Is there any advantage in a spey rod?

I've always spey cast, some of the time. This whole business of special
rods for spey casting is quite recent. Are they really any better for
spey casting, or is just a gimmick?

Lazarus

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I am a bit confused by your question.
Spey casting was developed by the Scots for casting in the River Spey where
you could not wade out very far, and the banks were covered with trees. In
other words, there was no room for a backcast.
The movements that you do to make a spey cast can be done with a single
handed rod or a double handed rod. If you want to cast a long distance, you
are better off with a double handed rod With a single handed rod, I can
spey cast abot 60'. With double handed rod, I can cast 120'.
To answer your question, double handed rods are better if you need to cast a
long distance where there is little room for a backcast



"Lazarus Cooke" wrote in message
om...
I've always spey cast, some of the time. This whole business of special
rods for spey casting is quite recent. Are they really any better for
spey casting, or is just a gimmick?

Lazarus

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Bill Kiene

Kiene's Fly Shop
Sacramento, CA
www.kiene.com

"Lazarus Cooke" wrote in message
om...
I've always spey cast, some of the time. This whole business of special
rods for spey casting is quite recent. Are they really any better for
spey casting, or is just a gimmick?

Lazarus

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Remover the rock from the email address

Hello Sierra fisher,

You explained it very well. Better than I could have.

I am not into Spey casting yet myself but it seems to be get a little more
popular every year. Fly fishing is a very small part of all fishing and Spey
casting is even a smaller part of fly fishing. Most fly fishers will never
need or want to Spey cast with a two handed rod.

It seems like the candidates for Spey casting are the classic steelhead fly
fishers that actually swings their flies the old way. Spey casting seems to
be harder at first so many are taking lessons to get started right.

A new group of two handed fly rodders might be the surf casters?

Graphite materials have given this sport a new life too.

I think that most should not form an opinion about Spey casting without
really understanding what it is all about.

We have been exposed to Spey/two handed casting because we have had Simon
Gawseworth, famous Spey caster and instructor, of Rio Line Company come for
a week to teach Spey casting at our fly shop in Sacramento for 4 years now.
Also, local Spey casting instructor Jeff Putnam has his office in the rear
of my shop for his fly fishing schools and travel business. Also, a half
dozen or more fly fishers in town including several of my staff are avid
Spey casters. They will be down on the American river right here in town in
a group working on their craft. It reminds me somewhat of martial arts
because it seems to be a life style for some and a brotherhood too? Having
the lower American River 15 minutes from our shop might be adding some
energy to this new, old sport of Spey casting.


--
Bill Kiene

Kiene's Fly Shop
Sacramento, CA
www.kiene.com

"Sierra fisher" wrote in message
...

I am a bit confused by your question.
Spey casting was developed by the Scots for casting in the River Spey
where
you could not wade out very far, and the banks were covered with trees.
In
other words, there was no room for a backcast.
The movements that you do to make a spey cast can be done with a single
handed rod or a double handed rod. If you want to cast a long distance,
you
are better off with a double handed rod With a single handed rod, I can
spey cast abot 60'. With double handed rod, I can cast 120'.
To answer your question, double handed rods are better if you need to cast
a
long distance where there is little room for a backcast



"Lazarus Cooke" wrote in message
om...
I've always spey cast, some of the time. This whole business of special
rods for spey casting is quite recent. Are they really any better for
spey casting, or is just a gimmick?

Lazarus

--
Remover the rock from the email address


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On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 16:30:15 +0000, Lazarus Cooke
wrote:

I've always spey cast, some of the time. This whole business of special
rods for spey casting is quite recent. Are they really any better for
spey casting, or is just a gimmick?

Lazarus

They've been around a very long time. Alexander Grant set the world
record spey cast of 195' in 1895 (that's not a typo) that has yet to
be equaled. As SF mentioned, the term originated on the river Spey
however today there are three distinct schools of "spey" casting: the
original, long-line, spey casting, Skagit casting of the PNW, and
Scandinavian shooting head casting. All of these styles use long,
two-handed rods but the type of action, handle, guide placement, and
length will vary. Lines run from salmon DTs of 120' for traditional
spey casting up to 30' to 45' shooting heads and specialized WF
designs of up to 140'.

