toolman

A few of the top producing dry flies on the Bow for me, this season, were PMD Sparkle Dun's, #16, #18. Especailly from mid July through late August. Another stellar dry pattern was a Peacock Caddis, which produced many large fish in late May through till mid June, during the intense Caddis emergence that we had. We also had an epic hatch of Classinea Stoneflies in late June through late July. A Skid bitch in the first two weeks of the hatch was king, then a Fat Albert produced well into August. Most of the epic Stonefly dry fly fishing was over by sunrise. In fact, many of my best dry fly days started at 3:00 am and ended at sunrise or started at sunset and ended near midnight. It sure was worth the many sleepless nights.

Your Skagit Head + sink tip + tippet should add up to between 3x - 3.5x the rods length. So, for a 11'3" rod, that would equal a 34' min. - 39' max. line system length. Use the shorter 3x ratio for larger/heavier flies and the longer 3.5x ratio for smaller flies, longer tippet. Tippet lengths should run from about a min. 2' to maybe 5'-6' on average. For sink tips, consider fixed 10' level sections of T-8, T-11 or alternatively, 10' Rio Mow tips in T-8 or T-11. link: http://www.rioproducts.com/product.php?recKey=157 Also, consider picking up a copy of Ed Wards "Skagit Master" dvd. link: http://skagitmaster.com/ Good Luck and Good Fishing! Greg

That's it...

For making upstream presentations, the Snake Roll is my favorite cast. This cast is great for lifting deeply sunk flies and will generate high line speed to energize the D loop and subsequent forward casting loop. It is also a very clean cast (touch and go), creating very little disturbance on the water.

Would you suggest the airflo compact scandi or the beulah elixir scandi designed for the rod? I have cast/fished with this rod using the Elixir line and it is well matched, but I really like the Airflo Compac Scandi heads. Can I use the head I have now for the larger flies instead of the compact skagit? It will be difficult to cast/turn over larger/heavier flies/sink tips, compared to the performance of a Compac Skagit head.

Beaulah recommends a 380 grain Scandi head for the 6/7 Classic. You can use Airflo or Rio 10' Polyleaders for sunk fly work with smaller flies. For larger, heavier flies, use an Airflo 420 - 450grain Compac Skagit with either T-11 or T14 tips, cut to desired length (I generally use 8'-10' of T-11 or T-14). You can also use 8wt.-9wt., 15' Rio DC sink tips, which can be cut back from the front, to smoothly turn over the largest/heaviest fly that you will fish with. (generally cut back too around a rod length). If you plan on nymphing, use a 9' Fluro leader off the end of the Scandi head. Good luck and have fun!

Never rule out the red one, even on the swing... Of course I would never, but....hahaha. As for swing flies, I usually try and teach people to just take the indie off and swing whatever they were nymphing with as a means of getting them into the swing game. Then, once the tug drug kicks in, they are usually more willing to learn the different swing methods and line systems used to make better presentations. Like all fly fishing tactics, there is a learning curve and an investment of time/money for tackle ect., required to have consistent success. Swinging a Water boatman on a fast sink tip/fluro leader should produce a few good slams on the Bow right now. Hang on tight!

A little late with my reply.... Hi Jeremie, welcome to the Spey brotherhood! Spey rods are excellent for nymphing and fishing streamers on the Bow. A spey rod can give you great casting/line control to make great presentations. I use a variety of line/sink tip/leader systems including Floating/Full sink Scandi heads with fluro leaders/poly leaders, Skagit Heads with T-14 Sink tips ect. The Bow has a wide variety of structure/conditions and there is a proper place/time to use all of these line systems. Getting proper casting instruction, having your lines/tips/leaders dialed in to your rod properly and making time to practise is crucial to your success. Try and learn all of the different Spey casts as they all will be usefull and neccessary at some point. Asking lots of questions is a great way to shorten the learning curve. Maybe you could tell us what Spey rod/line that you are using. Good luck and have fun! Greg

I've been using William Joseph Waders/Jacket this season and so far I have not had any problems. Probably have around 80 trips with them since I bought them in mid April of this year.

