Celebrating Angling Milestones at Talaheim

There’s nothing better than some good ol’fashion Alaska fly fishing, especially when it brings friends together. Week two at Talaheim’s Alaska fishing lodge reunited the best of the best in spey casting from California, Oregon, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Colorado.  All with one common interest: to swing flies for Kings on a double handed fly rod.

Please pause for a moment of sports commentary…. What’s spey casting, you ask?

Spey casting is a style of fly-fishing developed in Scotland on the Spey River that uses double handed fly rods between twelve and fourteen feet in length. Over the years, anglers have developed this technique further by using compact shooting head and sink tips of T-14 line to present heavy flies to larger pooling fish. This is a perfect technique for King Salmon fishing on the lower Tal because the long runs require long casts, big mends, and deep sinking flies.

During week two, Talaheim welcomed the All Stars of Spey Casting, each landing one or two king salmon a day on their double-handed fly rod.  Best flies were black and blue marabou or orange and pink streamers, aka “the intruder” style.  These flies even worked for the newcomers who– when supplied with a double-handed rod from Talaheim’s stash and a little training from the experts–hooked a King! That’s an angling milestone in a fisherman’s career!

And what better way to follow up the celebration but with a little homemade sushi served streamside, and one of Katieri’s desserts that was as sweet as this picture.

Check out more pictures from week two’s spey casters by visiting Facebook.