As many of you know, I got into Trout Spey fishing several years ago after attending Spey O Rama.    Once I saw the distance you could cast without a back cast I was hooked.    With today’s lightweight 12’ Spey rods,  casting is easy and fun.  I have Spey rods from 12’ two weight to 14’ seven weight for large salmon and Steelhead on big rivers.    I love fishing the two weight for trout up to 18” fish.  However at the club you can easily get into a fish that is too large for this rod.  That is why we developed the 10 year commemorative club combo rod which is an ultra-light  12’ four weight Spey Rod  that converts to a six weight 9’ single handed rod.  This rod is idea for fishing the club waters or the Trinity for Steelhead.  It has a lot of backbone for such a light rod.  We sold out our first order the first week after announcing it and everyone who bought it loves it.  The 9’ six weight is ideal for nymphing with large flies. We will be ordering a second run in the future so if you are interested let me know so I can add you to the waiting list.

With the new FERC license we have been blessed with a new flow regime that has tripled the food production and spawning  habitats.  You can see it in the large numbers of young fish in the river.   We are also catching record numbers of large fish as well.  In the ten years of running the club I  have never received so many reports of members catching 20”+ trophy rainbows and browns. These trophy fish need to be handled with care to preserve them.  They give us the most excitement and memories.

We never want to exhaust a fish just to say we landed it.  Just because the fish swims away does not mean it will live.  Often after being exhausted a fish will swim away and the go belly up once he reaches its hole or the bottom.  Then they just lay there and die without you knowing that you killed the fish.  Always make sure you give that trophy fish a chance to recover before and after you take a picture.  Just think of it as you running a 400 yard sprint and then having your head put under water and then taken out for a picture.  The fish needs to catch his breath to get rid of the lactic acid he has generated during the fight before you hold it up for a pic.  A good practice  is that start holding your breath when you take the fish out of the water to take the pic.  You will know when it is time to get it back in the water when you need to take a breath.

I came across this link to a number of Spey casts by Jon Hazlett.  It shows the various Spey casts you can make.  These casts can be made with all rods so it is worth watching.  http://www.ashlandflyshop.com/spey-casting-with-jon/       Of course there is nothing better to improve your casting that a private lesson with a professional instructor.  We happen to have what many consider the best Spey Casting instructor  in the country, Jeff Putnam  http://jpflyfishing.com/   as a member.  Jeff lead a Spey Clinic at the club earlier this year.  He knows the club waters and there is no better way to learn how to catch fish and learn  Spey Casting at the club.

Tight Lines,

 

Tom Bartos

President & Founder

916-205-6073