Quest Outdoors

Jeffm80 · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 8:52 pm Post subject: spey fly ???

I was just reading on the skills page how to tie spey fly's, how do you properly fish these fly's for fall salmon. I would be using a regular fly rod not a spey rod.......jeff

BrianD · Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 1:51 pm Post subject: Fishing speys

Hey Jeff,
spey fishing certainly isn't restricted to spey rods! Single handed rods will present a spey fly on the swing just as well as a 2-hander.

Been meaning to write an article on "spey fishing", or less cryptically on "swinging flies", which is basically what we're talking about here. Presenting a fly that is being "swung" on either a sinking line/tip with a short leader or a floating line and long leader.

Your line/leader choice will usually depend on water depth, current and temperature. In MI at least the most productive set-up is with a sinking line or a sink tip. I'd recommend a tip while your starting out, as there much easier to control and cast. A fast sinking poly leader added to a floating line will get you started!

Presentation is something that would take pages to discuss, and there are FAR more knowledgable people than me to answer the question. Just to give you a starting point, your casting angle will generally be more or less across stream. Your goal is to get your fly traveling down and then across the pool while traveling at the proper depth and at roughly the same speed as the current. Depth is adjusted by the sink rate of your line and length of your leader, as well as your casting angle. Cast up-stream a bit to allow your fly more time to sink, or down-stream a bit for a shallower presentation. Speed is determined by the current and line handling. To start, aim at keeping your line/fly/rod tip in more or less a straight line through the swing. This keeps your fly traveling at around the speed of the current. You can slow down your presentation by holding back your rod tip slightly, or speed up by "leading" the fly with your rod. Biggest beginner mistake I've seen made is a big down-stream belly in the line. This causes the fly to travel very fast AND plane up in the water column, which is about the last thing you want!

Sorry for the real basic overview. I'll try and fill in some gaps when I've got time, or feel free to post a specific question and I'll answer the best I can. Give it a try, you'll LOVE IT! Best of luck,
Brian

Jeffm80 · Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 5:47 pm Post subject:

Thank's Brian, good information, I think you just started that article you we meaning to write !!!! jeff