We'll be hitting the Bow again this Sunday afternoon, October 18th, to play with the Spey/Switch rods/lines and work on the casting skillz. We'll be on river left (east side), across from the Fish Creek Boat Launch, starting around 1:00pm. These informal Spey gatherings are a lot of fun and a great opportunity to try lots of different rod/line combo's and meet some of the nice folks in our Spey community...The weather forecast looks good... Everyone is welcome to join us...Hope to see you there. Greg

Possibly on Sunday afternoon. I will post a notice, tommorow, if the weather forecast is reasonable.

Greetings all.............. Have a great ThanksGiving weekend everyone!

Nice.

Great pics!

Hi Dan, That is a perfect description of the Constant Tension principles that you have been teaching at your Spey Workshops. Thanks for taking the time to post your insights. Looking forward to seeing both you and Gordon, in September.

Thats a great looking Rainbow. Thanks for sharing your adventure.

Hi Cam, We lined the Meiser S2H with an Airflo 330grain Compac Scandi and .022" Frog Hair running line. Very sweet set up.

Happy Birthday Al.

Al, It depends on the size/weight of the fly that you are using and the length of your leader/tippet. If it gets difficult to get the fly up on the lift, a few feet of the head can be stripped inside the rod tip. These sinking heads can be custom cut to suit rod action/length, fishing conditions and casters preference. I still need to dial in the length of my S1/S2 as it is a bit long for the 12' rod I have been using it with. Higher lifts, and/or a roll cast to get the fly up, may also be helpfull and at times necessary. Ideally, when Spey casting a small fly, I should have a couple of feet of overhang out of the rod tip and with a larger/heavier fly, and/or, a longer leader, I would have the head up to the rod tip, or a even foot or two inside the rod tip. I use all types of Spey casts and two hand Overhead casts with this sinking head. When making a Double Spey, Circle C or Spey casts with a "sweep' segment, it is important to keep things moving along so the head does not sink, robbing the forward cast of its energy. With the faster flows on the Bow this past week, an S2/S3 would have been usefull/effective.

Hey Gordon, I've been out with the two handers most every day, swinging Leeches, Clousers, Caddis emergers/pupae, ect. The fishing has been very good on the Bow this season. I've been swinging a Guideline full sink S1/S2 shooting head in the faster flows with great success. Also, spending a lot of time working on the spey casting, with an hour or two of practise each day. Had an opportunity to cast wtforwards, 6126 Meiser Highland Trouter, on Sunday. Beautifull rod that throws gorgeous loops.

I had a great weekend and learned a lot. Thanks to Dan and Jack for supporting our Spey community. I'll see you both again in September. Looking forward to it. Greg ps. Love the Guideline LeCie Spey rods and my new Guideline S1/S2 Sinking head.

There are a few spots still available for anyone interested in attending the Scandi/Spey casting workshops on Saturday and Sunday. You can either send Dan (Scandi) or Jack (Speyman), a pm or show up Saturday, 9:00AM, at the Southland Pedestrian Bridge. (We'll meet in the parking lot.) Don't miss the opportunity to learn from a couple of the best Speycasters in the business. It's going to be a great weekend with lots of sun, fun and blue skies.

Looking forward to seeing you again, Dan and to finally meet Jack Cook. Can't wait to play with the new Guidline Spey rods/lines. Last years workshop really improved my Scandi casting significantly. Anyone interested in learning about casting two handed rods or improving their Spey casting knowledge/skills, will really enjoy these workshops. Dan is one heck of an instructor, phenomenal Scandi caster and a great guy. See you on June 27/28.

Gordon, How did it go at the Sandy Spey Clave?

Folks, unfortunetely Ed Ward won't be able to make it too Calgary this weekend for the Skagit Casting demo. He will try and make it in September. Thanks, Greg