toolman

Great post Ladystrange and glad that you are interested in having some fun and working on the fishing skills. The Skills Challenge is scheduled for March as mentioned and open to all members who would like to join. Some of the judges and participants will be busy in July with guiding and working in the fishing business, so March is the off season for them to get involved. The Skills Challenge will help all of us prepare for the prime fishing next season. If folks want to do a camping trip in July, I would be in to that as well.

Wow...Fishead...that was amusing..."put em' up"...grin. Kinda reminded me how my kids used to act when they were 10... Guess you're looking for a spankin' too....

Well Dr. BT, if you take a look at the Speycasters Lounge and the old FFC boards, you will see that we have been talking about two handers for the last year around here, including a couple of Spey schools that we have already hosted. As for it gaining popularity in recent months, this is true and I think it is just great. People are attracted to it for many reasons including the beautifull and efficent casting and unique presentation methods etc. Whatever the magic is about Spey casting/fishing with two handers that is attracting people to give it a try, it's all good. Spey casting/fishing is about taking your flyfishing skills to the next level. I can see how some of you guys are not up for the challenge.

That's great. So we have Team Young Guns...Team Bow Rookies....Then Hawgstoppah and Kritofr's team, name and line up TBA... Anyone else want to take part in the FFC SKills Challenge? Put a Team together....Ladies...get in the game.

Writing up the guidelines for the Skills Challenge will take a couple of weeks, as it is neccessary to hear from the elders in our flyfishing community, for their wisdom and guidance. Stay tuned....

Don't worry, you can practise with hooks for the next 3 months...a couple of hours for the Team...a small sacrifice for glory...grin. Plus, we're gonna fish when the competition is over. We will have something on the end of the leader, but the hook point will be cut off or something.

Sorry no hooks allowed...

I'd like to see as many people participating as possible. Thanks for getting involved guys. I think the casting elements can be fit into real fishing sceniario's on the river, rather than lawn casting evaluations which can get boring. We are looking at setting up challenges which require the participant to cast to a target, demonstrating a specific cast from designated casting stations, including mending and controlling the drift to and through the strike zone and than recasting with a clean pick up etc. Simple, but fun and challenging...Of course, some tasks may have a few obstacles in the way...grin. These different challenges will increase in difficulty through each round untill we get to the last challenge which will be very difficult for even the best of fisherman...

That's the spirit. I will consult with a few folks to get some input for a list of challenges to cover the fundamentals. Any one is welcome to add suggestions, comments.

I guess it sounded a bit hardcore, but it was to make a point that fishing success usually comes with learning these fundamental skills, and working at it, to improve. I like the spirit shown by the Rookies. They sound like they're up for the challenge and willing to put aside a little time to have some fun and work on it. So am I.

I think it is easy to judge someones nymph presentation, including mending abilities, casting etc. in a real fishing environment, separate from just casting evaluations, which will also be included and likely based on FFF basic instructional guidelines. So the real deal, within reach for these guys and the solid fundamentals of fly fishing. Streamer casting/presentation with a couple of different retrieves, one strip and another a continuous motion retreival at uniform speed. Dry fly casting on the water into a ring target at set distances. That kind of thing. We can try and keep it fun and practical as well. I'm sure we can find a couple of judges with the knowledge and experience to give a good evalutation and a few helpfull tips to all participants.

Ahhh way off base Dustin...This is about having some fun, working on skill developement over the winter months and challenging yourself to be a better angler. No one loses and everybody wins. Plus, did I mention FUN...the reason we flyfish, cause it's pleasureable. Hope you're still interested.

Sure Brent, let's do that. But, we will use our left hands (non-dominant casting hand)....my right elbow is shot to hell. I'll take you on at the Competitons in March, after my Rookie Team shames you "young guns"....grin

Ok then, the first Sunday, with wind less than 20km. and +5C or better forecast, in March 2008, will be the tentative date for the competition. I thought we could maybe call it the FlyFishCalgary Rookie Challenge, where the young guns (more than a year of fishing experience) take on the first year flyfisherman. I'll work on writing the challenges/skill tests, so that everyone will know what to expect and can practise. It's gonna be tough, so if you don't practise, you will fail miserably.

Skills Competition, followed by bbq, hosted by Ladystrange, followed by some fishing.

Birchy, you stated plain n' clear, "I'd be comfortable putting my fishing ability to the "test" against any other 1st year fly angler"..... Now here's your chance....grin. Like I said before, it's about skills boys, everything else is "mine's bigger than yours" and I call bs...

We'll use single handers at 30 paces....not backing out are you Brent? If you're a "real" fisherman, with skills (and that's what catches the fish), then come and show everyone...especailly the judges. Yep, it's about skills or it's just bs to me. Edit: Dustin, we're looking at this bieng a Saturday morning adventure, as it would be difficult to plan a weekend with so many folks involved, many who have children and families to attend to.

Oh...just to clarify...This competition won't have much to do with how many trout you catch, but more focused on skills, with Judges scoring points, including Casting (ie, distance, accuracy, single spey, double spey, overhead, double haul, reach casts, tuck casts, casting sink tips etc).... Line Control, (stack mends, slack mends, etc.)... also different flyfishing techniques, ie. Nymphing methods (Long line/indicator, High Stick, Upstream nymphing), Swing presentations (wet/dry, waking, hitching, skating, sink tips), Streamer methods/presentations, retrieves, sink tips, presenting Dry flys, terminal tackle ect. ect. etc. I'll work on writing something up and getting a couple of judges. Better get practising boys....tight loops!

I have many Airflow Spey lines and they cast /perform very well. The Airflow lines have a Polyurethane coating that keeps the line from cracking and degrading. The Rio lines are coated with PVC and are more suspectible to mirco fractures and a shorter casting life. The Rio Spey lines that I have casted, worked very well. The Rio WFT lines that I own also cast well and seem to have good life. When I look at Spey lines, I am more interested in tapers, head lengths, head weight etc. to try and understand the casting/fishing characteristics of the line, so that I will know if it is the right line for the rod/fishing application I will be using it for. Balancing your Spey rod/line/tip/leader/tippet/fly system, is critical to high performance in all fishing situations.

I think it's possible to look forward to some nice fishing days all through the winter for the competition. Lets keep this about fishing skills and strategy. One fly or three, sink tips, indicators... use any fly gear you want as long as it is legal.

Huhhh? Let's make this about "fishin", not who's is bigger and in -10C... I ain't entering that race...

You're on...$20 bucks says my boys slam ya good.... Pick a time ....pick a place...you choose where and when to lose...and so on...

Hi Rob, Nice RV...I need one just like it. How far of a drive is it to go fishing in Belgium from your home? What species will you fish for?

Yeah...If I'm not mistaken, I'd say Dustin was on the Canadian Jr. Flyfishing Team last year at the world championships? So, I don't think he qualifies as "rookie"...lol. So, I would go with Troutslayer...and a 5 man team. I'll be your Coach though.... Who are we going to compete against? Maybe team MadMax? We'll give em' a whippin they won't soon forget...

Well you have the advantages of bieng able to plant the rod butt into your hip and use two hands to haul hard. The pressure/directional changes that you can place on the fish will tire it quickly and you can really turn snouts around in a hurry. When the fish loads a Spey rod, it reacts and unloads back and you basically just become an anchor and let the rod do the work. However, the real advantage in using two handers, is in the casting control, using a variety of tips and large flys, great presentations at a distance which improves stealth, excellent line control and the fast, powerfull hook sets that are achievable at 75'-85' and even more, which are important when using large hooks for big fish. When you strip set and sweep the rod tip simultaneously, the slack is removed lightning fast and your landing ratio most often improves as the hook is buried deeper. We have noticed an improved landing ratio when fishing for trout with the two handers, which seems to have increased from about 60% to around 75%, most days. Longer drifts means your fly covers more water, with fewer casts and ultimately results in more fish landed. Two handed Spey casts are also possible with little or no backcasting room, which allows you to fish spots that other flyrod'ers pass up. Two hands are really better than one and it is twice as much fun!