Kinda simple. What is the advantage of a spey rod? I have seen them for sale at most sizes so it seems they can be used most everywhere or at least for most everything?

Jest another way to angle. When an old fly flogger grows tired of the old single haul, double hauling way of flogging, you can return to one of the Old New ways of throwing fly gear. Used to lob large salmon flys, heavy-gear and sinking lines way out thar for the elusive Atlantic’s. And does so without a lot of gear hanging in the tree behind you on an errant backcast.

Fun to watch a good Spey Angler out on a big river flat. A plus noted, as they’re now scaling the whole way of Spey down to the smaller gear like 7 through size 4 or 5 weigh -ish.

I think...

What I’d like to know is, how far can a medium weight Spey rod throw a small to medium sized Salmon fly ? And, can you Spey off the front of an open Bay boat or Skiff ? Providing the Dude/Dudett can actually kinda Spey cast.

Again, it’s my semi annual Humpy Rash starting the early itch...

The biggest advantage is being able to fish water with no back cast room. All those high bank and heavily brushed runs are more fishable with a two hander. I love fishing spots that normally only gear guys like to fish. Most spey fishers still stick to the big gravel bar runs. The longer rods also make line control easier.

Thanks, Brent. I kinda thought that the Spey adbvantage was the ability not to have to backcast. I gave used my one-hander that way on some smaller streams. Like all fishermen, maybe I need a new rod.

New rods are always fun but there are some spey style lines made for single hand rods now. Pretty sure RIO, SA, Airflo, and OPST all have there own version of a Skagit line made for single handers. Don't let me talk you out of a new rod though

I'll check into it. I have some extra 5wts.

C'man,

Brent covered the main advantage of Spey casting, IMO. Spey casting is basically a "change of direction roll cast." So one may Spey cast with either a single hand or double hand rod. Wish I had understood that better much earlier when I was doing all my steelhead fishing with a single hand fly rod.

Spey casting with a double hand rod pretty well doubles the amount of water I can effectively fish on a river. I don't need an open gravel bar behind me and can fish fairly close against a high bank or brushy or tree-lined river bank. I still need a few feet of space for what is called the "D" loop, which effectively the backcast when roll casting or Spey casting.

I'm not really sure why, but sometimes it seems like it's as little as a reason to give tackle shops an excuse to inventory and sell more fly fishing tackle. Trout Spey has become more popular in the last 10 years. I have seen Spey rods as light as 2 and 3 weight, whereas the lightest Spey rod I use for summer steelhead and bull trout is a 5 wt. (My every day winter (and BC summer run river) Spey rod is a 7 wt.) (Spey line sizes are approximately two line weights heavier than than their single hand counterpart; i.e., my 7 wt Spey rod easily has the power of a 9 wt single hand rod.)

Another advantage of Spey fishing is that it is easy to cast larger flies. My all around single hand steelhead rods are 8 wt. With those rods I'm comfortable casting flies as large as a size 2 hook. With my Spey rod I often fish streamer flies that are 4 inches long, which makes some sense when you consider that steelhead forage on squid and baitfish that are commonly 6 or 7 inches long.

And the last advantage of Spey fishing is the consolation prize. With steelhead returns being so much lower in recent years, I can take more pleasure in the simple act of Spey casting while I'm fishing a 300 yard long run that probably isn't holding even a single steelhead. Spey casting is kind of a hobby in and of itself. I really enjoy it, and as I've gotten better at it, I enjoy it that much more.

So, do you need a Spey rod? Absolutely not. Will you catch more fish by using a Spey rod? It's highly unlikely. I have an fiberglass 8 1/2' 8 wt fly rod that is over 40 years old and has landed more steelhead than all of my high tech graphite Spey rods combined. It's all about the enjoyment.

20 Gage,

For perspective, I probably max out my single hand casting at around 80 or 90 feet. Also for perspective, my usual working length single hand fly cast for steelhead fishing is about 60'. Since I took up Spey casting for steelhead, my typical working length Spey cast is 70 to 80'. My maximum length Spey cast is probably about 100'. I have a couple friends who are excellent casters and they will make fishing length casts of 120' or more where the situation allows or calls for it.

