Sandy River Spey Clave, 12th Annual Line Up…Be There!!
Archive for the 'spey' Category
08
Mar
11
Fly Fishing: Tying for Chrome
Accomplished fly fisher, Larry Tamiyasu of Portland, Oregon, travels far and wide fly fishing for a variety of fish species. He is an accomplished tier and like most of us, anticipates success with his own creations.
Preparing by Larry Tamiyasu (SwittersB)
And, more often than not, he and his fishing partners are successful where ever they wet at line.
Successful Fly Pattern by Larry Tamiyasu (SwittersB)
Thanks Larry for sharing. He and his buds have already booked their digs for next October. Anticipation……………….
Fisheads Flies 'n Lore
Via Spey Heads (FB) for Fish Heads Flies and Lore
Indulgent individualism? Rebels without a care? Whatever, they help tweak the realm, even if you hate them, envy them, support them. Sometimes fish bums are akin to foodies, the well traveled, the spoiled few….you want to just slap the shit out of them. Then again, you like knowing them too.
06
Feb
11
Spey Casting: Followup Homework
I spent the better part of the day on the Sandy River fishing for steelhead. No pulls, but I had a good day. I found a very nice drift. I fished reasonably well and had the luxury of no one pushing me downstream. I got to practice, visualize (remember the post re Mike Kinney and his excellent word pictures?) and correct. At the end of the day, maybe two thirds of the casts really laid out nicely, but my attitude was such that there was no pressure, just a relaxed time on the water with beautiful conditions.
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- Snap T, or was it a Snap C?
But, I decided to do some followup studying when I got home and try to figure out why my Snap T’s or Z’s..er C’s petered out and caused my fly to unerringly wrap around the end of my rod. I need visuals. I came across a site by Alastair Gowans @ LetsFlyFish. It has some nice basic visuals re some of the Skagit casts as well as other types of fly fishing casts. I also need to pull out Ed Wards Skagit Master DVD and review while today’s fishing is fresh on the mind. I am building the imprint. Got home for last half of the Super Bowl and then it started pouring outside. The day was perfect. (Ok, upon further review, I am not bringing my rod back down river after the snap, but rather stopping as shown in pic, which leaves it open to tangles)
This is an extensive primer on adding sink tips to your Skagit line. I particularly liked the part about those past generations of tangled sink tips (with permanent ink markings as to density) in leader wallets (or some scuffed up zip lock bag) in a gear bag. Now I have to sort through all those sink tips in those two leader wallet my kid dumped into the gear bag long ago.
“Many folks have sink-tips from older generation Spey lines like Rio’s Windcutter or Airflo’s Delta Spey. Usually, they’re completely tangled up in some old shooting head wallet. They live in our gear bag but never get used. Guides love it when you ask if you can use them, especially when you have no clue what they are or where they came from.” (Rusty Hook)
07
Jan
11
Spey Casting Basics….Sloooooow
Tim Johnson @ Steelhead Chaser provides a short reminder re spey casting: go slow and then even slower. As I read that, I envisioned my own casting strokes. I could see jerky lifts, fast sweeps, and rushed applications of power to the butt or less appropriately to the right hand at the top of the cork.
I was admonished with the same advice by Matt McCrary on prior outings: ‘Slow down’ ‘easy’…..
A refresher is always good. In my case, it is beginning basics and I am in the process of building the pathways, building solid basics. Watch Youtube spey casting vid’s by say Mike Kinney or Ed Ward and notice the easy, SLOW, movements. Even they watch-feel their casting stroke.
Underwater Spey Pattern by TMuncy (SwittersB)
A bit fuzzy, but taken with an underwater Pentax Optio W30 (older workhorse model). George Cook’s Showgirl Spey Pattern on a tube by TMuncy.
I am by no means an expert or even well versed with spey casting. I’ve been dabbling with it for a few years and I mean dabbling. It feels good. I certainly see the possibilities; even at my level. One thing I am working on is holding more steady with the upper, fulcrum hand and steering, developing speed with the lower hand. Years of waving that strong arm side around with a single hander has me programmed to do it all with the right and over ride the significance of the bottom hand. Yet another thing to work on. I love it! There really is a life time’s worth of skills to attempt to master and maintain with fly fishing.
TMuncy Fishing~Practicing the Movements (SwittersB)
Winter Contrast by TMuncy (SwittersB)
Torque Moment (TMuncy@SwittersB)
