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[Stone]

I mentioned that in my post...IMO I would definitely use a single hander in a cast and retrieve situation, such as 90% of coho fishing.  You "can" cast and retrieve with a spey rod if you have to, but I don't like to do it and neither do any of my friends who spey cast.

[RalphH]

There really isn't such a thing as "Spey fishing". It is fly fishing with specialized tackle. It was developed on Scotland's River Spey where there usually isn't sufficient room for a standard backcast. Long rods of 20 feet and more predate the Spey cast so the cast was actually adapted to existing tackle. It is best suited to downstream swing angling and less to cast and retrieve or even nymphing and upstream dry fly.

 Fly fishing in North America largely evolved without the use of spey rods and they've simply become "cool" in the last dozen years or so

I've had a 2 handed spey rod for about 20 years. But I am not a good caster and for years the rod sat in my tackle room largely unused. In my opinion spey tackle is more specialized than single handed rods. I think pretty much anywhere spey tackle is fished single handed rods will do. Spey rods may do it better but not that much better. However there are many situations where single handed rods are a better choice than spey rods.

Spey tackle is significantly pricer than standard fly tackle. The rods are often $200 or more than comparable single handed rods plus you need a bigger (more $) reel to accomodate the long thick line .


Spey rods are relatively easy to use but believe me you notice the weight difference if you switch between a single handed rod and a 2 hander during the day.. In most cases the rod overpowers the fish you are catching (which can be a good thing).

It's been said the standard rating for a spey rod is actually about 2 line classes higher than a single handed rod. So a #9 is more like a #11 single handed rod.

If you are starting out you are better off with a single handed rod IMO. I'd go farther and say buy yourself a couple of single handed rods - say #4, 6# and #7 or 8 before thinking of jumping to a spey rod. The only solid reason to go to a spey is if you only fish for steelhead or Atlantics back east. Even then smaller rivers may be better fished with a single handed rod.

[Stone]

Spey rods are relatively easy to use but believe me you notice the weight difference if you switch between a single handed rod and a 2 hander during the day.. In most cases the rod overpowers the fish you are catching (which can be a good thing).

It's been said the standard rating for a spey rod is actually about 2 line classes higher than a single handed rod. So a #9 is more like a #11 single handed rod.

If you are starting out you are better off with a single handed rod IMO. I'd go farther and say buy yourself a couple of single handed rods - say #4, 6# and #7 or 8 before thinking of jumping to a spey rod. The only solid reason to go to a spey is if you only fish for steelhead or Atlantics back east. Even then smaller rivers may be better fished with a single handed rod.

Pretty much agree with you that a person is better off starting with a single hander as they are definitely more versatile.  But if you mean "weight difference" as in the double hander is a lot heavier to cast than a single hander, by virtue of it's length...then I'll have to disagree.  Mostly because you use both hands as a pivot to cast the double hander, and the lack of need for false casting, makes a day of quartering a river a lot more relaxing than a single hander in my books.  I'm a novice spey caster, but even I can enjoy the way I don't feel so tired after working a river all day with a double hander.

I've caught fairly small winter steelhead (5-7 lbs) with my 9140 and have found the battle to be spectacular.  Depends more on the individual fish, I guess, than the rod.  Big fish are definitely fun on the spey rod.  I'm picking up a 13' 7wt tomorrow...excited to try that one out.  And for smaller fish, I have a LOOP 11'2 7wt switch rod that can be double hand cast or overhead cast.  The possibilities are endless.

[Prettyfly]

Here's a bit of history on spey casting

http://www.clanrods.com/greenheart.htm

[nosey]

Just watching the fishers in the Thomson I'd say spey fishing is flossing with an extra long fly rod.

[speyghillie]

Hi Guy's,
I hope to have a Speyclave in BC at the end of the year, this would be a great event for anybody interested in Speycasting, i have already got some of the worlds best Speycasters interested, its just a question of funding and timing.
I hope to be over next month to sort out some detail, then i hope to post the venue and the dates.
 Cheers Gordon (speyghillie).

[abito]

There are way too many more advantage of using a two handed rod over a single hand rod when it comes to river fishing and beach fishing.

[Xgolfman]

i watched a guy on the vedder on sat, 1/21 using one and was very impressed with how it operates, i stopped by and talked to the owner of M&Y's in surrey about it on sunday...i think from what I've seen and now heard that it is an excellent form of fly fishing in the right scenario's...my buddy and i talked about it all the way out to the Harris afterwards...i am inclined to think i will have one in the future...if your fishing rivers with any size and/or want to fish spots but couldn't because there was no room to back cast then this is a very viable resource....it's nothing to flick that line out in the 70 foot range and 100' cast are not out of the norm..without worrying about what's behind you..you line is constantly in the water too....so if your hard core going for steelhead and salmon on bigger rivers i think you gotta look at this as a possible alternative..