Each style has developed it's own repertoire of casts with traditional
mainly using double and single speys plus it has added the snake roll
over the past few years. Scandinavian style underhand casting (simply
means the bottom hand does most of the work) is mostly a variant of
the single spey though are casts are used as well. Skagit casting has
developed an entire repertoire of unique casts including Snap-Ts,
Snap-Cs, Perry Pokes, etc.

A good spey rod has an action that works well into the butt section
and a stiff tip that won't collapse under the twisting effects of spey
casting a long line. I have an 8'6" VSR Diamondback 6 wt. that is a
fabulous spey rod simply as it has these characteristics. Two-handed
spey rods perform longer casts with less effort and can mend line over
very long distances. Spey casts also are very efficient fishing casts
as the fly spends more time in the water and less time in the air.
When searching for fish, one can cover far more water with a spey rod.

It's hardly a gimmick.



Peter

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I should also mention that two-handers are getting wider use for
overhead casting on the coast. This afternoon, I was playing around
in the yard with a line that I had modified into a shooting head and I
was casting a consistent 100' (measured) into the teeth of a brisk
breeze. And it was easy.

Peter

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In article , Lazarus
Cooke wrote:

I've always spey cast, some of the time. This whole business of special
rods for spey casting is quite recent. Are they really any better for
spey casting, or is just a gimmick?

Lazarus

Sorry I didn't explain well enough. I didn't say I didn't know what a
spey cast is, or where it comes from. I know the Spey well ** indeed,
if you want to learn about the early Spey flies you could do worse
than to look at a book by a distant relative, "Autumns on the Spey".

I live in Britain, where people have always used the long rod for
salmon. So I have always used a fifteen rod for salmon fishing. (or
most of the time. On some west country rivers I'll use a nine foot
trout rod, which works very well, but for the bigger, rocky rivers in
Scotland or Ireland I'll generally use a fifteen or twelve foot rod, as
much to control the line in the water as for length of casting.)

So, depending on the direction of the wind, the state of the bank and
so on, I'll sometimes cast overhand, sometimes spey. I was taught to
spey cast at the same time as I learnt to cast overhand.

Recently, though, (viz., in the past ten years or so), I've seen rods
marketed in two fifteen foot versions, one normal, one so-called "spey"
rods. The distinction seems daft to me.

Lazarus

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In article , Peter Charles
wrote:

I should also mention that two-handers are getting wider use for
overhead casting on the coast.

It never occurred to me that two-handed rods are a gimmick. I've used
them since I was tiny. I agree with the late Hugh Falkus (I quote from
memory) "the mystery is not how Americans fish for salmon with a
single-handed rod, but why".

Lazarus

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On Sun, 23 Nov 2003 17:13:06 +0000, Lazarus Cooke
wrote:

In article , Peter Charles
wrote:

I should also mention that two-handers are getting wider use for
overhead casting on the coast.

It never occurred to me that two-handed rods are a gimmick. I've used
them since I was tiny. I agree with the late Hugh Falkus (I quote from
memory) "the mystery is not how Americans fish for salmon with a
single-handed rod, but why".

Lazarus


I was just following on from, "Are they really any better for
spey casting, or is just a gimmick?" I thought it a strange question
coming from the other side of the pond.

More Americans and Canadians are fishing for salmon and steelhead with
two-handers than ever before. I guess it isn't a mystery anymore.


Peter

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On Sun, 23 Nov 2003 17:10:08 +0000, Lazarus Cooke
wrote:



Recently, though, (viz., in the past ten years or so), I've seen rods
marketed in two fifteen foot versions, one normal, one so-called "spey"
rods. The distinction seems daft to me.

Lazarus


Ahhh, well look at my first post about the three schools and the
distinction is no longer daft. It's pretty hard to use shooting heads
proficiently on a rod that was designed to lift and cast a long line.
It can be done but it isn't half as much fun compared to using the
right rod for the job.



Peter

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