For all you Spey junkies and wannabe Spey junkies, The Kingfisher is happy to present Nate McDonough. Nate’s credentials speak for themselves and his ability to convey the nuances of this fishing method make him a valuable resource for all the people constantly coming into the shop inquiring about this increasingly popular technique for fish on the fly.
Nate’s the Skinny guy with the fish
Whether you’re experienced or just starting out, we think the Kingfisher clinic on October 4th will add valuable weapons to your fly fishing arsenal. Space is limited to 10 students so keep that in mind!
Spey Casting 101 Curriculum
- Basics of spey-casting
- Quick overview of why spey-casting is useful
- Determining which casts to use and when (wind direction, current direction, angle of swing in relation to presentation)
- Breaking common myth that spey-casters need to know dozens of different casts
- Casting breakdown- 3 parts to every speycast
- Anchor Placement
- D-loop
- Punch
- Cast #1- Double Spey River Right (strong shoulder)
- Cast #2- Snap T or Circle Spey River right (off-shoulder)
- Cast #3- Snap T or Circle Spey River left (strong shoulder)
- Cast #4- Double Spey River Left (off-shoulder)
- Correcting common casting errors
- Improper anchor placement
- “Chopping” the D-loop
- Too much top hand (push vs pull)
The Class is on October 4th and will include lunch on the river On-line Registration
Nate has in conjunction with this class, put together an intro to spey fishing package. This package is geared specifically towards fishing the Salmon and Clearwater rivers.
This package includes:
TFO 14″ 6/7 Deer Creek Spey ROd
Ross CLA 5 Reel and Backing
Rio Skagit Max 575 grain head
Rio 15′ Versitip Sink-tip selection
The package retails for $835.00, but if you purchase it along with class registration, the class is free.
Nate McDonough
Nate was born and bred into the fly fishing industry. Both of Nate’s parents, Pat and Bev McDonough, worked many years in the Alaska fly fishing lodge business. Bedtime stories growing up were of the early pioneer days of Alaska fly fishing. Snoring brown bears in back-channels, mousing for giant Leopard Rainbows, Muddler Minnows and LL Bean’s Flyweight Waders. It wasn’t long before Nate was being toted around in a backpack while his dad chased Steelhead up and down rivers in Washington State. Pat started Nate fly tying at age 7 and fly casting a year later.
Following in his father’s footsteps, Nate ventured to Alaska and started his guiding career at age 16 working on the Kenai Peninsula. Two seasons later, Nate made the move to more remote rivers of the Bristol Bay region and took a job guiding for Bristol Bay Lodge. Over the next four seasons, Nate spent his summers working many rivers across the Wood-Tikchik State Park and Togiak National Wildlife Refuge. Winters were spent achieving a B.A. in Business Management from Central Washington University and learning how to catch Steelhead on the fly in Washington State.
In 2008, Nate took over as Head Guide and Assistant Manager for BBL under the guidance of GM Steve Laurent. This shift in position also came with a very big change in job duties and Nate soon found himself missing time on the water and daily guiding. In 2010, Nate found a remedy for this and began his Steelhead guiding career working with Jeff Brazda in Washington. Nate started his own guide service, The Nomadic Angler in 2011. Fall seasons were spent working on dry-side rivers in Eastern Washington, winters working on the famous waters of the Olympic Peninsula.
In 2014, Nate moved on from his Alaska gig and started his Montana guiding career working for Joe Cummings in Missoula. He continues to work on the OP each winter, where he co-manages a lodge operation out of Forks, WA called “The Bogy House.” Nate is a signature tier for Umpqua and enjoys creating new patterns for trout, Steelhead, and salmon. In his free-time he enjoys traveling and destination fishing with his wife, spey-casting, and pursuing his other passion in life, hunting.