from Mike Padilla's blog

In an effort to save money I decided that I could teach myself how to cast and with the help of others find a line system that would work for me. I listened to a lot of self proclaimed experts. It wasn’t that they didn’t know what they were talking about, or that they didn't have good intentions. It was that they knew what worked for them, and they tried to convince me that this would also work for me. I was bombarded with terms like Skagit, Scandi, Grain weight, and the pros and cons of one line system vs another; all with a biased undertone because most of them believed their method was the best. Without any hesitation I purchased the running line and shooting head, and just like that I was off to the races. I fished that particular system for couple of months and had another friend give me some on stream instruction. For a little while things went well but the more I fished the more disappointed and disillusioned I became with my fly rod. Many different line systems were purchased over the course of a year in all grain weights imaginable, and nothing seemed to work. They never really casted quite right and I struggled and stumbled my way through my fishing season.

Consequently the rod became something that represented frustration and a lot of time and money wasted. I put it away and forgot about it for the better part of a year. I contemplated cutting my losses and selling it,or just leaving it there in the closet to collect dust. Before I made any one of these decisions I contacted Peter Charles a certified spey casting instructor who operates Hooked4life.ca. I explained my dilemma to him and he was confident he had a solution for me. In a last ditch effort to get it right I decided to invest in some professional instruction. Right away I noticed a difference in his approach. He asked me things like; what my experience level was, and what was my intended use for this rod. From there he was able to determine what different line systems we could use and what they could offer me.We met up a few days later on a quiet piece of river in the early morning. After a short tutorial on what he had put together for me, we took my rod down to the river. We went through a few basic casts and then he put me to work. After a few casts and some adjustments to my casting stroke I could not believe that this was the same rod that had me so frustrated months before. Slowly but surely my casting got better and the excitement that I once felt about this piece of equipment starting coming back. Through out my lesson many small adjustments were made to my casting stroke and the dynamics of how the whole system works together was explained to me. Peter was extremely patient and knew exactly when to provide some constructive criticism. I left the river with a new found sense of confidence, that finally all my equipment was working together and that I had the basic building blocks to become a proficient spey caster.