Ian Gordon – World Spey Casting Champion, conservationist, and fishing tackle innovator!
Ian begun fly-fishing, taught by his father aged 8, and has spent most of his 50 years fishing and guiding on the River Spey and Deveron [Scotland] and has a huge passion for the sport.
His experience in fly fishing begins as a 12-year-old on the Forglen beat of the river Deveron, this was followed by a 25 year apprenticeship working as a Ghillie for the Wills family on the Knockando beat of the River Spey.
His interest in physics led him to rod and line design where he began by helping the late Ken Walker with the actions of some of their most popular rods such as the Double Spey, Powerlite and Norway Speycaster. He first explored the idea of a bespoke rod when he became the principal rod and line designer at Carron, founding the company with his friend Jimmy Jack. The original Carron Jet-stream line was a ground-breaking product, the profile of which has been seen by many as the branch-mark for others to follow.
What Ian did at Carron Rods was also innovative, in that they were the first company to design actions to suit the individual customer. The success of the Carron line led to a move to Shakespeare where he redesigned the Oracle range of double handed/Spey rods, before being asked to develop a new range of rods at a different price point. Partridge was the brand for this project, Ian designed the Ian Gordon range of double handers, also introducing one of the first, fit for purpose, Six-piece salmon rods to the market.
The Ian Gordon range of Partridge rods, reels, and lines were extremely well received in the marketplace with lots of innovative ideas including a short trout Spey rod which would later become a switch. The popularity of those Ian Gordon products led to Ian being approached by Hardy where he joined the team in 2007 and was instrumental in putting together their bestselling range of rods ever, the Hardy Sintrix Zenith double handed range.
After 13 years at Hardy, Ian left to pursue a project he has had in his head for a long time. Along with his old friend, James Robbins Ian has gone full circle, back doing what he loves best, designing bespoke and semi bespoke products for “Cadence”, an online company based in England.
He is currently working on the most exciting project since his days at Carron and Partridge, focusing on designing rods, reels, and lines to fit the technique of the individual. Ian describes this unique and again ground-breaking concept as the most interesting, radicle and innovative projects of his extensive career in the salmon tackle market.
One of the worlds most respected teachers of Flycasting with a double handed rod, Ian spends the spring months running 3-day courses on the River Spey and Deveron, as well as organising and hosting prime time salmon fishing trips to handpicked locations in Scotland, Norway, Canada and Iceland.
Website: Speyonline.com
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