Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Mike Kinney At UMFF Spey Clave Part 1




Mike Kinney at the 2006 Spey Clave sponsored by Upper Midwest Flyfishing. Part 1 in a series, check back to watch more video.

The Upper Midwest Fly Fishing Forum sponsored a Spey Day on Sunday, September 10th on the Kankakee River in Momence, IL. The event was well attended. NIFT members Jeff Kennedy, Paul Melchior, Shelly Rebman, and Dick Dragiewicz braved the iffy weather (which was very appropriate for a Spey day!) to practice speycasting, try out new equipment, and learn from the visiting speakers. I believe Dick managed to land a Smallmouth or two as an added bonus...
Our local spey expert John Breslin demonstrated single hand speycasting techniques. His techniques open up a whole new world of fishing opportunities for single hand fly fishers.
Master rodmaker Bob Meiser made the trip from Oregon to talk about his switch rods, which are an interesting blend of single and doublehanded rods, making them very versatile fishing tools. Bob had many of his fabulous rods at the event to demo cast. Interestingly, Bob is a WI native and returns every year to fish river muskies on the fly.
Living legend Mike Kinney of Washington state gave an excellent presentation on Skagit casting. He explained how and why this style of casting was developed and then demonstrated many of the casts that are associated with the technique. He talked about how rod design can help or hinder your efforts to become a good Skagit caster. Mike was very gracious in sharing his vast knowledge of speycasting by answering questions and giving hands on help to all who asked.
Our own Joseph Meyer was in attendance. He was demonstrating steelhead fly ting. Jon Ulenhop form CFFO was demonstrating tube fly tying techniques and materials.
The food and company were excellent rounding out the program.
All in all a great day out! Looking forward to next years Spey Day...
CT


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