[Grampa Spey]

I finally got this new DVD, and it is very interesting.

Dec is actually fishing and showing how to cast in difficult areas/situations.

Besides showing how to alter the set up for the D Loop in difficult situations, he discusses how to fish without a lot of wading, importance of not over casting and line control with the fly after the cast. He gets into flies a little.

He does not show how to land and release a big steelhead in difficult situations by himself. He has a friend grab the steelhead down stream and release the fish.
To me that means that if we catch a big fish in difficult casting/wading situations, we could be in a lot of trouble if the fish doesn't break off.

The best part of the video is the when he shows how to adapt to the casting and wading situation. I seldom get to cast in classic water situations. Dec's dvd reaffirmed my current fishing status with two handed rods, you do whatever is necessary to safely set up a D loop to cast it. If you can't do that, you use the long lever action drive your roll casts out to avoid trees, brush, logs in the water and no back cast area. This is why the 6126 is now my favorite spey rod, because I can do things with it in tight areas that I can't do with 14' or longer rods. If I can't set up a D Loop, I can roll cast it 40' to 60' with tips or no tips.

 

[Gillie]

I have the video also and found it to be very good. I t definitely favors shoret bell lines as far as his casting technique is concerned. He casting style is very similair to John and Amy Hazzel in their video (he used to guide with them, I'm not sure who influenced who more). I've had the oppurtunity to be guided by Amy Hazel and many of the lines he uses in the video came out of her mouth long before the video was available.
If you are looking for an introduction to spey casting and fishing with the big rods the two of their videos together would be a great place to start as long as your not looking to swing long bellied lines.

Gillie

 

[Grampa Spey]

I have the video also and found it to be very good. I t definitely favors shoret bell lines as far as his casting technique is concerned. He casting style is very similair to John and Amy Hazzel in their video (he used to guide with them, I'm not sure who influenced who more). I've had the oppurtunity to be guided by Amy Hazel and many of the lines he uses in the video came out of her mouth long before the video was available.
If you are looking for an introduction to spey casting and fishing with the big rods the two of their videos together would be a great place to start as long as your not looking to swing long bellied lines."

I have the Hazel DVD, and there are a lot of similiarities. There is no fishing on the Hazel video, but some of the same casting techniques.

I'm waiting for Simon to come out with a DVD that is a visual supplement to his new book.

I find places for all of the lines. If I'm on a big river with great wading and a large area for the D Loop, I like my Grand Spey 7/8 on my ARC 1409 or my Meise Surf Rod with the spey tip. Also, this winter with high and fast water, I will be using Meise's rod with the Grand Spey and Rio's 26 striper tips or the newer Rio T14 shooting heads that my son gave me this past week.

For most of my fishing in smaller rivers and often tight casting quarters, my 6126 with either the MS 7/8 with or without tips or with the WC 678 with the upgrade does the job for me. With the winds we have had the past 4 summers, the WC upgrade becomes the first choice.

 

[Gillie]

The fact that Amy and John don't do any fishing on there video is the reason why I think the two DVDs are a good combination. They are similair enough in technique that they combine nicely. I took a look at Simon's new book and although it looks excellent I've held off on buying it because the techniques seem fairly different from the ones I've been practicing from Dec and John and Amy. I think I will pick up Simon's book once I begin to play with long belly lines which is a goal of mine in the future. I don't think the the short compact strokes that these three advocate work well with longer belly lines and I can tell you from experience that they don't even like midspey lines. They are very strong supporters of WC and Delta length lines.

Gillie