Learning Spey casting techniques

[TieFlier]

I'm pretty much set on skagit casting as I will be chasing salmon and steelhead most often. Meaning I will be using heavy sink tips and weighted flies. Seems like the consensus points towards a few lessons and practice practice practice. Thanks again for all you advice!

btree - Thanks for the links, I've seen this guy before and hes pretty good to put it mildly! Gives you a goal to shoot towards eh? Thanks for reminding me of the video.

[24_7Fisherman]

I have been teaching myself how to cast a spey. so far im on my second season with it. First season i used a 14' rod with an Airflo Delta line (55' belly) this i can cast really well and was a great line to learn with. This year however i got a switch rod and went with an Airflo compact skagit line, this was a little more taxing to learn and remembering to slow it all down. I still cant seem to make a double spey work perfect but it sure perry pokes like a dream I have sold the longer setup already because i love this one to much. Its not to much to teach yourself with some videos and lots of practice on the water.


Once you learn to cast a skagit line it can do distances pretty easily. I dont really bother with holding loops i just double the line in my bottom hand and drop it as the line is shooting. Tried the loops thing but they seem to mess me up for some reason.

Here is a shot of me launching a decent cast on the Vedder a couple weeks back. The rod is a Beulah 11' Surf that im using a 540 grain compact on with Guideline running line.

[TieFlier]

Nice shot! It sounds like you're playing with a similar tool as me. What weight is your Beulah switch?

[24_7Fisherman]

its the 7/8wt Surf rod that i have just turned into a switch. We played around with many grain weights before settling on the 540, it was fun feeling the different ways the rod would load.

Where do you normally head out to fish or practice casting ?? perhaps we could meet up and i can help with my limited knowledge. What setup are you tossing ?


Thank you for the kind words about the shot but i need to give credit to my friend Jenna that took the pic. We took a bunch of shots of each other casting that day, its alot harder to take pics when you cant see the line in the camera viewing window !!!

[TieFlier]

I'm finding myself usually heading the Squamish system to fish more and more. I also will trek to the vedder if the conditions are right. I'll also fish the Capilano and seymour rivers as they are close by to me. That would be awesome if we could meet up somewhere.

[btree]

Do the Cap and the Seymour have any fish worth chasing any more? I know the Cap gets some salmon in the summer and fall but...
I know these rivers are quite sensitive - I'm not fish for secret spots - I just used to visit the grand parents in North Van every summer as a kid and check out the Cap regularly, but never caught any fish. Loved seeing the salmon in the fish ladder at the hatchery though!
My grandmother's neighbour has told me stories from back in the 70's and 80's when he used to get the odd steelhead out of the Cap, but he doesnt even bother any more.

[TieFlier]

The Cap was excellent for steelhead this year (hearing reports of 4-5 fish days). The river is hard to fish on the fly as much of it is canyon, most people fish with gear. But those kind of numbers from a smaller river is quite encouraging. The early run of coho is just starting up now as the water level begins to rise. Its not worth hitting with fly rod until the water drops a fair ways, but you can still catch fish in surprisingly bad conditions just need to know where to look. I haven't fished the fall salmon runs too much but I had a couple good days last year. The Seymour is a much nicer river to fish as its a lot longer and easily walkable. The river holds a decent number of winter run steelhead and a handful of summer runs. I've yet to hook a summer run, might try that this year depending on what else it going on. The salmon runs are modest in the Seymour, lots of chum the odd Chinook and decent numbers of coho. They are small rivers and places to stand can fill up quick (most runs are less than 60ft) and four guys can be a real crowd in some spots. The Cap receives a lot more fishing pressure than the Seymour which is nice. I wouldn't say they would be ideal places to go when the steelhead or salmon are running but if the they are close by and you have some free time they're definitely an option.