A Spey's a Spey, then what the hey?

[Rich]

So, lol, after hijacking another thread for far too long, my miseducation from a local river rat got me in a pickle. I learned that a spey is a type of cast, not a type of fly. But see, all this time I been swinging these flies I thought were called speys? The dilemma now ... When it comes time to buy more flies, what shall I call these? Lol they are a sort of rubbery hellgrammite looking body with two small black strands of hair coming out the back. Any ideas what the heck I'm using? Bows sure like em, whatever they are.

[Rich]

For BillM:

 

I can't wait to pitch my spey flies, I figure I'll use the firetiger cast method and use a slow buoy for the retrieve.

[Sinker]

Sounds like stoneflies to me.

 

S.

[bare foot wader]

sounds like a stonefly or a variation of a woolly bugger, some type of nymph pattern

 

there is a style of fly called spey, and also dee flies, very similar, both from scotland but from different rivers...river spey and river dee, the difference is wing style

 

but when anybody says they're spey fishing, they're referring to the style of casting, not the specific fly...I don't think spey flies are all that popular these days, intruders and other variations have taken over the scene

 

you can spey cast with any fly - speys, dees, intruders, streamers, skate big dry bombers, even a single colorado blade, etc

[Christopheraaron]

Haha, you're both right, there are spey rods, spey lines, spey casts, and spey flies. Spey fishing is a style of fishing developed in Scotland on The River Spey, fishermen had a hard time fishing it with traditional fly rods because of heavy tree cover around the banks. So they developed a very long double handed rod (usually around 14-16ft) suitable for long roll casts. They already used high grain fly lines to load the rods, but when the style caught on in BC they needed longer casts with less room so they started using shorter rods (12-14 ft) with extremely thick lines, this allowed them to really blast cast outs, this style is called skagit. Spey flies are the flies used with the rods, originally they used shrimp patterns made with looped salmon irons, heron hackle, seals fur and a wing of bronze mallard, they also used dee flies, which are the same as speys (usually a little more intricate) but they use different materials for the wings (usually turkey, pheasant or swan) and they would always face apart instead of touching tips. On the west coast they use baitfish patterns and of course attractor flies, more modern techniques are used on those flies, names like intruders or marabou are common, these are very heavy flies (another reason to use skagit lines) and usually dark in colour to provoke the salmon. I see Bare foot already beat me to it but I hope it helps

Edited April 11, 2013 by Christopher k

[Christopheraaron]

I just started tying speys (the old kind) and dees, here's a sample. The first is a dee, notice how the wings are facing apart, the second is a spey, usually the wings would be bronze mallard, but for this fly I elected to use goose instead, you can see how the wings are closed on this one.

 

Edited April 11, 2013 by Christopher k

[Rich]

Thanks for the vast amount of info !

 

I googled stonefly, and that is sure the same imitation he gave me, though I couldn't find any quite the same as the ones that fellow gave me.

 

Guess I better cherish these 'speys' forever!

[Christopheraaron]

hey Rich, if you want some more PM me a couple pics and I'm sure I can figure out how to tie them for you

[mr blizzard]

Rich, I cannot offer any advice as I have never fly fished, BUT I want to thank you for posting this thread as I found bare foot wader and Christopher ks responses to be most knowledge and show the depth they have into the sport as well as other members on the board. You have just sparked my curiosity in so far as fly fishing is concerned. I have alot of researching to do. Good job guys.

[Christopheraaron]

No problem blizzard, there's a tonne of history on the subject, I've just scraped the surface, you could easily write a couple paragraphs on just each type of line haha. Then once you start tying them you really start appreciating the sport

[Rich]

Rich, I cannot offer any advice as I have never fly fished, BUT I want to thank you for posting this thread as I found bare foot wader and Christopher ks responses to be most knowledge and show the depth they have into the sport as well as other members on the board. You have just sparked my curiosity in so far as fly fishing is concerned. I have alot of researching to do. Good job guys.

Indeed! Insanely impressed with the responses. Far more than I asked for or expected.

 

And Christopher K , I most certainly may take you up on that offer real soon!

[BillM]

If I see a guy attempting to spey cast with a 9ft Ugly Stick, I know who it will be!!!

[Moosebunk]

Had no idea what you were talking about in that other thread... but yeah... spey can refer to rod, cast or fly.

 

You've always managed to catch fish Rich... and you're kinda weird, probably fishing weird too. But catching stuff nonetheless. lol.

 

Stoneflies are great for spring fishing. So are sinkers with giant trebles though.

[torco]

Those are some beauty looking flies....I learned the basics of Spey Casting last year and have used it on occassion, it may not be the most effective way to catch fish at times but there is something to be said about the joy of this type of casting, it sounds nerdy but it is really fun even when you are not catching fish.

[SirCranksalot]

Those are some beauty looking flies....I learned the basics of Spey Casting last year and have used it on occassion, it may not be the most effective way to catch fish at times but there is something to be said about the joy of this type of casting, it sounds nerdy but it is really fun even when you are not catching fish.

 

To each his own I guess, but I've seen guys doing that and it looked like the most god-awful awkward way ever to catch a fish! (OK---let the flaming begin!!)

[cuzza]

There are lots of variations on spey casting - Skagit is one of the most simple and hence popular - here's a video.....

 

 

 

As christopher says, it's great for casting with trees or a steep bank behind you - it's also a lot easier on your body than trying to punch out big flies lond distance with a single handed setup. That said you can do spey style casts with single handed rods too, I use that a lot on small streams for trout.

 

It's not the most effective way to catch fish but it's fun - once it gets cold and the fish won't chase a fly, the float rod comes out with a stonefly or a bead on the end

 

Edit to fix the video

Edited April 12, 2013 by cuzza

[fishnsled]

A buddy of mine sent me this video a while back. The video itself is quite interesting, at 5 minutes she starts to talk about the Spey casting. Some great footage.

 

 

 

[Rich]

I cant wait to dig out another lure I don't know the name of! Lol, awesome thread, just gets better and more informative!

[GlennB]

I am so happy the fly fishing bug has never bit me as it sounds like it is very complicated and require a great amount of skill !

 

At my age I like to make things simple and easy like cast, troll, gig etc

 

Hope this hasn't offended any of you fly guys/girls

 

The fly that is called a woolly bugger really made my day

 

cheers

[misfish]

I am so happy the fly fishing bug has never bit me as it sounds like it is very complicated and require a great amount of skill !

 

At my age I like to make things simple and easy like cast, troll, gig etc

 

Hope this hasn't offended any of you fly guys/girls

 

The fly that is called a woolly bugger really made my day

 

cheers

 

 

You dont know what yer missing. I started last year,and ya,Im becoming one of those old buggers. It,s awesome,and,it,s costing me mo money. LOL