Where to begin?

[Fish_Hunter1]

Hey guys.
so ive been fishing around. including the clackamas, kalama, and the cowlitz. and i have noticed that a lot of the spey casters are doing very well. and it looks like A TON OF FUN. so i would like to give it a try but i have no idea where to start i have had some experience with fly fishing. and im just looking for a point in direction to learn and hopefully be successful in it.

 

[Raincatcher]

We have some spey casters here and I'm not one of them. That said, I would think a decent starting point might be YouTube. There are dozens if not hundreds of videos on any given subject. Otherwise, I'm sure you could find a class at a local fly shop or even at a community college. Keep us posted on your newest journey.

 

[hobster]

^^^^ Good idea. When I started fly fishing about 15 years ago I took a class and it did wonders to help with the basics, either that or having an experienced fisherman help is the best way to learn imo. I've never used a spey rod, imagine its a whole different ball game.

 

[hydropsyche]

I have been using two handed rods for the last four years. I started with a switch rod 11'6" 7 wt for targeting winter steelhead on the alsea. That rod is a prefect match for medium-sized to smaller coastal streams. I have since upgraded and have a 13'6" 7 wt for larger rivers and a 12'6" 6wt that now gets most of the action due to its versatility and more relaxed casting speed. I use a skagit head with sink tips for winter steelhead and metolious bull trout. I prefer casting a scandi with a floating poly leader for summer steelhead. The best part about spey fishing is if the fishing sucks you can always work on your casting and there is no better feeling than chucking a fly 100'+. For way too much info go to speypages.com and watch steelhead dreams by Todd Moen and ed wards skagit masters.

 

[hydropsyche]

If you take a class don't let them talk you into buying a $1200.00 setup my first setup cost less than 200.00 its all about finding the right line for the rod than having the lightest boron carbon built in flux capacitor fly rod.

 

[Fish_Hunter1]

alright thanks so much guys.

 

[Fish_Hunter1]

so what kind off rod and reel would be a good all around purchase for steelhead and salmon.

 

[hydropsyche]

If salmon are in your quarry go no less than 8wt up to 10wt but it wont be as much fun with the summer steelhead. Echo, St croix, redington and tfo have the best price points for entry level rods. I have a few redington cpx rods i like a lot which are discontinued and on sale at seirra trading post and other discount sites. For reels okuma has some cheap decent reels I have a redington and an echo both seem good for under a hundred although my lamson and Ross reels get the most action. I like my 12'6" 6 wt redington cpx most out of all my rods I never paid over 250 for any so I can't tell you about sages, Beulahs, or loomis rods but I have caught steelhead on my rods and they cast line like they should. A general rule is that most spey rods are 2 line weights higher than a 9' single hander. So a six wt rod will cast an 8 wt line but lines and heads a generally measured in grains like bullets.

 

[Socaaron]

They summed things up really well so far. Youtube will be a big help in describing the different casting styles, also the "The Fly Fishing Shop" in Welches has some great starter set-ups as well as lessons available which end in "graduation" a fishing trip for steel on the Deschutes. Check out their video on youtube about the Echo Ion set-up very affordable for a starter rig and a easy caster beginner rig.

 

[Fish_Hunter1]

awesome thanks a lot you guys for all the help.:thumb: