do you put the heavier streamer on the bottom or the top?? If you need to put on a split shot do you put it above the top fly or between the two flies?? Thanks in advance!

I was born and lived in Vancouver until I was 6. I then moved to central BC so I am happy to call myself a Canucks fun. I was pretty happy when Sundin moved to Vancouver haha I was also stoked when Calgary picked up Bertuzzi, he was sooo good in Vancouver before the incident. Right now I am watching them destroy the Blackhawks, it's 6 - 0 with 8min to go in the 2nd. The announcer just said "Stop the senseless slaughter!!" haha

I am also interested in this. I am going to Puerto Vallarta for Reading Week, mid-Feb, and would be interested in maybe going fishing. I am going with the gf so more like if she'll let me lol Anyone been?

wtf is that a ray on a fly!!! haha I guess when you fish the ocean there is a gazillion species you can catch...

That definitely makes sense, I used to fish all those (buggers, clousers, bunnies...) when I was first starting out, fishing for small pike in lakes around Lethbridge. I am super stoked to fish the bow soon, hopefully will be getting a spey rod in Feb so I can go play on the Bow like the rest of you guys Appreciate the help!!

Holy crap look at all those chronomids!! What are you going to do with all those things?? Do you mainly fish lakes?? Are chronomids a popular river choice?? I have only ever used them in lakes...

are these the type of streamers you are fishing on the bow?? I saw your post from Jan 30 and you said the fish liked the streamers, is it stuff like this ( ie big with lots of materials ) PS I don't want any secrets and I'm not trying to probe you for your favourite patterns, just a general question

Does the switch count as a light spey?? Also I know there are lots of dealers around calgary that I could go through but $250 for a brand new switch is a pretty sweet deal. If I could get it in town then I definitely would.

Awesome, thanks a lot I have cast a few spey rods and that one switch rod and I like how it feels a lot That is the answer I was looking for haha

Yeah thats what it seems like is a big deal about spey casting is getting the proper line for to match your rod. I am in a little bit of a pickle here now and need some opinions. The rod I found is a Loop Blueline Switch rod and the guy is selling it for about $250 (still has plastic on cork, never been cast). Now I realize that this model is discontinued so if it breaks or something goes wrong I am pretty much screwed... But this rod is worth way more than $250 that's for sure. So I am thinking would it be worth it to spend an extra $100 and get a TFO switch rod that comes with a lifetime warranty on it in case I break a section or get this probably better rod, the Blueline without warranty on it. I am just getting into the spey casting style and I think if I get the switch I would probably be using it for spey casting 90% of the time, do you think it would be more reasonable just to get a 12'6" actual spey rod?? But I also have an 8wt with a fighting butt on it that is 9' long. What would happen if I put a spey line on that?? Is there actually a big difference between the rods construction in a 9' 8wt single-hander and a 11'2" 7wt switch rod other than the length?? Or should I just stop being a baby about it and learn to spey cast with both my single handes (5wt and 8wt) instead and spend my money on a new set of polarized sunglasses lol Thanks!! :)

I have found a pretty sweet deal on an 11'2" 7wt switch rod and I am really thinking of getting it. I tried Max's out at the Sunday Spey thing and thought it was great. I like how it is a little more compact than the spey rods but you can still get the distance and fishability with it. I am mainly looking at it for use on the Bow or in lakes with streamers. I currently own an 8'6" 5wt and a 9' 8wt. The 8wt isn't the greatest rod and I find it to be pretty heavy after an hour of use with any size of fly. I really like my 5wt for rivers like the Crow but am not to sure about it on a bigger river like the Bow. I would like a rod that I can use in multiple situations rather than just a single circumstance, which is why the Switch seems like a perfect rod for me. I have cast a bunch of spey rods at the sunday spey and at the FF expo and they seem fun but just seem to big lol But I really like the casting style the spey offers. And if you guys are casting 110 ft how the frick can you see your indicator from that far away??? lol Also a question about reel sizes and spey line sizes, I have a reel for my 8wt and I looked it up and the specs on it say: Backing Capacity 7wt 160 yards 20 pound 8wt 140 yards 20 pound 9wt 120 yards 20 pound Does this mean if the entire reel was full of backing?... And would that be a large enough spool to hold a normal spey line? Thanks guys!! I am glad the forum is here so I can ask random questions

Just wondering if anyone saw how much those "Hard Kore" sunglasses went for on the silent auction???

I went and checked out the Expo today for a couple hours and it was a lot of fun! Definitely liked all the people that were at the booths, all very friendly and knowledgeable about their products. I liked the casting pond in the middle the most though, I think I flailed around with at least 5 different rods lol. It's pretty interesting watching all the people casting and see the range of abilities. Pretty sure I saw a few "Passion of the Christ" people lol The spey casting demo by Brian from the Whistler booth was pretty good as well. Is Brian the Whistler guy on this forum?? I definitely need to save up my money for a spey rod now :)

Thanks guys, I'll give it a whirl

Does it make a difference how far your hands are apart during spey casting?

After doing some spey casting on Sunday with all you guys, it definitely got me interested in this style of fishing. I don't really see myself spey casting on the Crow, (should you even spey on smaller rivers?) but come spring and summer I think it would be a lot of fun on the Bow and around Calgary. I especially liked it when Max was saying it was way harder to get tangles because the lines never really cross Anyways, I have an 9 foot 8wt Flueger I got for pike fishing and it has a fighting butt on it. It screws on and off, it's not just a pop on one, and was wondering if you can get a longer fighting butt that would extend the handle out into a more speyish type rod. I know it is only 9 feet so will that be a disadvantage at all?? I also realize that you can do spey casts on a single hander as well. I am more interested in this butt extension if they make such a thing. I guess I could always go to the hardware store and get a big @ss bolt to stick instead of the butt for an extension lol I attached a couple of pics that show the handle and rod butt extension.

It was a blast!! Thanks to all the guys that let me try out their rods and give me some lessons on spey casting. Spey casting is way different than single handing that's for sure... I might have to go get myself a rod :) That switch rod was pretty sweet also the TFO one that was all noodly lol

Is this the video you were talking about haha