Grand River Spey Clave

Once again this year we are planning to hold a raffle at the Spey Clave. All proceeds from the raffle as well as any donations will be going directly back to Friends of the Grand River (FOGR) to help fund and support their on going conservation efforts and projects here on the Grand River. If you are interested in contributing a prize to the raffle please contact me.

Donations so far are:

• 4 hours casting instruction (Value $150.00) - Donated by Doug Swift
• 2 hours single hand fly casting instruction(Value $100.00) - Donated by Rick Whorwood
• 6 Classic Spey Patterns (Value $240.00) - Donated by Jin Lee

As the founding father of Rajeff Sports, Tim tends to be busier then your average bald guy.When in the office, he spends all his time designingnew lines and rods, addressing managerial-type stuff or helping with customer service.When he's out and about, you willl find him teaching casting classes, giving seminars, or hosting LL Bean's Guide to the Outdoors television series.

Tim's extensive knowledge of fly rod design and performance stems from his early childhoodpatronage to the Golden Gate Angling and Castind Club in san Francisco, where he became a young and successfull competition caster.Tim has received a gold medal in the world casting Games in single hand distance as well as winning the national overall fly accuracy and distanc championship.Tim first began designing rods in 1980, and was one of the first people to use and adapt graphite fly rods in competition casting.

After spending his youth fishing and casting in California and Oregon, Tim's fishing career took a turn when he took a job working for the Fenwick Fly Fishing School in Montana during 1973.In 1985 he made the trek north and began guiding in Alaska, eventually moving on to develop and build the first fishing camps on Russia's Kola Peninsula, 60 miles aabove the Arctic Circle. He spen six years managing thes camps before returning to the states in 1994.Upon his return he began working for a premium domestic rod manufacturer, where he worked as head of the engineering department and the Fly Brand manager.he worked there until 2001 and along the way learned every aspect of fly rod design and manufacturing.

You just never know who you might bump into on the Waterways of Canada,Rivers,Lakes and and Ocean(s) alike."Born in Moncton,New Brunswick...Courtney Ogilvie from an early age attempted to outfish his Grandmother at every chance, "How can my Grandmother possibly outfish me,"I'm 10!" perhaps this is what drives this passionate flyfisher and creative fly tyer.

Now living on Vancouver Island with his wife Val,also a fly fisher and tyer,Courtney is always in search of better techniques,flies,lines and rods.A student of nearly 50 years with fly rod in hand has led him across Canada,the U.S.A.,Europe and into the North.Weened on Dry Fly Fishing for Atlantics on the mighty Mirimachi an automatic comparison has moved his interests to Pacific Steelhead znd Salt Water Fly-caught Salmon since 1994. In 2006 Snowbee Canada via Ogilvie Outfitting was brought into the mainstream fly fishing community in Western Canada.

In 2007,Nile Creek Fly Shop was created out of demand for a real fly shop on Vancouver Island,serving both the Salt Water and Fresh Water components.Of course Spey Casting has widely become a special interest,often you will find Courtney instructing at many Spey Gatherings across Canada.An avid outdoor writer,photographer and guide is this man.

Click Here to Visit Courtney's Site

Doug's presentation will focus on single hand rod spey casts that will help you get your fly into fish holding areas in tight quarters that might be inaccessible by normal single hand casting methods.

Doug Swift is a member of the Federation of Fly Fishers and has been a Certified Casting Instructor through their internationally recognized fly casting program for the past seven years. He operates Swift fly casting instruction in Wasaga Beach, Ontario near the lower section of the Nottawasaga river. Since retiring 12 years ago he has focused on learning better fly casting techniques and passing his learned skills on to other fly fishers who recognize how much the "fun factor" of fly fishing is enhanced by better casting methods.

The value of knowing how to perform and present a good cast cannot be under estimated in the fly fishing world. Coming to the realization that good casting form is the prelude to successful fly fishing spurred Doug on through his journey to be a better caster and subsequently to a FFF instructor designation.

The learning curve continues as he continues his efforts to be recognized at the FFF advanced certification level of a Master Certified Instructor.

Doug is pro staff for - G.Loomis - Simms - Scientific Anglers - Ross Reels

His web site can be viewed at www.swiftflycastinginstruction.com.

Mike Barrand joins Vision as a Pro Staff Member and Casting Instructor to help introduce and demonstrate Vision Products in Ontario. A former casting instructor for Loop in Canada and current member of the pro staff for Eumer and Maui Jim, Mike brings a wealth of experience to Vision and the introduction of Vision Fly Fishing to Central Canada.

Mike has always had a passion for the outdoors. Whether it's mountain biking, surfing, rock climbing or just a simple hike, his interests have always reflected his love of nature and adventure. Those interests are what led him to cast his first fly rod in Newfoundland, on a day that changed his life. With that first throw, Mike knew fly fishing would now be the way he'd connect with nature. Since that day, Mike has immersed himself into the sport, having been offered the opportunity to fly fish in some of the best waters across the country and learn from some of the best instructors in the world. Now an accomplished caster in his own right, he shares his joy of the sport as owner of Waist Deep Casting as well as being the casting instructor for one of Ontario's top rafting companies. Always smiling, you can count on Mike for an entertaining conversation or to give you advice on casting and set-ups.

