Looking for novice spey casters to teach.

[nathanvn]

Hello! I am Nathan Nguyen, a local self-taught Spey caster and fisherman. I want to teach Spey casting, so far I have been helping people I meet on the river. I'm really excited to focus on sharing Spey mechanics for consistency, as well as my own concepts of graphical visualizations and new approaches to learning Spey casting. My future goal is to create instructional classes at a greater scale.

[Mark Kranhold]

Love your ambition for the two hand game. I would say leave this for a FFF certified instructor who is a certified CI AND THCI. I’m just saying this because picking up bad habits early on can lead to a frustrating start. I’m not saying you may have bad habits, but it’s a pretty thorough and extensive process to get all your certificates to become FFF certified.

[JasonB]

Hello! I am Nathan Nguyen, a local self-taught Spey caster and fisherman. I want to teach Spey casting, so far I have been helping people I meet on the river. I'm really excited to focus on sharing Spey mechanics for consistency, as well as my own concepts of graphical visualizations and new approaches to learning Spey casting. My future goal is to create instructional classes at a greater scale.

I am looking for 1-2 beginners with their own setup interested in learning Spey casting/fishing, We'll meet on the American River, spend a morning or evening casting ~4 hours. I'd like brutally honest feedback on my teaching and concepts to improve and gain the top confidence necessary for classes. "Gratuity greatly appreciated but not necessary"


I'm available for 1 instructional session; May 19th, 20th, or 21st.
Message me your availability of the days
Contact at: nathanvn@sbcglobal.net

Cheers!

I too admire your enthusiasm, and totally understand your desire to share what youÂ’ve learned (so far). I have to say though, you might want to rethink your whole approach on how to do so in a way that truly does give back to the spey casting community. There are countless examples of well intentioned people doing exactly what you describe, in a wide variety of activities, where they end up providing a disservice to those they wanted to help. As a professional kayak instructor, I cannot tell you how many times I have witnessed this. I have helped many people struggle to undue bad habits, or in some cases dangerous ones. As the saying goes “a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing”.

In no way is this meant to be critical of your skills, or your desire to share and help others get into Spey casting! I would suggest the following:
-do continue to offer friendly suggestions or tips, but be careful to stay WELL within your own personal knowledge base, and be clear on the difference between “friendly tips”and a “lesson”. Try to remember too that in so many ways, often “less is more”; this is especially true with teaching a technical thing like Spey casting.
-look into getting certified. If you really are passionate about Spey casting and teaching others, the time and money will be well spent.
-Always be a student! All of the best instructors, in any field, continue to challenge themselves to learn more. They will always be reassessing all aspects, looking for better ways, and deeper understanding. There is always more to learn! This is one of the things that can be downright addictive about teaching in my opinion.

I could go on and on, but I hope this is sufficient to encourage looking into some further input and development.

Cheers
JB

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I like what you are doing.......it is good for the sport..........



Locally, Jeff Putnam would be a good person to hang with some. He is FFF certified with two hand and single hand casting.
_______________________________________

My very good friend, John Hogg, is a certified FFF instructor and heavily involved with the Granite Bay Flycasters.

He is always teaching classes in single hand and two hand casting for their GBF members.

I am sure he would love someone to volunteer to help him with his classes.

His phone is 916/709-7340

[nathanvn]

I like what you are doing.......it is good for the sport..........



Locally, Jeff Putnam would be a good person to hang with some. He is FFF certified with two hand and single hand casting.
_______________________________________

My very good friend, John Hogg, is a certified FFF instructor and heavily involved with the Granite Bay Flycasters.

He is always teaching classes in single hand and two hand casting for their GBF members.

I am sure he would love someone to volunteer to help him with his classes.

His phone is 916/709-7340

Thank you for the resources Bill, greatly appreciated!

[Carl Blackledge]

Also remember if your teaching casting on the river and actually casting in the water, you will need a guides license. And as the others have explained being a licensed FFF casting instructor could be a good selling point...my 2 cents

[nathanvn]

Also remember if your teaching casting on the river and actually casting in the water, you will need a guides license. And as the others have explained being a licensed FFF casting instructor could be a good selling point...my 2 cents

Really Carl, that's interesting, I had no idea. That's funny because several years ago I taught an on the water class under a company as a volunteer, and they never mentioned anything about needing a guide license. Thanks for the heads up.

I should have stated I'm in the early stages of working through the THCI exam. Although I think Mark and JasonB are right, the more I learn about this process the more elitist and demotivating it's feeling. Nonetheless, I'll find other ways to help as Bill mentioned!

God bless and take it easy y'all,
Nathan N.

[nathanvn]

A big thank you to Bill Kiene for this forum, creating the space to help these kinds of informative dialogues to occur. Otherwise, it'd be like shooting blind LOL.

[Andy]

If you are casting and have no hook you don't even need a license. If you're fishing (have a fly on with intact hook capable of catching) you need a license. If you are paid in anyway (even tips or "donations") by the person you are instructing who is fishing with a hook you need a guide license.

I figured all this out because I cast a lot in the Klamath with hook cut off at bend to avoid filling in steelhead card. I do this because I cast all summer long at Collier and there are no fish so I don't want to waste card space and hassle of filling in. Wardens have approved this.

Andy