Save to del.icio.us

Spey Casting For Steel Head Video Hi Speed Only

When exploring new water the best thing to do is to go with someone who is familiar with it. That is exactly what I did last week. I had the opportunity to hook up with Kory Kapaloski from the Trout Bum 2 in Park City, UT to do some steelhead fishing in Idaho. The Salmon River in Idaho is amazing. It flows over thousand miles eventually joining the Columbia and flowing into the Pacific. Salmon and Steelhead have made that journey from the Pacific for thousands of years. These days the Sockeye are gone. Dams, water demands and drought have got the best of them but the Chinook populations are on the rise and the Steelhead numbers are very strong. It is amazing to be able to catch sea-run fish in the middle of Idaho. I have wanted to fish the Salmon River for a long time but Steelhead in this part of the world are referred to as “the fish of a thousand casts” and I knew if I went alone I would get frustrated and never go back. Fortunately Kory had extensive knowledge of the river. Kory also had some great connections with local guides and shop owners. We hooked up with guides Ed Link of North Fork Guides and Dan Hurzeler of Fin Chasers. These guys have

decades of experience on the Salmon and know it better than anyone. They dialed us into some great water. Ed was even gracious enough to allow us stay in his camper. We arrived in the mid morning, not bad considering Salmon, ID is five and half hours from Park City. I was even lucky enough to dodge a speeding ticket outside of Idaho Falls. I think the officer identified with my determination to get to the river fast as he mentioned the “fishing is really good up their right now”. The first day I decided to stick with my single handed 8 wt. Kory was fishing an 11 foot 6 wt spey rod. There are many ways to catch these fish. Many people fish spey rods or pull plugs from a drift boat. After about 2 hours with my single handed rod it became apparent to me that I was not fishing the ideal set up. Kory hooked six fish and landed two the first day. I hooked 2 and landed none. Most of them in the 3-5 lbs range, although 15 lbs fish are caught regularly. The Spey rod offers a huge advantage on big rivers. Lucky for me Kory had an extra spey set up and on day two I developed a new addiction. I would not call this kind of fishing “technical” although some would. Really it is very simple. In the Salmon River Steelhead travel huge distances to their spawning grounds. They rest in slack water, seams and “buckets” or deep depressions scattered throughout a run. In these conditions spey rods are ideal for presenting large streamers on a swing and steelhead love these flies. Sometimes it seemed the more ridiculous looking the fly was the better it worked. Many of the hits are at the termination of the drift. Hits were plentiful but hook-ups were difficult as you are often pulling the fly upstream and out of the fish’s mouth. Patience is the key. When fish take you do not immediately set the hook. A mistake I made several times. It is best to wait with light pressure on the line until you feel the fish turn. Then the fight is on. We hooked about 3-5 fish each per day and landed a couple. Unfortunately we covered so much water we did not get very many pictures of fish. Often times we were scattered with thousands of yards of water between us. But it is the art of casting not the fish that makes this style of fishing so compelling. There are many different casts for different conditions. Snap T, Double Spey, Snake Roll and the Underhand Cast just to name a few. River direction, speed and wind direction all determine which cast is necessary. Each cast involves several changes in line direction and speed resulting in casts that can extend to 140 feet. And as Ed would tell me “if you do it wrong and your rear starts to feel like a dart board”. The cast is an art in and of itself. On big rivers like the Salmon you occupy your time with casting and concentrate on the drift, all the while knowing that at any time the fish of a lifetime could hammer your fly and jerk the rod right out of your hand.