Rick Kustich is co-author of the acclaimed book Fly Fishing for Great Lakes Steelhead and has fly fished for steelhead in the Great Lakes region for almost thirty years. He is a writer, photographer, and fly tyer. He has written three other fly fishing books, is a regular contributor to both national and regional publications, and recently introduced his first DVD. For nearly ten years Rick owned and operated the Oak Orchard Fly Shop in Williamsville, New York. He lives on the banks of the Niagara River in Grand Island, New York.

Rick will be doing a demo on the fishing aspect of two-handed rods - rigging, presentation, and covering the water with an emphasis on Skagit lines and a discussion and demonstration of this style of line for steelhead fishing.

He is pro staff for Scott Fly Rods.

Larry’s passion for our rivers and helping others share these incredible waters is seen through his volunteer efforts as president of Friends of the Grand River a position where his leadership has helped this organization thrive since 1997. Larry is also a professional guide and fly tyer with Grand River Troutfitters where he has shared experiences with many clients in waders or drift boat. He has been a regular on the Great Lakes rivers for over the past two decades and fishes regularly throughout North America and the United Kingdom.

Friends of the Grand River

The Friends of the Grand River (FOGR) is volunteer driven non-profit organization incorporated in 1995. This conservation organization with over 150 members develops, promotes and implements projects that preserve, conserve and enhance the ecology of upper Grand River watersheds. FOGR is action-oriented with activities centred on the Grand River tailwater area in Centre Wellington and on the Conestogo River tailwater in Wellington and Waterloo. FOGR is known for its river access program, fish stocking, fisheries studies, stream rehabilitation, tree planting, River Watch, road clean-ups, fisheries education, and many other projects. These projects enrich appreciation of the Grand and Conestogo Rivers. FOGR presents an educated voice that is part of the decision-making process on issues surrounding these two high profile fisheries. Funding for FOGR projects is raised through membership fees, donations, sponsorship and fund raising events.

After experiencing the wonders of fly fishing through the encouragement of local fly fisherman for trout , Raynald became quickly addicted to the sport . Fly fishing for Atlantic Salmon also became a great interest but after the years , Raynald started experiencing the limitations of the singlehanded fly rod . Taking a leap into the dark , Raynald bought his first Spey rod . With the limitation of resources on the subject of Spey casting , the quest began , but with the help of information provided on the internet , through famous forums such as Spey pages . com , certain DVD's , and the passion of well accomplished Spey casters , experimentations began . After years of practice and studies on the matter , Spey casting became a constant interest and passion . Taking advantage of this new passion , Raynald has been able to share with others the joy and efficiency of Spey Casting.

For the past 3 years , Raynald has been pro Staff for Sage / Redington / Rio / Islander in the province of Quebec and has been providing Spey casting instructions for fly fishing associations throughout the province as well as working with fly shops suggesting and providing current information on this growing sport.

Other then a 5 year stint fumbling around the Rockies in Alberta Mike has spent his entire four decades living along Ontario’s west coast within minutes of his home waters of the Maitland River. In 2003 with over 20 yrs of experience fishing the local waters and his deep passion and appreciation for the sport of fly fishing he decided to start his own guiding business called FlyFitters. Shortly after Mike was introduced to his first spey rod by a couple of fellow Gloomis pro staffers and it didn’t take long for Mike to clearly see the benefit these long rods would have while pursuing steelhead with a fly on some of his favorite pools on the mighty Maitland. Today when guiding, Mike’s favorite passion is introducing people to their first steelhead on a swung fly. Even with nine seasons of guiding and the numerous steelhead landed by “first timers” each one still brings him a great deal of satisfaction and puts a smile on his face, not to mention the smile it puts on his clients face!

Mike is on field staff with Gloomis and Scientific Anglers and this year at the clave he is going to share his full line up of Gloomis spey rods, including a couple of the new NRX models, and they will all be loaded with the new series of SA Spey lines! He will be set up along the river bank which will allow anyone the opportunity for a personal one on one casting session with his gear and his expertise at anytime throughout the day. He insures that when you try his new Gloomis NRX 13’ 8/9 loaded with a new SA Spey Evolution line you will see it has all of the “WOW” factor!!

You can visit his website at www.flyfitters.ca

To see the full line up of Gloomis rods visit www.gloomis.com and to see the new and exciting Scientific Anglers spey lines visit www.saspey.com

Rob Heal is a third generation fly fisher from Canada's east coast and began what has become a life time passion over 30 years ago. In his early years, he pursued Atlantic salmon in Nova Scotia, Quebec and Newfoundland but relocated to southern Ontario in the early 1990's. In 1995, he began guiding as a part time side line that eventually evolved to a full time vocation. Along with guiding on the cold water streams and rivers of south, central Ontario, Rob teaches his skills in fly casting and tying at various venues in the region.

His work has taken him all over Canada, the United States and South America where he has gathered experience and learned from a wide array of angler teachers, guides and experts in the sport of fresh water fly fishing. He has appeared on television, in instructional videos and magazines and continues to improve his skills to pass along to others. Rob is an expert caster with single and two handed rods and received his FFF Casting Certification in 2001.

His love of fly fishing and tying is apparent in his presentations but it is the enjoyment of teaching others that sets his classes apart. Rob can be contacted for guided trips as well as tying, casting and fishing demonstrations through his web site and email rob@thehomepool.ca