# Spey casting?



## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

How's your spey casting? 

Never seriously tried it myself...but I'm headed to the Aleutian islands for some big king salmon soon. 

Going to try some spey casting...any tips on technique appreciated.


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## 2thDr (Jan 25, 2014)

I would suggest a switch rod, a 9-10wt, 10.5 or 11'. You can throw overhead (called single handed) or roll (spey) cast. Spey casting does have a learning curve, difficult to master without hands-on help. Gary Davison of Gulf Coast Spey is the only instructor I know. Main benefit of spey is no backcast , and it is less tiring to throw big stuff all day. Also cast a freaking long way. If you get a switch rod, you can use it like any flyrod, but have enough length to spey cast with if you want to. Switch casting is easier to learn. Cabela's has their house brand switch rods (LSI) on sale. They are fine for anyone but an expert. I would suggest if you get into this, look into Rio Skagit lines, MOW tips.


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## treeaggie (Sep 22, 2014)

I know nothing about Spey casting, but I took a few fly casting lessons from Gary last summer. Great guy and excellent instructor. If you're close by him and looking for lessons, he's your guy!


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## noise.boy (Mar 7, 2012)

*OPST*

If you contact Gary, make sure you make clear your intentions. I suggest Skagit casting. It's a form of Spey casting. Probably the easiest to learn. Also, IMHO a switch not be the tool for Kings. Check out what is normally used in the area your going to fish.

Check OPST, OPSkagit.com. Trevor Covich guides up there all summer. He's a great teacher. Great people at OPST. These are "the Skagit Masters." Ed Ward and Jerry French pioneered this style of casting.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Here's how it went with my first shot at spey casting:

1) first day total learning curve
2) second day beginning to get some profiency, but still reverting to old muscle memory
3) third day definitely proficient at a level to take king salmon from the river
4) fourth day began creating my own techniques...the guide later called my cast a version of the "poke". I could shoot line well across the 150 ft river. but my accuracy was not as good as I have with the single handed rod.

Summary: I love the art of the spey casting. The utility is unquestionably great for windy days, for conditions in which no back casting is possible, and for shooting out your fly long distances. I'll be contacting Gary this week for some lessons to "burn" this new found technique into my muscle memory.

However, it will never replace the traditional one handed cast for me. For the week in Alaska, the best two king salmon for the week a 44 pounder and a 40 pounder were both caught on my single handed 10 wt fly rod. The 44 pound king was the largest ever seen taken out of this river and would have easily won the Anchorage king salmon contest for all tackle king salmon caught(contest winner was 37 pounds and I caught two fish well over that)


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## big D. (Apr 10, 2010)

Incredible!


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

With heavy brush preventing long back casts and limiting roll casts, the spey really is useful. I could easily shoot 150 ft after a little practice to get into spots that otherwise could not be reached.


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