birchy Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Got out this afternoon for a few hours at Policeman's. CDone was generous enough to bring along some spey rods for me to try out, and give me a few basic casting lessons. After that, we fished for an hour or so before he had to take off. But before that, he offered to let me hang on to one of his spey rods for a week or two so I can get a bit more used to it, so of course I said yes! Fished the single hand for awhile and wasn't having any luck so I figured "what the heck - might as well NOT catch anything on the spey rod instead!" Found some decent water, rigged up a double nymph rig and started casting. Nothing for awhile, so I moved up to a nice seam and tried it out. After a few casts the indicator went down and I gave it a tug.. and wouldn't ya know it - there was a tug back! Started trying to get in the slack line and all of a sudden the hook popped out.. but hey, that was pretty cool anyway! A few casts later the indicator went under again and this time I got a better hookset.. after a short fight I landed my first ever fish on a spey rod! Pretty cool for the first day I figure! It was a feisty little ~12" rainbow. I know it's a cookie cutter.. but hey, first fish on a spey rod deserves a picture in my mind: Tried a bunch more casts along the same seam but no more hits. Moved down to "the point" upstream and tried a few casts there as it was getting dark. Hooked up 2 more times but both got off almost immediately. Soooo... first time with the spey rod and went 1 for 4. Lessons learned: - CDone is a really nice guy! Thanks again dude! - casting these rods is pretty fun! - the hookset is tricky with the big long rod and the long heavy line.. but I'm sure there's a trick to it that someone will soon show me! - apparently I have lost the ability to catch fish on the Bow with my single hand.. yet I can flail away for the first time with a spey rod and managed to hook 4 and land 1.. go figure! Can't wait to get out for Round 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxwell Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 good on ya dude!!!!!! thanks for sharing!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeler Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Another convert! Try giving the line a short strip to break the water tension when setting the hook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
126barnes Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Very nice................hope you got a few bucks put a way, I haven't had my single hander out since I hooked my first one on the long rod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brookie2 Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Cool man. I know what your saying 126barnes, since I started with the double hand rods I can't remember the last time that I have cast a single hander. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headscan Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Spey rods really shine for swinging streamers or skating dry flies like big stones. Since the fish usually hook themselves on those and they're tight line presentations you don't have to worry about lifting all that heavy line off the water quickly to get a hook set like when you're indicator nymphing. It's a great tool for certain applications, but when the fish start feeding on mayflies up top you're going to want your single-handed rod again. Remember, you can also take those spey casting techniques you learn and apply them to a single-handed rod as well. I do my indicator nymphing with a single hand rod but only use spey casts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDone Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Glad you enjoyed yourself, keep practicing and let me know when you want to get out again. Colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhurt Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Got out this afternoon for a few hours at Policeman's. CDone was generous enough to bring along some spey rods for me to try out, and give me a few basic casting lessons. After that, we fished for an hour or so before he had to take off. But before that, he offered to let me hang on to one of his spey rods for a week or two so I can get a bit more used to it, so of course I said yes! Fished the single hand for awhile and wasn't having any luck so I figured "what the heck - might as well NOT catch anything on the spey rod instead!" Found some decent water, rigged up a double nymph rig and started casting. Nothing for awhile, so I moved up to a nice seam and tried it out. After a few casts the indicator went down and I gave it a tug.. and wouldn't ya know it - there was a tug back! Started trying to get in the slack line and all of a sudden the hook popped out.. but hey, that was pretty cool anyway! A few casts later the indicator went under again and this time I got a better hookset.. after a short fight I landed my first ever fish on a spey rod! Pretty cool for the first day I figure! It was a feisty little ~12" rainbow. I know it's a cookie cutter.. but hey, first fish on a spey rod deserves a picture in my mind: Tried a bunch more casts along the same seam but no more hits. Moved down to "the point" upstream and tried a few casts there as it was getting dark. Hooked up 2 more times but both got off almost immediately. Soooo... first time with the spey rod and went 1 for 4. Lessons learned: - CDone is a really nice guy! Thanks again dude! - casting these rods is pretty fun! - the hookset is tricky with the big long rod and the long heavy line.. but I'm sure there's a trick to it that someone will soon show me! - apparently I have lost the ability to catch fish on the Bow with my single hand.. yet I can flail away for the first time with a spey rod and managed to hook 4 and land 1.. go figure! Can't wait to get out for Round 2. Right on dude, these are the kind of stories I like to read. Can't wait for the first two weeks of April, since I am off its time to slam the bow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DutchDryfly Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 Welcome to the darkside. If you think this was nice, wait till something hit on the swing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdangler Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 Congrats, I havent got my first on the Spey yet, but inspired. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cam Posted May 2, 2010 Share Posted May 2, 2010 Welcome to the dark side... Bring on some new gear!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WETDUCK Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 How did you like the feel of the Fight ? even on the cookiecutter. Quack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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