Spey casting lessons
Just picked up a spey rod yesterday. I fly fish, but this thing feels like a flagpole in my hands. If anyone knows someone that offers casting lessons it would be greatly appreciated. I know Michael and Young offers courses, but the next is not until March. Wanna fish it on the Squamish and the like this winter. Any help or tips would be great. Big Swings

the best fishing on the Squamish usually isn't until late March peaking around the middle of April or even later in some years.

Rent some videos or buy a book. I think Derek Brown has a video out and the Maxwell book is good if you can ignore the hyperbole. Another possibility is the Hugh Falkus book. He had a video out years ago but it may be hard to find.

Above all practice.

im pretty sure Brian Braidwood at Babcock fly and tackle does spey cast lessons i could be wrong though.

Check out this website. It has alot of info on spey fishing, including downloadable casting videos. www.speypages.com Met the guy who runs the page up on the Thompson this weekend. Seemed like a decent enough guy and had some good info. He caught 3 that day. Enjoy.

I suggest you contact Dana Sturn. He can give you one on one lessons for a nominal fee per hour, and he is a very good instructor. He can be reached at Blacksalmon@hotmail.com
Again, as they mentioned http://www.speypages.com (Dana is the host of the page)
He also is one of the instructors at the Michael and Young speycasting school.

Keep in mind that spey casting instruction isn't exactly at a surplus in BC, and people as good as Dana knowledge/expierience wise with the Spey rod are few and far between. For instance, very few people in this world can pick up a different spey rod and get dialed into the action within a few casts. For me to get dialed into a different spey rod at my current ability would take about a whole day of casting the thing.

Another option you have is to get a video to tide you over until the spey school in March (this is what I did, I bought the video and used that until I went to the spey school). Derek Brown's Spey masterclass which can be bought at Michael and Young for 40 bucks is one of the best spey casting videos out there from the impressions I get from many.

The most important thing with a spey rod/reel setup is makng sure you have a properly balanced setup with a line that loads your rod properly.
Ask around for info on the proper line/rating for your rod. That spey board (linked to from speypages.com) is a good start as well as Simon Gawesworth's line recommendations for various rods found there as well.

Good luck,
Scott

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