I was on the Grand Rhonde last year and was impressed watching some very good Spey casters. Where I live there is no one familiar with Spey casting to get purchasing guidance or casting assistance. I called many shops in Or and Wa to get help. Every store had a different solution. I felt good with the recommendation of one store so I proceeded to purchase a TFO TF 7/8 130 rod and Rio Skagit Flight 525 gr 6 pack kit ( they suggested the Skagit as it would be easier to learn casting). Along with it I purchased two DVD's. Rio Modern Spey Casting and Spey casting by John Hazel. Both these DVD's are good with Rio being a 3 disc set. More confusion as each person in the video has a different way of casting! The nearby stream forms a pool just before entering the ocean so I used it even though most of the time the water does not flow unless the tide is going out.
I started with the floating head and after a hour I left shaking my head (what am I getting into, its clunky and not pleasant like fly casting). Called Rio and they said use a sinking head as it would give a better anchor, called the shop and they said no, continue with floating head. So I split the difference and went with a two ft sink tip. After about 12 trips I find I can cast using the "snap T" or the "lift and drop" method and cast the head and almost all the shooting line but not consistently. After all these years with a one handed rod I want to cast the two handed rod using one hand. It seems like each step in the cast is very critical.
I decided to try a different line and purchased a Steelhead Scandi of 450gr. This line feels more comfortable and feels more like casting a fly line rather than a chunk of lead (Skagit line). I rechecked the catalogs and find the Skagit line is more for heavy winter fishing which I dont do. My steelhead fishing is all fall fishing and decided it was a mistake to buy the Skagit for my type of fishing. Oh yes, another confusing point. When using the Scandi the overall length is critical. You will need to add a "poly" leader to get the total line/leader combination to specific lengths. In my case it was a 14 ft poly with 6 ft of regular leader.
I had someone take videos of me so I could see what I was doing (wrong?). It seems to be that I am not forming a large enough D loop to store energy and using one hand to cast.
A person I occasionally fish with purchased a Spey rod months before I did and went to a nearby large town to take lessons. To this date he still is unable to cast reasonably well even though he is a pretty good one hand caster.
I hope this gives some insight as the Spey system is intimidating. When I call the shop and talk to different sales person (or guides) each one gives me a different answer. It ends up you have to figure it out on your own.
Thanks Joe S
