First season speyer

[Don townsend]

Learning the science of heads,short,compact and grains and running line,NO END to this. I will be swinging my first fly on the Russian you will know who I am with the splash,any ideas on what bug I should start with first, thanks Don

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Hi Don,

With a two-handed fly rod I would try to fish further upriver, way above the slow moving tide water, so you get enough current and some structure to swing flies.

The lower river is better with a single hand fly rod and a variety of shooting heads.

I would fish a #6 Boss.......or egg sucking bugger or egg sucking leech?

Use at least 2x tippet with a short leader on a sink-tip.

The Russian River get dirty with any rain. If it doesn't rain for a while it can clear and be fishable.

Try to fish a lot in February if you can.

[Don townsend]

Thanks Bill,very helpful,it will be a learning process for me with a lot of practice,your online shop has helped me out so much,thanks to all of you I know help is there when needed, this forum stuff is new to me, what a lot of info, thanks again Don

[Charlie S]

Don, as soon as it rains the river will muddy up. Then I would use something large and very orange....fish are already in and a boss or a horner shrimp would be a good choice right now. Good luck...if you see another spey caster tangling his line come on over and say hi to me.

[BigKahuna]

The folks at Kienes are the best for getting you and your spey or switch rod set up correctly. They have been immensely helpful for me and getting my switch rod rigged correctly. Once you get your rod rigged correctly the casting comes together fairly easily. Of Course once you get casting you then have to learn how to fish it. That's the next learning curve.

There's a series of articles on spey casting on my blog www.flyfishingtraditions.blogspot.com that you may find helpful. The articles are more focused on switch rods but there are a number of good articles on two handed casts, starting with practice casts like the roll cast and the switch cast and then moving on to casts like the single spey, double spey, Snap T etc.

You may find them helpful.

[Don townsend]

Thanks Charlie very helpful I saw some orange at Kings and Outdoor Pro I will look on line for Horner shrimp I just want to be in the ballpark I'm taking this all in thanks be good Don

[Don townsend]

Thanks for the reply I will check that site out,I do have a 5110 with a rio switch and want to get a short Spey head maybe and try and see how that works so much new stuff hard to make a call thanks again and the site,Don

[Rick J]

Don,
I work in SR though live in Lake County but maybe we can get together sometime maybe over at the casting pond - the best way really to gain correct muscle memory and get down the basic casting strokes is to practice on the lawn with a grass leader.

Will be easier next spring when we start to get more daylight in the evenings after work

Best regards,
Rick

[Don townsend]

Rick,thanks for your kind help,I will value it and respect the time you have,I,m still shy with this forum so far everybody been so helpful bare with me learning how to use it,,grass leader interesting never herd of such a thing,spring will be great,thanks again Don

[Rick J]

Don - a grass leader is just a leader made out of short sections of stiff mono such as Maxima - say 15 to 20# - tie short sections - 8-12" with blood knots and cut the tags long - maybe 0.25" or so - this will hang up in the grass and serve as added friction to mimic water load. Overall length can be 10 to 12 feet which should work ok - can go longer for more drag.

The thing with working on grass is you can stop at any time and see what your hands/ arms/ rod and line is doing - really helps build correct muscle memory

[Don townsend]

Don, as soon as it rains the river will muddy up. Then I would use something large and very orange....fish are already in and a boss or a horner shrimp would be a good choice right now. Good luck...if you see another spey caster tangling his line come on over and say hi to me.
Charlie, a lot info on Horner shrimp around bodega bay a great diet before going up river,wher might purchase some their all over the net only orvis has them could their be a closer choice and what size would be good hope I'm doing this right thanks Don

[Don townsend]

Thanks again Rick,sounds great I will give it a go,there is no end to this learning, hope I didn't start to late,take care Don

[Charlie S]

Charlie, a lot info on Horner shrimp around bodega bay a great diet before going up river,wher might purchase some their all over the net only orvis has them could their be a closer choice and what size would be good hope I'm doing this right thanks Don

Size 6 or 8 is good. I have always tied my own. Pretty easy tie. Bucktail tail, tie in more for for the shell back. Tie in a grizzley hackle by the tip. Then tie in Silver tinsel cord. Wrap tinsel cord forward, leaving plenty of room for the head. Then palmer hackle forward. Tie off and bring shell back over the top and tie off. Knot and finish.