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[ByteMe]

 U have 66ft of running line with 37ft of sinking line,which would make it nearly impossible to spey cast,as u will never lift that much sinking line out to form your D-loop. I am only running 10ft of sink tip on both my spey and switch rods.Your line would still be a challenge to cast even for an experienced caster..........the Good Lord help you if there is any wind blowing upstream,I now understand why u are making 7 false cast to load the rod........right rod pal,wrong line for what you want

[Spawn Sack]

Grrrreeeeat...on the one hand not the end of the world as I can just use it places where I can get a good backcast. I definitley will not be bothering to practice my SH spey casts with it any more! The downside is I've been using this line for about 2 years and tying to SH spey it a lot of the time - with great frustration! I actually didn't use it at all for about 8 months and just gear fished as I was getting so cheesed off with my crappy SH spey progress.

For now I'm just going to use the line I have and save my $ for a 2 handed spey set up. Down the road if I decide I want to get back into SH spey casting I'll buy a suitable line for it. Really regretting that I never mentioned to the staff when I bought the current line that I'd be using it for SH spey casting. Oh well live and learn...

[HOOK]

Where are you located SS ?

I have all 3 setups - single, switch and spey

if your close-ish to me we could possibly meet up and I could give you some pointers and some beginner two handed lessons to help the learning curve. At the very least I can teach you how to double haul, learning this will make your life way easier whether it be on rivers or lakes especially casting a sinking line.

moving water would obviously be beneficial

[Spawn Sack]

HOOK, sorry I forgot tp reply to this earlier. Difficult on this site to find a posting burried back several pages unless it's a "new reply." Would be nice if there was a "my postings" option that you could click on instead of clicking back 10 pages to find an old post. Am I missing something???

Anyway, I'm in Chilliwack. I've been out a few times with the S/H rod and have done alright and got into lots of pinks. Generally I just strip in to where I can comfortably roll cast the line, then lift the tip high and roll cast. If I want to shoot line I'll try to do a back cast before the fly hits the water on the roll cast. Generally I get the fly out there although it's not always pretty. I bought a stripping bucket from Sea Run and although it's not pretty (actually it's downright embarassing) it has helped a lot with my shooting as I always found it hard to manage my loops and get them to shot out smoothly. Now I just use my thumb and index finger as an extra eyelet to keep the line from wrapping around my reel when it's coming out of the basket. Definitely function over fashion!

None of my buddies fly fish -  all gear heads! I try to watch other guys on the river who I can tell are good flyfishermen and see what I can pick up. In the past I've hooked lots of pinks and some springs and chum. Never hooked a coho on the fly as I don't think my skills are good enough to fool the finicky buggers! Never really got into steelheading with the SH rod as throwing heavy sink tips all day aggrevates an old shoulder injury in a hurry so it's just not doable. However I recently got a spey rod for my bday so I'm stoked to learn to use it and try swinging some flies for steelhead this winter.

I spent a bit of time on grass trying to double haul but could not get it. Still keen to learn as it would also help me out on lakes casting into the wind etc. I found trying to teach myself that I was so focused on hauling that I lost track of my backcasting and the whole shabang just went to s**t. Generally I can cast as far as I need to without hauling but I hear it's less tiring to haul your line so I'd still like to learn.

Gimmie a shout at kcp@alumni.sfu.ca I'm out on the Vedder as often as I can right now.

[HOOK]

The guys and I will be out on the 21st with spey rods and gear rods hunting for fish. shoot me an email with your cell number and I'll text you the night before and let you know what area we will be. when you head down I will do my best to help you out with the double hauling thing, I would bet your over thinking it. once you do it correct a few times it becomes second nature. I could also give you some help with beginning spey stuff seeing as I will have my spey setup there with me.


I will be out there tomorrow as well with the spey and gear rods

[Spawn Sack]

Cool thanks! Unfortunately I have to work that day. I work shift work which sucks at times, however I get 4 or 5 days off in a row on my rest days so by and large it works out well. The 21st is a no go for me however I am off this coming Saturday to the following Wednesday and will be on the Vedder at least 3 of those days. Better if it rains! Less people! I often leave my fly rod in the car if the spot I want to fish is busy as I don't feel comfortable fly casting with others so close. Float rod no problem.

I don't really feel comfortable learning to spey fish right now with all the people on the river. I'd like l-o-t-s of space! The single hand rod however I'd love some pointers esp to double haul. Also with the spey rod I don't have a reel yet so I need a bit of time to research and buy one. My plan is to wait until the fishing cools off then get out with the spey rod, play around with it, and probably take a lesson. I have heard Willie Holmes' 2 day spey school, although not cheap (200ish) is very good. I had a group S/H spey lesson 4hrs with Willie and though he was an AWESOME instructor.

