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Ed Ward's Skagit Master DVD

18K views 29 replies 24 participants last post by  Cougar 
#1 ·
Bought it! Watched it! Get it!!!!!
If you want to cast in this style then this DVD is a must. Ed pretty much tells you everything that he has learned and developed over the years and even shows how to tie an intruder.
Hanging out with McCune a bit has done wonders for me and this DVD takes it the extra step.
 
#5 ·
Greg, your spey name just screams ANTI-Social:hihi:
Go now and watch the vid again, go speyhermit,, go.
Mine arrived from Poppy this week and i've got 5 views under my belt. It is awesome i agree and is THE tool for the skagit wannabe. I was a little let down though with not enough river fishing/casting and for me anyways,, too much grass:smokin:
Not a knock, just i was hoping for more scotch, more cold wet fingers, more hook ups and more spey bros.
Anyways, guess i'll go now and watch it again;)
Great video Ed,, well worth the wait.
Salmon Chaser
 
#8 ·
Dwayne

Dwayne, I've accepted that I'm a social misfit when it comes to crowds of folks with whom I have little in common and only see once or twice a year. Occasionally there is the kindred spirit or two and we end up in my shop, drinking beer and BS'ing about fishing. Sound spoiled and selfish? Probably so. It's just that I was bit by the fly-fishing and nature bug (no pun intended) 50 years ago. For the life of me, I have not discovered a social activity which can hold a candle to being immersed in the stream other than drinking at a bar with fellow fishers, at night, when legal hours have passed or drinking around a camp fire after a day's fishing or drinking with friends at a fly-tying gathering. Note: social activity in my mind means more than two people. So, dates with my wife, preferably after legal fishing hours, are just fine with me. :hihi:
 
#14 ·
A fun Instructional!

So much info and done with some attitude and style. Instructional videos can make you sleepy but this one is so packed with tips it keeps your attention. Mr. Ward points out in the vid that on the grass you can see the set up and lay out of the anchor better, which a green doublehander like me needs. Great visual explanation of casting plane, keeping that visual as I sweep and 45 has helped dramatically(accuracy and consistency). Thanks to all those involved with this dvd and helping keep us greenies from bruising the water and ourselves.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Ed could you tell me

how long it took to complete your dvd? Time on the rivers, editing to final production, and how much tec input did you have other than being the host of the dvd? Or did the production company do all the tec work?↲
Im interested because i am thinking of doing an aussie perspective of skagit set ups used for saltwater landbased applications chasing pelagic fish in the SE corner of queensland and also a New zealand trip to the north island on the tongariro river chasing the migrating steelhead and big browns, most of the kiwis use upstream nymphing setups but i reckon downstream swung scaled down intruders, imposters and tdogs and traditional spey flies would brain them!
Its only a sparkle in my eye at the moment but i really want to do this, something a bit different :)

Places likethe below image are what im thinking of in the salt, this is the top of a massive estuary system named Pumicstone passge. it sits between the mainland and Bribie island, when the tide runs out here it flows fast, like 6-8 knots fast as it is concentrated closest to the mainland in a section that has deep drop offs and flushes the bait through it, the pelagics sit there and wait for the food, as we are in winter now there is every chance of fish like the jew fish to, some of these are over 50lb.
 

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#17 ·
Hey Oz...

...that project was accomplished by only two people - myself and Jeff Mishler. Basically, my part was being in front of the camera and making sure that what we shot contained as complete an aspect of Skagit casting as I thought was needed. Jeff was the "behind the camera" guy and did all of the production. I know that we shot around 50 hours of video, of which about 2 were used in the DVD. Some of what wasn't used was because it "didn't turn out right", but a large portion of unused material was also because there are only 2 hours in a 2 hour DVD! Jeff started production in June and was finished sometime around the end of August. Then it took around another month to work out details for the company that made/distributed the final product and getting the website up and running. That's a brief overview from my end, a more detailed and accurate version of the production work would have to come from Jeff. I know that Jeff worked his **! off over the Summer while I was up guiding in Alaska! He did a great job.

I can tell you that doing that type of stuff, take a big bag of patience with you. It seems guaranteed that once you break that camera out that all sorts of elements of nature and circumstance will seem to be conspiring against you!
 
#18 ·
thanks for the info Ed.↲
I know what you mean about patients and the elements making there presence felt.↲
Here in oz i could drive in any given direction for am hour on a perfect day with light winds, get out of the car, stil no wind, take my rod out of its tube and it starts blowin its ass off, i call it sods law, it only happens to us unfortunate/fortunate sods that fly fish.↲
Of course i try my best to not let it beat me but sometimes i crack the ****s and give up, funny enough it normaly involves ducks when i crack it, i walked some 5km up a river in new zealand, i had rain and wind which i worked around but from about the 5th tail of a pool up the river a mother duck decided to protect her young and do the wounded wing thing and splash and flap its way up every pool ahead of me, i litteraly has trout flying part me as the duck spooked them all, never have i wished harm on a duck until that point :chuckle: these are the things we put ourselves against lol
 
#21 ·
1st DVD was realy good, but im disapointed with part 2. Worm weights? :Eyecrazy:

Looking forward to the next part, when is the "flies" and "great lakes" DVD's comming out? Whos the guy that will be taking great lakes? Would be nice to meet Ed sometime on my local river :)
 
#24 ·
in the end its just a means of getting enough weight, heck iv seen footage and articles of salt water guys sliding a ball sinker on the loop before they tie off the knot to fish deep reefs etc.
 
#25 ·
I understand the stink about the coneheads... but I actually thought it was really insightful and clever. I'm certainly going to incorporate it on my home river.

Assuming one uses the weights where it is legal and ethical (and I think it is clear this was/is the intention from the start), then I love the idea of opening up all sorts of water for swinging.

It does start blurring the lines between gear and fly fishing, but what doesn't? And, more importantly, who cares? We can strive for efficiencies in our processes, but still act ethically.

I hate walking by water that is "only" good for plugging or narrow slots that "have" to be fished with indicator techniques.

The way I see it is that swinging is a patient and artful way of fishing. Why not expand the technique to all sorts of water and river structures.
 
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