Matt Burke
03-02-2003, 05:58 PM
What an incredible event that read like a who’s who. Dana Sturn led us off Saturday morning with the basic intro to Spey casting. The most interesting thing Dana showed us was his own transition in style of casting over the years. It was like watching a time machine and with each cast they became tighter and farther.
Andy Murray was next from England. He was tossing a Hardy with all the tradition and accent thrown in for free. I actually got to try his rod and it was sweet.
Mike McCune and Scott Odonnell worked as a team. They had a dozen ARC Scott rods strung with various lines. Regular multi-tips, shooting heads, home made shooting. A mix and match of what seemed like every possible combination of multi-tips, no middle sections, middle sections with extensions. They emphasized casting with the different sink tips and how to get them up and in the air.
Goran Anderson from Sweden, then stepped up with his Loop rods and lines. My first real look at the underhand cast. He had a very light and short casting style. I think he could have tossed a 150 feet, but emphasized that most takes are within 50 anyway. He kept saying, are there any questions, but I don’t think anybody knew what to ask.
Then Steve Choate and Way Tin stepped up to bat. Steve Choate is a Spey casting champion and won it over there. They were throwing the SA XLT with a 115-foot head. I never saw them strip in any line, in fact, that was their point. To be able to cast with all the line and not have to worry about frozen guides. Also it was amazing to see the distance these guys were getting by keeping their loops tight. They accomplished this by keeping their tip motion parallel with the water.
Sunday was the same thing with the addition of George Cook. He told the story of how he named the Snap-T. He also showed us the Perry’s Poke. Having just had his class two weeks ago, it was great to get a review.
I must have cast every single rod on the market, every line that was there and met some of the greatest people on earth. Most importantly was Dennis Worley. He worked very hard running around making sure everyone was taken care of.
It was an amazing thing to grab a rod from one of these fellows and cast it. Each one would instruct you as you tried their stuff. There were so many styles to learn. So many things to incorporate into my own program. Through that whole dizzying array of information, I now know exactly which way I’m headed into the Northwest Spey Casting Hall of Fame. If I get lucky I might even catch a fish on the way.
Matt
"Everyday that you wake up and decide not to go fishing...is one less day you'll go fishing." Forrest Maxwell
Andy Murray was next from England. He was tossing a Hardy with all the tradition and accent thrown in for free. I actually got to try his rod and it was sweet.
Mike McCune and Scott Odonnell worked as a team. They had a dozen ARC Scott rods strung with various lines. Regular multi-tips, shooting heads, home made shooting. A mix and match of what seemed like every possible combination of multi-tips, no middle sections, middle sections with extensions. They emphasized casting with the different sink tips and how to get them up and in the air.
Goran Anderson from Sweden, then stepped up with his Loop rods and lines. My first real look at the underhand cast. He had a very light and short casting style. I think he could have tossed a 150 feet, but emphasized that most takes are within 50 anyway. He kept saying, are there any questions, but I don’t think anybody knew what to ask.
Then Steve Choate and Way Tin stepped up to bat. Steve Choate is a Spey casting champion and won it over there. They were throwing the SA XLT with a 115-foot head. I never saw them strip in any line, in fact, that was their point. To be able to cast with all the line and not have to worry about frozen guides. Also it was amazing to see the distance these guys were getting by keeping their loops tight. They accomplished this by keeping their tip motion parallel with the water.
Sunday was the same thing with the addition of George Cook. He told the story of how he named the Snap-T. He also showed us the Perry’s Poke. Having just had his class two weeks ago, it was great to get a review.
I must have cast every single rod on the market, every line that was there and met some of the greatest people on earth. Most importantly was Dennis Worley. He worked very hard running around making sure everyone was taken care of.
It was an amazing thing to grab a rod from one of these fellows and cast it. Each one would instruct you as you tried their stuff. There were so many styles to learn. So many things to incorporate into my own program. Through that whole dizzying array of information, I now know exactly which way I’m headed into the Northwest Spey Casting Hall of Fame. If I get lucky I might even catch a fish on the way.
Matt
"Everyday that you wake up and decide not to go fishing...is one less day you'll go fishing." Forrest Maxwell