Anywho fire me off an email (I don't have yours) and I'll hook up with you/you guys one of these days on the river.

[Ian Forbes]

I'm a bit confused about the original question. You said you need help with single hand question and then went into a discussion on Spey casting. Learning to read water and how your fly acts in it is the secret. The choice of line for the water and the species you are after is almost always the biggest decision. Current speed, depth of water and the species involved all change the parameters.

An angler with a single handed rod of about 9 feet in length needs to know many different casts, including a Spey cast. The secret is controlling the line on the water. And, then there is the difference in species. Salmon and steelhead in a river react differently than feeding trout in a stream. And, it depends on what the trout are feeding on. The whole subject is so complex that it has been written about in hundreds (thousands?) of books. It is easier to go out with an expert and tune you up with the few secrets you need to know to achieve regular success.

[Spawn Sack]

Should make sense if you read the whole thread. Basicially I was having issues becoming adept at single hand spey casts (single + double spey, snap-t, circle-c, etc). It turns out that my line is not really meant for such casts. I agree as I have a real bugger of a time S/H spey casting it! What I learned for some of the guys is often such casts are not really necessary and a simple upsteam flip and/or roll cast before the back cast is really all you need in most situations. Now that's all I really do unless I can't get a backcast off due to obstacles behind. It's led to a much more enjoyable experience with the S/H rod.

Opps actually you are right in the end of the thread HOOK mentioned he could give me some two-handed spey tips. I mentioned in another discussion that I got a two handed spey rod for my birthday a few days ago and he was just offering to help me out with that in addition to the S/H rod issues I was having. Sorry about that However I don't have a reel yet for the spey rod so it'll be a bit before I take it out on the river.

[RalphH]

sounds like it's the fly line.....not you.It's very difficult to spey cast OH WF regular fly line,the taper is totally different from spey taper lines.Get a SH spey line from SA or Wulff Ambush line,and you will see an immediate change,they both work great with the snap T ,double spey casts,which you already know

never had this problem with over 30 years of spey casting & roll casting single handed. These casts were actually developed with double taper lines. Most spey lines are variants of a single taper with a running or shooting line behind so the line can be shot for some distance.

**********************

You need to measure the clear tip. The one source I checked lists the sinking portion as 15 feet - which should be doable for Double spey and snap Ts - even a 37 foot intermediate can be accommodate both casts.

[flyrod]

Could it be that you are expecting too much from this one set up??  Maybe your fly rod is too soft for the water and line that you are fishing.  I think that you should concentrate on fishing for coho in slower water with quick retrieve.  Then you won't have the drag on your line and won't have to worry about spey casting to recover your line's positioning.  I live in Chilliwack and fish for both springs and coho. I target springs with my Switch rod whereby I do more "nymph style fishing" rather than swing due to the fact that springs love deep holes and slicks more than tailouts. Coho love 'frog water'.  They also love dancing waters for protection.  This is where 'nymph style fishing' is effective.  Think about using your 8wt for coho.  I know that money dictates what one has to use, but I would encourage you to consider two different setups for two different environments and species on the river.  Just a thought.

[Ian Forbes]

Without on stream explaining it's almost impossible to describe. There are so many variables that all affect the end result and what you want to achieve.  I still say getting as close as possible to the fish is the best solution. Then you have better control over the line. And, matching the correct line to the water in front of you and the species you are fishing for is very important. Are you talking about feeding trout or resting salmon or steelhead. They all react differently and hold in different places. Even the different species of salmon hold in different places.

[Spawn Sack]

Can anyone reccomend a good shop (in lower mainland) to buy Wulff Ambush fly line? I inquired about it at Fred's Chiliwack the other day and got blank stares. I would like to try one of these short head lines designed for single hand spey casts. I'm going to Sea Run next week, not sure if they carry this brand.

[HOOK]

I checked for Canadian dealers on their website and I didn't come up with any located within BC

Your best bet would be to order one online

[ByteMe]

I think Michael&Young carries them

[Spawn Sack]

Thanks HOOK and Byteme. I'll call M&Y and see if they carry Wulff line. I don't feel comfortable ordering the line online as I'm not super knowledgable on fly lines and want to make sure I get the best line for my rod. I know I want a short head (20ft ish) designed for s/h spey casts. However I know with some lines it's advisable to go up a line weight, etc. I would prefer to buy this line from a shop with knowledgable staff like M&Y.

If no luck finding a lower mainland dealer I'll try Fred's and see if a similar line is made by Rio, S/A, etc.