A person can certainly Spey cast from the open bow of a boat, but generally speaking, why would they? If you're fishing from a boat it's usually more comfortable, and often more effective, to just cast and fish a single hand fly rod in that situation.

Salmo -

Thanx for the info !

Your answer (s) regarding the Spey Casting from the front deck of the boat helps in two ways. One it proves it can be done, and with a bit longer casting reach over the single handed casters ## throwing larger flys - will both be used to help justify the new fishing boat, as well as a couple new Spey Rods for this summer !

## I will not use the efficiency comparison you’ve offered however as It may not help with my Spey Rod “must have “ justifications in discussions with my Wifebanker...

Salmo

Thanks a lot for the info. I am mostly a trout fisherman but add spiny rays when they are around. Plus the occasional salmon. Just to experiment, if I got a 7wt line for my 5, or just tried one of my 5wt on a 3 would that "work" on a single-hand rod? At least to see what happens?

Like you, I think I am in iy for the experience but with trout that nice cast to the right seam often gets attention.

You could easily use a 7 wt line on a 5 wt rod…..but it will depend on the line. I’d go with a true 7 wt line based on grain weight.
Years ago before integrated lines became available, it was common for people to make their own shooting head systems that were 2-3 line weights heavier than their rods.
Now that integrated lines are available, you don’t need to make your own or deal with looping heads into running lines or even dealing with the loops.
If you are going to put a 7 wt on your 5 wt, make sure to look at the grain weight. Some lines are already overweighted.
As an example, If you bought a Rio Outbound Short 7 wt line which is an integrated shooting head, the grain weight is 265. 265 grains puts that line between a 9 and 10 weight on the AFTMA standards chart.
A true 7 wt line should be about 185 grains.
A 5 wt Rio Outbound Short is 200 grains which puts it between a 7-8 weight on the standards chart. That would be a good fit for your 5 wt.

It all really depends on how you want to fish. If your intent is to throw 4” streamers like Salmo mentioned in his previous post, an integrated line is the way to go in my opinion on a single handed. There are a lot of them out there now.
I’m heading out to do that right now on my 6 wt.
SF

Should I also look at trying this with my longest rod?

Way, way back in the 70s when I got introduced to fly fishing for pinks by Jim Garrett, we used a lead-core head on the line. Worked pretty well on my 8wt fiberglass. My dad had made me a "flea-rod" which is a flyrod about 3' long for use on tiny creeks. I put the 8wt line with lead core on just see what it would do with the pinks. Took longer to land.....Was also a bit clumsy to cast.

C'man,

I'm not sure why you would want to put a 7 wt line on your 5 wt fly rod. I think you would simply find that you then have a rod and line out of balance that is no fun to cast. I do have a couple specialty lines of 200 gn that are labeled as being for 5 or 6 wt rods. The difference is that the head or belly portion of the line (where the weight is) is 24' long instead of the AFTMA standard 30' that would weigh 130 gn (5 wt) or 160 gn (6 wt). I also haven't cast either of these lines yet and planning to try them on a 6 and 7 wt rod.

If you want to do this we could talk about it over lunch and test cast lines at Pioneer Park or Munn Lake launch. I've got a bunch of rods and lines.

Sounds like a good idea, Salmo. That's why i asked all those questions.

I would definitely take Salmo up on his offer. A lot of people get frustrated with spey casting simply because their setup is wrong for them. Trying out different setups is a huge plus and getting the right line is by far the most important part.

I plan to. He's one of my fishing heroes.

It's unfortunate that this forum doesn't have emojis or LOL or ha hah that can be appended to other's posts.

JIT

“Looking for a great day to visit the Yakima Canyon? Come to the 1st Annual PNW Trout Spey Clave at Red's Fly Shop. We'll have some great presenters and lots of rods lined up to teach YOU how to improve or start your trout spey journey.”

It sounds like there are a few fly floggers looking to Trout Spey...