Confused with Today's Endless Array of SPEY?

Underhand, overhand, long belly, mid belly, short belly, Skagit, Scandinavian style, traditional style, northwest style, long rods, short rods, switch rod, full flex, mid flex, tip flex, D loop, V loop ...

We have the wisdom to help you gain the insight you need to develop a good choice in your entry into the world of Spey fishing. Why is a form of casting first developed in the mid-1800s the hottest technique on salmon and steelhead rivers? The method was first developed on Scotland’s River Spey, where conventional fly casts are made nearly impossible by high banks. Using 15- to 20-foot rods crafted from greenheart and bamboo, salmon fishermen were able to power double-handed casts to salmon lies 100 feet or more away without using a back cast that would snag the brush behind them.

Today, most salmon and steelhead anglers in the Pacific Northwest fish with Spey rods, and the approach is also catching on in big-river trout fishing. The resurgence of interest is largely due to modern graphite fibers that can be built into long rods that are extremely light in weight. This leads to one of Spey casting’s biggest advantages ... less arm fatigue. It is far less taxing on muscles and tendons to cast a long rod using two hands all day than it is to cast a shorter one-handed rod.

Spey casting offers other distinct advantages for a wading fisherman. First, he can reach distant lies from any spot in the river because he doesn’t have to worry about obstructions at his back. Second, he’s able to mend line and control the drift of his fly at greater ranges than he could with a single-handed rod.

At River Run Anglers we carry on the Spey casting tradition by providing one of the largest collection of rods and lines for our friends and customers. We will help you pick out the proper rod with the right line, and for the species and conditions you will be fishing. In addition, you can use one of the many rods on the "Try Rack" until you have a better understanding of what you want in your Spey rod.

Whatever your level of casting proficency (beginner to advanced), your spey casting will is guarnteed to improve with the proper instruction. For example, we will help you with your casting so you can fish both sides of the river in an upstream or downstream wind situation ... or any situation you can encounter on the river. Once you have learned to cast, you can keep the art polished with our free weekly "Day on the River" events held every Saturday 9-12pm on the Snoqualimie River.

The Spey School and the "Day on the River" programs have offered me a vast opportunity to meet and help people with their spey casting and also their knowledge of rods and lines. In doing so, I have gained a very keen sense of the needs of about the spey casting public. As a certified Two Handed Fly Casting Instructors with the Federation of Flyfishers. I have incorporated the guidelines from the Federation of Fly Fishers Two Handed Fly Rod Certification Test in to my course offerings. These guidelines are now the rules of the US spey casting community. Many of the practical parts of the test are taught in my spey courses instructions.

We can also personalize any sort of private casting seminars and clinics that you may require. Our expert instructors can be made available for private instruction on an hourly or daily basis. These recognized professionals can quickly analyze and improve casting skills or solve casting problems, for the individual or for any sized group. Give us a call, and we can customize a class or school for you or your club, business, family, or group.