Spey Casting Classes

The Art of Spey Casting

30 years experience, Jedi Master Dave Steinbaugh (owner of waters west) showing us how its done

Always feel free to call us @ (360) 417 – 0937 to book a date / Store hours: 9:30am-6:30pm Mon-Sat / closed Sundays during the summer

Details

Cost: $95.00
Time: 9am-3pm
Dates: see our Calendar
Place: We will meet either at the Elwha River under the Pedestrian Bridge off of Crown Z Road in Port Angeles, or at the Puffin Bar and Grill in Forks. Location varies depending on weather, class size, and time of year. You can generally expect to be in Forks in Winter and on the Elwha in Summer.

This full day class takes place on the water where you will learn the essential concepts of spey casting, as well as of the major casts from both sides of the river.

What to expect: Our classes focus on the fishing during the season the class is held. Our focus in our summer classes is on dry line techniques for summer steelhead and the focus in our winter and spring classes is on casting and fishing sink tips and heavy flies for winter steelhead. Even though the focus in on the techniques used in the season of the class, we also go over sink tip fishing in the summer classes and dry line techniques and lines in our winter classes. We will discuss and have available the many different Scandi and Skagit heads that make learning to spey cast so much easier than it used to be. Additional topics include reading water, run timing, fly selection and more.

(Head Guide/instructor Curt Reed, Spey Class-Fall 2015) We’ve been on the spey scene since 1980 developing tried and true methods for teaching spey. All of the instructors at Waters West have many years experience fishing, guiding and providing instructional classes to the sportsman community of the Olympic Peninsula.

click “MORE” for Spey details

Spey allows us to approach new water, reaching places you would never get to fish with conventional fly rods. For most winter anadromous fisheries you need to cover lots of water to stand a chance and if your a bank angler Spey opens a world of opportunities.

What is Spey? Spey is an advanced form of fly casting originating in Scotland on the river Spey during the mid 1800’s. Once it was a skill taught as a traditional sport only for gentlemen and the privileged. Good news is today it doesn’t matter where you come and what your social status is. These days you can find for a quality spey outfit for $400. Spey Rod Packages

The cast is more a zen like meditative motion that delivers power with little effort. With advancements in technology, our overall understanding of the physics behind the spey cast, spey can be performed with any fly rod, and almost any line. But a true (efficient) spey cast is done with a certain type of compact heavy fly line designed for use with a two-handed rod. The cast is a “water born cast” which means most of the cast takes place out in front of you. These two handed rods allow an angler to cover water quickly and efficiently with tremendous line control. It’s not only effective but it’s incredibly fun.

Where can you use Spey? Lately we’ve been applying these spey rods and or spey style casts to a world of fish species and locations. We’re on the coast for Cutthroat trout, bass in rivers and lakes, trout fishing (streamers and yes even dry flies!) Tarpon fishing out on the flats, all of which is gaining in popularity as fly fisherman recognize the efficiency and overall enjoyment spey casting brings. These days we have short compact spey lines for single handed rods. check out Commando Heads. So you can fish a shooting head (spey fly line) on your single hand 3wt, 6wt and on up to 10wt. These compact spey lines are fun and effective on any trout river

Do you have an injury? a blown/weak shoulder, elbow, wrist injury that has limited or all together prevented you from enjoying your time on the water? Think of a Spey rod (whether its 10ft or 13ft) as a long lever that requires you to cast in a relaxed arm and shoulder posture. Many of us with injuries like this gravitate towards the Spey cast. Lastly, learning the spey cast can carry over to your single handed fishing.

Learning Spey. The very nature of the spey cast takes years to master but only a few hours to learn. These days rods and lines are so efficient that that learning curve has been cut in half. Learning the spey cast has more to do with muscle memory than the knowledge of how to make the cast. (You may have already experienced this) but you can YouTube till you brain hurts but actually making the cast is something entirely different. So the driving point to make is this. If you start off developing muscle memory that is incorrect than the learning curve just became your K2.

Spey Casting Class. Learn from one source how to perform the correct casting motion then go from there. Personally speaking I spent a year learning it on my own hacking away developing bad habits and it only took (exactly) 8 minutes with our Head Guide/instructor Curt Reed to completely flip my world… Having an instructor, who not only know how to cast, but has a developed systematic method for teaching spey will boost your skills and confidence tenfold. We’ve been doing these classes for over a decade now have a sleeve full of differing approaches to suite a wide range of learning styles. The whole prerogative is for you to have fun learning, get out on your own and have fun doing it.

A main draw for spey anglers is the ability to throw large heavily weighted flies. Flies heavy as a wet Hamster

To fish in a range of conditions you may need the ability to throw small flies and when the weather turns south, large gaudy flies. Spey rods have the ability to do so with ease.

Summer time spey for trout and or summer run steelhead. Spey is a “Water born cast” means you don’t throw the fly line back behind you like traditional fly casting. In Spey the tip of the fly line sticks to the water until you make your forward cast thus shooting the line towards your target.

“water born casts” allow you to cast further with ease and without having to worry much about whats behind you. Trees, brush or a high bank with all of that behind you. 10ft of clearance is plenty!