Lesson Recommendation

[johnsquires]

I've never felt the need to use a spey rod, although as I look back there were certainly times when a spey rod would have been a better choice than a conventional setup.
I've developed some shoulder issues. In talking to someone at a recent event, he suggested using a spey rod on certain portions of my Alaska trips to reach fish that otherwise would require a lot of wear and tear on my shoulder and a lot of Ibuprofen. He suggested picking up a reasonably priced 13-foot rod and an Outbound line.
I'm one who likes to do things right, so I'm looking to take a lesson or two before heading out on my own and hoping for the best. I live in the East Bay. Looking for recommendations for a good teacher who is patient with old farts.

[gitt]

Drop by the Oakland Casting Ponds Wednesday and Saturday mornings for a great support group of spey casters for all levels of casting and advice on what lines best suit your rod. Like you, I wanted to see if a spey rod would work for me before sinking money into the equipment. I tried out a lot of rods at the ponds before my purchase. A follow up visit with the gurus suggesting, after testing out the rod with an assortment of lines, which to purchase. They are a very supportive and inclusive group especially to those new to the sport who need direction. Give them a try.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Where were you thinking of using a Spey rod?

Rivers. streams, lakes, surf........?

[johnsquires]

Where were you thinking of using a Spey rod?

Rivers. streams, lakes, surf........?

The tail end of my trips in AK end up at the Mulchatna River. I'm looking to use it there for salmon. I suspect once I learn the technique I'll use it in other locations.

[Mark Kranhold]

Going under the knife 2nd time around on the shoulder this summer, no fun! I will tell you though the Spey is much forgiving on the shoulder like you heard. Not sure on instructors down in your area but we have some great guys in Sacramento! Good luck on your journey and be prepared for an even bigger fishing addiction

[johnsquires]

I got a delayed diagnosis (one of a couple lately) on the shoulder. Too late to do surgery and still row in AK this year. So we'll have a built-in noise system for the bears as we head downstream, which is maybe a good thing.
Mark, one of the things I'm worried about is another addiction as far as fly fishing is concerned. But I'm going into this with a positive attitude, figuring spey didn't get popular by accident. Looking forward to it.

[Sheepdog8404]

Id say give Andy Guibord a call if you can make it up to the Sacramento area. He is a great dude and a KILLER instructor! I took a lesson with him last summer and it was the best money ever spent towards fly fishing. He is on here too. I think there is a sticky under the spey or steelhead thread topics for his instruction service.

[troutless]

You have a lot of options.

If you can make your way up to the Sac area Jeff Putnam (jpflyfishing.com) is a THCI and has introduced a lot of anglers to spey. Doug Duncan (duncanflyfishing.com) and Andy Guibord also do some instruction.

Whitney Gould (whitneygouldspey.com), one of the other three NorCal based THCIs, a full-time spey guide, and accomplished tournament caster, would be another good choice if you can intercept her busy schedule.

The Oakland club already mentioned has a welcoming and enthusiastic group of casters with serious fishing resumes. That said the Oakland ponds are small and not that great a place for speycasting.

The Golden Gate club (ggacc.org) runs a semi-regular spey intro class. You would need to become a member (something like $40, money well spent, in addition to the class cost). Like OCC, GGACC has a core group of enthusiasts who can help you get started on an informal basis. The regulars at GGACC have a little more of a long-line bias whereas OCC is more short-head centered.

Spey is not something you are likely to pick up easily on your own. Getting some professional instruction and also finding a group of like-minded casters will put you ahead of the curve.

PM me if you want more specific details, I live close to your area and can possibly help a little also.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Come to the Lower American River in Sacramento in the next month and get out with one of the local instructors for Spey casting for American Shad.

Jeff Putnam, Doug Duncan or Andy Guibord can get you going in the right direction.

Google them, they all have a web site.

I think I would take a 2 hour lesson with their equipment before you buy anything.

.

[JasonB]

All good advice so far. I'll just second a few things: Spey casting (and swing flies) is an addictive thing for sure and has only deepened my own interest in fly fishing. It can greatly reduce the wear and tear on the body, though I've found it it just as capable of doling out some abuse for some of the same reasons: trying to force or muscle too big a fly into too much wind with too little attention to form and technique is my usual recipe for disaster. I also find it similarly difficult to extract good technique once a little frustration begins to set in. You're doing a really good thing getting some help right up front!

I don't know anything about instruction in the bay area unfortunately, but I will echo what others have mentioned about some of the folks up in the sacramento area. I've had a half day lesson with Jeff Putnam, who really impressed me with his teaching abilities and helped me to make some better habits on a couple of troublesome casts. Well worth the money!!! While I've not had a lesson from Andy or Doug; I have had some very positive experiences dealing with both at the shop, and managed to learn a few key points from each of them while making casual chit chat in the shop. To me, that's a pretty good indication that I would likely learn a whole lot more out on the water in a lesson with either of them. Doug made one keen observation about a casting error that I was likely making with long line casting, and had a small suggestion of how to alter my stroke to avoid it... made all the difference in the world, and I still find myself repeating this advice in my head. All of them are very easy to engage with, and have the kind of easy going friendliness that makes even a total hack like myself feel more than comfortable.

My one tidbit of advice on the topic would be to avoid thinking of a spey rod as a tool to be able to fish all that water that's normally FAR out of reach with your single hander. Especially if you're talking sink tips and heavy flies, be modest in your expectations about how far away you'll be able to actually fish; at least in the short term. While it is "easy" to make some pretty long casts with a spey rod here and there, I have found that it is quite challenging to keep my technique consistently clean when I start punching out longer casts. It's very easy to get into habits of forcing or muscling things when pushing for another 5-10' of distance... and of course it's much harder to get out of those habits once they start to form. In order to develop the kind of casting technique that will be nice and easy on the body it will likely take a while to get that level of consistency.

Good luck with the shoulder, and do enjoy the spey casting!
JB