Slow and low that is the tempo. Got a two hander? Welp, winter is a great time to use it on the Truckee River. Swinging streamers through the deeper runs is a great way to catch fish this time of year on the T. In fact, I’ve been doing better swinging on the switch than I have been with the nymphs on the single-hander- as of late. I like either a 5, or 6 wt switch rod. Really, you can call it a mini spey as the ones I’m using are, 11’6, shorter than a spey rod, but still long enough to bomb casts down to China. I do all my two handed work on the Truckee with a Skagit head or an intergrated line such as the Rio Switch Chucker, or Wulff Ambush. Mono running lines are the best, a little harder to handle then the plastic coated lines because of the slickness, but cast a country mile. For tips, either a Mow tip or a verisi leader depending on what line or head you’re rocking.
Buggers and the like are all good for flies. Add a dropper like a big prince or a rubber leggs behind your streamer and you’ll be surprised who latches on. There is a ton of good swinging water on the Truckee River especially through the lower stuff and down through Nevada. This is a great clip on winter swinging with the 2 handa’s from my friends at the Headhunters.
Spey casting is fun, its like popping a wheelie on your bike when you get the right timing down and launch one to the opposite bank. If you’ve never done it before, or have a two-hander and haven’t used it for swinging for trout yet, I’ll be doing a clinic on January 24th. I’ll take you through the different lines and heads and tips and things, all of which is very confusing at first. I’ll show you to make a few different spey casts, how to place an anchor, all the good stuff.
The swing clinic is on Saturday January 24th. We will meet at 10:00 off the Hirschdale exit #194 at the stop sign under the I-80 bridge. Please bring a valid California fishing license. This is a hands on class, we will be fishing, but the emphasis is on learning, not catching fish. If that is important than come out on a guide trip, solo. If you have your own set up great, if not, I will have rods to demo for the day from Sage and Redington, including different lines, etc. I’ll tie us up all a bunch of cool shit to swing with for the day too. You will need to pre pay via Paypal or CC# over the phone. Cost is $150.
Sign up by emailing me here.