I had a similar experience many years ago on the WB Ausable.  I was targeting active risers from an upstream position casting to a foot or two above their nose instead of the long drift up, across and down that is the standard tactic.  I had a nice evening picking off one after the other under tough conditions and pressured fish.  At dusk as I worked my way back upstream toward the parking area I overheard two old timers talking about me and what they observed.  One said to the other, "did you see that guy, he was doing the exact opposite of everything I had been taught."  Some rules are made to be ignored.  Adapt and overcome!!!! 

Maybe nymphing with a Spey rod should be  illegal. Half the people using them are cannonball, long tippet and midge fisherman.  Some using indicators set them 3-4 times the depth of the water because the long rod allows them to.  I had a good laugh at a guide I saw Friday trying to land a flossed fish with the indicator pegged at the rod tip and the client holding the  Spey rod straight up trying to get the fish to net. The rod was about to blow and the guide  finally swatted it in . He was setting the bobber  at  12' for a 3' deep run. Uh huh, that's the way to do it.  Nothing wrong with that method.  I fished a little farther down the  3 mph seam with mine set at a little over 4'.   I occasionally ticked bottom. Is there an ethical  purpose for  the other 8'?  If I was a dedicated Spey fisherman that worked big waters out west and in the Maritimes, I'd be shaking my head in disgust.

Just like every method there is always a window of illegalities... agree with many of these spey fishers abusing the limitations. Indies have been abused for quite a few years now... so I hear you on that. Just like any other method falls victim of bad intent.

Should a spin fisher not bottom bounce a fly because its against an unwritten rule???

Or how about a fly fisher dead drifting a sac??? How dare he???

For the maritime spey fisher, spey fishing was invented in Scotland on the spey river, so maybe if its done anywhere else it should be called something else???

Now, I'd love to fish large water for salt run salmonoids. And I would love to fish the traditional styles... but don't think these sink tips and what not that many folks use on these traditional rivers can't fall within the guidelines of bad intent. Seen fish get flossed with sink tips and no weight...or a tube fly swung with no weight... and if i were fishing large water somewhere and happened to find a run that I felt like high sticking a nymph through with my two handed...you'd bet your azz I'd give it a shot if the traditionals weren't working. And if any two handed maritime snob shook His head at me I'd be thinking about telling him to shove the butt of his 16' fly swatter right up his azz and suck on it afterwards if he had a problem with my methods...

Just get out and fish...bottom line...

LMAO... T

dimebrite2
 . And if any  snob shook His head at me I'd be thinking about telling him to shove the butt right up his azz and suck on it afterwards if he had a problem with my methods...

Just get out and fish...bottom line...

Wanna catch some slobs with rapalas on the Ausable sometime   ? :)
I broke out the spin rod on the SR for first time in at least 5 years, and I liked it :) Not quite back to taping the reel to the fly rod again though..lol
Peace & Tuna
P.S.
spey rods suck.. (joking) want to buy mine ?

No, Gerry the guy had 4 Helios Spey rods pre-rigged and sitting there. He was flossing intentionally.  F.ck the D loop , you just flip the  bobber upstream like in normal indy fishing. He was rigged right for lining and snagging.
Had nothing to do with the wrong tool. He was the tool.  And you're funny Dime, but miss the point.  I'm not talking about snobs, I'm talking about people that spend their lives perfecting techniques on  waters  you don't fish. The west coast guys I know could give a **** less what you're doing, but  if you're snagging they'd likely want to shove the Spey  up whomever's azz was trying to snag. Every method will snag fish where there's lots of fish (and fishermen) , a 2 yr. old can figure that out. It's all about intent.  I have no use for snobs, but I do have respect for people that perfect a method.  By the way, I got into it with 2 of the guys  fishing that way, including the guide.  I can still sit comfortably.

I think I'll start a Tenkara for Salmon Club.  Should be good for a laugh or two.

Yeah, I was fly fishing last Thursday with a slinky and a turned around 2 wt.   Tuna did much better with the noodle covering water, but neither of us had any luck.  I'm looking at 11' 8 wts.  Might be the best all around for what I  want to do.  Nymph well, throw line, easy mends.  Enough backbone for shark and/or steel.  I love my 10' 7, but it's a  little light. Maybe just get a  11'  9 for shark and early season screamers. Any recommendations on affordable ones gladly considered. Cortland make a switch?

Charlie,my switch is a 11' 8 wt. Shu Fly custom rods for $125,is that reasonable or what?You saw me play with a few Sharks with it last year.Can't be beat for the $$$!

after reading their bio, it seems those shu fly rods are made from an actual fisherman with knowledge of what your after.. Might be worth a call to the shop.. They may be able to customize your rod to your liking.. I know you like spring guides..

Sounds like your sold... but I have nothing bad to say about my 7-11 and 9-11 tfo deer creek series switch rods. They cast beautifully and both have gone beyond the test of landing lower river sharks. Have done steel on 5# tippet with my 9 as well

troutbum21
The owner of Shu-Fly is Skip Storch.  In addition to his fly shop he is/was a long distant swimmer.  He attends a number of sportsman shows through the winter.

I met Skip at the Somerset NJ show and that's where I bought the rod.Went there to purchase a switch and looked at and handled a bunch.Lots of rods for $300 + and after looking at them went back to the Shu Fly and said for the $$$ it can't be beat.The butt and reel seat is n't top of line but it works,the blank and furrels seem fine,and I have put the wood to the Sharks and no problem,of course you got to keep your hands on the cork

R2G2,
 
LMAO!
 
I've never seen a big buck in the woods when I had a tag on my back when my fly was up, or my gun was loaded!  That's one of the reasons I opted out of the November carnival.
 
I commented to 2B the other day about how few one handed rods you see on the SR anymore.  And while a lot of guys with Speys in the zones are over weighted, on the reminder of the river, I did not see a lot of shenanigans.  On the SR, with the High water, I carried it first day, and set it up for a little while, but once I realized that there were not a lot of spots a fish would want to navigate in the middle of 1700+ flows, it was excess baggage and stayed in the car.  But on the Genesee, except when the water is pretty low at least <1000, you will not be flyflinging to a lot of the good lies except with a spey.
 
Surface takes- as 2B says, I was up on the island fishing to the south side channel tailout of the meadow.  I had brought a 9.5 ft 5 down that day, and had it rigged with a skykomish, with no weight except the then required swivel.  I was swinging the fly, and as the sky came to the surface, the water exploded and I was into a little 17" skipper that was a ball on the 5.  After releasing her, I swung the same water again the second drift through, a bowling ball dropped behind the fly as it neared surface, and again the third time through.  This one looked more like 17#.
 
Another time I was fishing the same water from the South bank.  No one was doing anything up in the Conga line, and I took off all the shot except the swivel.  I hooked and lost three double digits fish in about 1/2 hour swinging the wet right below the surface that morning.  So the west coast stuff works, but you have to find the right water, and there is naturally a lot less when you have one big river 17 miles long as we do in NYS, as opposed to 20+ of them, many in excess of 50 miles long, as they have in Oregon and Washington.  Now if they could ladder the Black above Watertown....
 
 L13