A Spey P.S.A.

Not my finest cast, not by a long shot.

Wind.....wind, wind is thy enemy.  

Lets just say you're out there casting away and the wind changes directions and you're mid way through your cast progression  and you drop your anchor in a somewhat suspect place too close to your body

Reset the damn cast.    Dont be stubborn, just reset.   There's your public service announcement.

Otherwise,   you hit the go button and the sink tip and fly smash into the back of your head.

F#$K!!!!

Thank god it didnt have barbell eyes.  

Prepare to Launch...

Every once and a while my little point and shoot gets something worth sharing

Spey casting is mechanical.  You have to get from point A to B before going to C.  Screw up the sequence and cadance...your screwed.  Nothing more humbling than a cast that was supposed to go 100 feet but instead flops in a mess 20 feet out.

But done properly, it's a thing of beauty. Damn effective too.

Timing mixed with style, each caster has a difference look but the good ones all get to the same place

Line in the water, bug swimming, hunting away.

Sunlight and Shadow...

I'll just let the picture do the talking here.

Bell to Bell.....

Bell to bell.  First cast to last.  A day's worth of hope in between.

One fish for the dinner table.  Another lost and left us wondering.

What a great day on the big water.  We'll be back soon.

Skywriting...

Dotting the sky with the loop.

From a few years back on the Clearwater, this is that little reminder that Steelhead season is but a few short weeks away.  Dam counts are on the rise, but it remains to be seen if this run's early component was late, or just isn't coming.

The GRAPH that measures this year's return has it between the 10 year average and last year's return.  Last year wasnt the greatest, but results dont happen unless you have a fly in the water.

Keep your fingers crossed.  The Chinook runs were late this year, so hopefully the same story for Steelhead.

On the good news front, the wild component to this run is over 50% so far.

All in all, I'll still be swinging a fly this fall and winter.

Yo Adrienne, Your Flies Work

Last week, some amazing mail hit the doorstep.  10 beautifully crafted flies from one of the preeminent ladies in the sport of fly fishing and custom steelhead fly tying, Adrienne Comeau.

Turns out, about 5 casts after I tied this fly on...

We had a player. 

Seriously, these flies are damn amazing.  Perfectly proportioned, good pop and great colors. 

Interested in learning more about Adrienne's talent on the vice, visit her site

The Female Angle

Gear Review--Sage ONE Spey Rod 8126-4

  

First things first....let's call out the 800 pound gorilla.

The number one thing I heard about this stick was the name.  The One.

Oh good gawd, seriously.  Is it thing used by cast members of the Matrix Trilogy?  Come on!

After casting it for a solid week, I could give a rip.  Call it monkey poo, call it whatever, this is one hell of a fly rod.

On my trip to the holy land of the Skeena system this past September, I put this rod to the test.  Hour after hour after hour I changed lines, changed sink tips, rigged up different flies of different weights and it didnt matter, it handled everything.

I am of the opinion that if you're going to fork out the cheddar for one of these sticks, it better be able to do a little bit more than one adaptation of the spey game. 

This "one" does.

Here are my top 6 reasons why I dug this fly rod.

1.  As stated before, it threw everything with ease.  The 12'6 8wt that I had the chance to play with threw drylines and skagit style lines pretty damn well.  Scandi with a polyleader or a skagit head with 12ft of T-14....no matter it just goes.

2.  It's lite and crisp.  Load it up and let it rip and watch what it does to the running line in your hands.  It goes bye bye.

3.  Sage's warranty is great.  You drop the dough, know that they back up their product

4.  Fast but progressive action.  Casting just the head or a pile of line, the stick loads it up. 

5.   It's offered in 3 different handle styles.  If you spey cast, you have your favorite.  At least there's options here

6.  After 5 straight days of spey casting,  I wasnt worn out.  I have a few other rods that I love, but can feel it after a single day out.  This "one", naaaa so much.

What would I change if I was Sage----?

I thought a long time about this.  The technology is well beyond my knowledge base, so I cant attest to that.   

The one thing that I believe Sage has to be careful is with it's price.  The march of the industry continues to push the price points up.  At some point, there will be a tipping point where customer base will say no and move on to other options.

With that said, I have zero hesitation saying that if you have the means, then get this rod in your hands and make it an option when you're buying your next spey rod.   If I had a stamp of approval, this double handed rod would certainly have it.

Check out Sage's complete lineup of One Double Handed spey rods by clicking HERE

Happy casting and catching!

When the Steelhead Gods Say It's Time....

When the steelhead gods say its time, then it's time.

My good friend Ryan took up the Spey game a year ago, and he's been dedicated to two handed casting with the goal of hooking his first steelhead on the Spey.

Yesterday, it happened.

Three quarters through the swing in my favorite run in my favorite river in the world this A run gamer slammed his bug and off to the races it went.  Hatchery in origin, it is current marinating in wait of the bbq tonight at the Bailey household.

Two weeks ago Ryan accompanied OMR and I to the big water in the hopes of crossing off the list.  In the last run of the day I turn around  to hear "fish, fish, fiiiiiiiish" and Ryan was hooked up.  Two seconds later the fish was off and if he was the swearing type, I am sure there would have been some choice words.  Sometimes, the connection isnt sold and the fish swims on.  Dems da breaks. 

Now back to yesterday, as it's not always the biggest fish you catch that leaves the biggest mark on your brain. .  Often times, it's the one you work the hardest for, as in the case here with Ryan's first spey rod steelhead.

By the way, that fish is bigger than it looks.  Ryan used to play basketball for the Palouse Cougars and thus, he's a huge dood.  He estimated the buck around 5 lbs.