With a casual flick of his hands, Rial Blaine tossed his fly line toward the center of the Spokane River.

He was holding a spey rod, a willowy two-handed instrument designed for big water, and the cast appeared effortless. Then Blaine tried something harder, more intricate - he spun the line into big looping circles, waving the rod like a wand, drawing cursive in the sky.

The heavy line unfurled and flew forward. It landed softly in the slow-moving river, far from the beach.

"Once you get to where you feel really confident, you start doing whatever's best for the situation," said Blaine, head guide and manager at Castaway Fly Shop in Coeur d'Alene.

A European invention, the spey rod is named for the River Spey in Scotland, where innovative anglers first developed the rod and its two-handed technique. Spey-fishing has grown popular in the United States, too, particularly on large rivers, where the long rods - anywhere from 12 to 18 feet - can easily reach faraway fish.

Idaho fly-fishermen, on the hunt for steelhead or salmon, often cast spey rods on the wide Snake or Clearwater rivers. The long-range casting, once mastered, is a very effective weapon.

"It's an art form. It is really an art form," said Art Collins, a fly-fishing expert who volunteers at Castaway.

Blaine and Collins have walked many rivers. They know the local waters, the flies that catch cagey trout, the tips and tricks of experienced anglers. On Tuesday nights, they pass on that hard-won knowledge at riverside clinics, teaching the spey cast and other fly-fishing techniques to anyone who drops in.

Anglers meet on the sandy shoreline along River Avenue, adjacent to the North Idaho College campus. Open to fly-casters of all abilities, the free clinics begin at 5 p.m.

Blaine plans to establish a "spey-clave" - a weekly gathering a spey rod aficianados.

"Two-handed rods are really getting popular, but nobody knows how to cast them," he said. "Once you do it, it's the way to go."

Spey rods require less effort than one-handed outfits, Blaine and Collins said. Whereas a conventional fishermen will make several false casts before finally launching his fly upstream, a spey-rodder only needs one throw - and it's much easier on the shoulder.

"There's a whole different approach. Most of the fly-fishers are one-handed casters," Collins said. "Both (techniques) are kind of finesse. It's very subtle stuff, it's really what it is."

For beginners, the best way to learn fly-fishing is step-by-step, Collins said. Focus on one thing at a time, and eventually the cast will come together.

It takes practice, though. Lots of practice.

"If you're patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time, that doesn't work very good," Collins said. "There's the preparation, and then there's actually doing it, and then there's the follow-through."

Free clinics are just one resource Castaway offers local anglers. The shop at 1114 N. Fourth St. is a full guiding service, leading trips on the Coeur d'Alene, St. Joe, Clark Fork, Thompson and Methow rivers.

It also stocks all the latest fishing gear, including Loop Tackle Design of Sweden, a leader in the industry.

And, on Wednesday nights, a group of fly-tying fanatics gathers around an upstairs table. They eat pizza, shoot the breeze and tie their favorite patterns.

"The idea was kind of to have a class, without the class format," Blaine said.

For more information on Castaway's guide service or products, log on to www.castawayflyfishingshop.com.

To sign up for a casting clinic, call 765-4646.