#7
Post
by Bubba » Thu Oct 14, 2021 6:48 pm
I got my first taste of winter steelhead fishing in medieval times (late ‘80s) around Seattle. Back then it was hard work, throwing single handed 9-10’ 8 weight rods with sink tips and big flies all day long, wading tit deep to get far enough away from the bank to clear the trees. Sucked at it, but at least there were fish around back then.
Mid-90s, got turned on to “Spey Casting” by a guide friend who was also trying to learn. We made a lot of great latte froth, occasionally a good cast. Even the lousy casts went further than my good SHD casts. Plus, I could be right up against the brush, and fly control during the swing with the DHD was insane.
There was a guide named John Farrar on the Skagit who had learned some stuff from Goran Andersson (I think). John hipped some other guides like Dec Hogan and Scotty O’Donnell, and they basically invented the Skagit style of casting for winter steelhead (big flies, heavy sink tips), all from the double Spey. Very Obi Wan Kenobi.
I had more opportunities to pursue “greased line” approaches for summer and fall steelhead on the Deschutes and in BC. Back then, I don’t think anyone really understood it. Lots of how-to books (still had those back then), VHS, etc. but no “why”. This was early days of the interweb. I posted a Q to see if there were any physics of Spey casting resources out there but got majorly flamed. There were folks who cast beautifully, but it was considered an “Art”, definitely not Sexyloops science!