I have been fly fishing for 25 years and spey fishing for the last 7 yrs.  I am on the water between 150 to 200 days per year.  I guide fly and spey fishers for salmon, steelhead, char and trout 12 months of the year in British Columbia.

I got into spey casting 7 years ago when I was guiding a client for steelhead.  He was a veteran steelhead spey fisher from the States.  As I watched him fish a run from river right with a double spey, 
I could not believe my eyes.  He was launching 90 ft casts with little or no back casting room.  There were trees and willows that lined the bank directly behind us and he was fishing this run beautifully.  I thought to myself WOW!  and I realized there is so much more water I can cover with a spey rod than with a single hand rod.  I basically watched my client fish for a week with a spey rod, and when he left I went to purchase my first spey rod. 

I am a self-taught spey caster.  I learned to spey cast on a R.B. Meiser 10.5 switch rod.  Learning on such a short rod I developed an underhand style of casting, with a very short compact stroke.  Due to learning on such a short rod I was forced to build and modify different lines to adapt to my casting and fishing style.

I enjoy casting all kinds of lines, from long bellies to the shortest skagit heads.  I mostly fish short bellies and skagit heads.  The water I guide on ranges from small winter flows to medium large spring summer flows.  I fish short heavy heads with different lengths of T14 or T8.  I swing large bugs in cold water and I like the control and ease of casting with shorthead lines. I catch many fish on inside seams and slow edges with a bit of cover.

Spey casting is easy to pick up and difficult to master.  You will be a student of Spey casting for many years.  The most difficult thing I found in learning how to spey cast is to understand when and why you are casting on certain sides of the river using different casts.  Incorporating all the elements took many hours of practice because there are more details to consider when you are spey casting than single hand casting.  Yet spey casting is easier because you fish longer lengths of line in a shorter period of time in comparison to a single hand rod. 

There are several advantages to spey casting such as ease of casting large flies, fishing distant lies, back casting room is not needed and line control.  I see no disadvantages of spey casting.  I think spey fishing is getting more popular. With all the new line designs and lighter rods available it is opening up new fisheries that a spey rod traditionally would not be used in.  Some examples of these new fisheries are using a two handed rod in the salt for beach casting, targeting trout with light speys and using switch rods with traditional spey and two hand on the overhead casting techniques.

My fly-fishing philosophy is to try to fish pristine places, to fish low-pressure areas, to fish a piece of water where the fly swings right and to fish a beautiful run.  All of this contributes to the purpose of fly-fishing a time of self-discovery.  

My message to fellow spey anglers is to learn different types of spey techniques and to fish different lines (long bellies, short bellies, everything between long and short)  When conditions change you will be able to adapt.  You will also achieve more success with higher knowledge. 

Your Fishing Guide Todd Scharf