[Andrew Ramsey]

So I just got my first spey setup and Ive been watching youtube videos on how to cast plus all the other good stuff. Some of them were helpful and others were a little confusing, but I was wondering if anyone had good videos on the topic that they would be willing to share.

Tight lines!

 

[fisshman26]

what rod and line set up did you get might be useful in order to point you in the right direction

 

[Andrew Ramsey]

what rod and line set up did you get might be useful in order to point you in the right direction

I just bought an Echo TR 13' #7.

 

[WA-Fly]

Check out the ashland fly shop YouTube channel, it is a wealth of information on spey casting and fishing techniques. You get to also see these techniques in action and see them catch fish and explain how they did it.

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

 

[9140greenie]

I just bought an Echo TR 13' #7.

Yes, but what line are you using?

 

[Steve Saville]

I started spey fishing a number of years ago. I'm far from being an expert; consider myself to be a hack but the most important thing I have learned is that unless you have a line that matches your rod and casting style, you're wasting your time. The line is extremely important. As stated before, there are a bunch of good YouTube videos out there that will help you along the way. As for DVDs I like Rio's Modern Spey Casting and John Hazel's Spey Casting Steelhead. They are good technique and tactical videos. But there is plenty of information available on the internet.

 

[Merle]

"Spey to Z" is really good as well. It starts with Way Yin explaining the transition from single hand to switch casting and then goes through the basic traditional spey casts. Then there's a full segment by Topher Brown on Scandinavian casting and another from Greg Pearson on Skagit casting.

I also really like Dec Hogan's "Modern Spey Casting", but it's not really a beginner video. He does a quick run through of 4 basic casts and then the rest of the movie is fishing on the Dean.

 

[freestonebound]

I would look into OPST. Their Skagit lines and sink tips are great. If you email them and tell them what Rod you have they will give you an exact match up. They're great about getting back to people if they have any questions.

 

[freestonebound]

Anything by Dec Hogan or Ed Ward.

 

[4sallypat]

The line is super important - more than the rod.

Go to your local fly shop to try out lines - Puget Sound, Gig Harbor, or Red's in WA.

Or if you have fly shops don't offer that feature, give Poppy @ Red Shed a call and ask him to send you some lines to try out as a demo.
Only costs you return shipping if you don't like them at all.

I just picked up from Poppy a 33' Gaelforce ESSS trout spey line for my 5wt switch rod and test cast it at our local pond.
Casts like a laser!

This is a line I also picked up from Poppy's for longer line practice and work on my 10wt 15' rod:

 

[Andrew Ramsey]

The line is super important - more than the rod.

Go to your local fly shop to try out lines - Puget Sound, Gig Harbor, or Red's in WA.

Or if you have fly shops don't offer that feature, give Poppy @ Red Shed a call and ask him to send you some lines to try out as a demo.
Only costs you return shipping if you don't like them at all.

I just picked up from Poppy a 33' Gaelforce ESSS trout spey line for my 5wt switch rod and test cast it at our local pond.
Casts like a laser!

This is a line I also picked up from Poppy's for longer line practice and work on my 10wt 15' rod:

Thank you for the recommendation.

So what makes the line so important? Im not fully understanding this.

 

[Shamoo]

Loading the rod for the cast,, to light ,no load...

 

[4sallypat]

Thank you for the recommendation.

So what makes the line so important? Im not fully understanding this.

The line is the number one reason why an angler succeeds or fails casting.

Even a rod that is marked 500-600gr lines like your 7130 rod may not actually work well for you.
People make the huge mistake of buying a line without test casting based on what the line rating marked on the rod; then blame the rod for not performing to their expectations.
My instructor has found that each rod has a specific "sweet spot" line - even multiple rods that are the exact same will have a different sweet spot because of manufacturer differences, blank rotation, and the angler...

Lines vary with length, taper, angler casting ability; but also differs with the type of angling (dry, nymph, wet, swinging, salt water) & terminal lines (sink tip, float tip, poly leader, straight tippet)...

Case in point: I have a G Loomis PRO4X 5wt switch rod with a grain window of 320gr scandi and 350gr skagit.
The actual lines that work well for me are: 275gr OPST Commando, 330gr Airflo Rage, 360gr Airflo Scout, 380gr Gaelforce ESSS, and WF-6 single hand line for dries/surface.
That's a huge range to cast for a rod - it's all dependent on rod, caster ability and fishing styles.
Take a look at my rod's tremendous range of abilities:- Peter Charles will demonstrate a spey line as well as a single hander WF line on the same rod for different applications:

Go find a store that will be willing to let you test cast various lines for the type of fishing you want to do....