Advantages of a Spey Rod vs. Single Hander Updated 11 Dec 1998

The first thing I have to say on this subject is that there are as many ideas about what constitutes a good Spey rod as they are fishers of these rods. I am not trying to advocate one over the other but instead am attempting to place as much information as possible about as many different rods as possible in one place where fishers can inform themselves and eventually make an informed decision which works for them. There is nothing more annoying than spending the big $$ on a rod only to find out it does not work for you. Please feel free to send articles, URLs, and emails to me with your experiences and opinions and I will check it out and add it to the site. I have been fly fishing for Steelhead with a Spey rod for 8 years now and have tried a variety of rods, some work, some do not, and some work some of the time. It all depends on the rod, line, and the casting style used by the fisher.

Distance
Many anglers contemplating the purchase of a two handed are overwhelmed by the distances they have seen people cast. Distance can be a good thing but it is not the only thing. I can cast pretty much the same distance with either a one or two handed rod. With sink tips on the one handed rod this requires stripping and shooting which cuts into my fishing time. By not stripping and shooting I get about 30% more time with my fly in the water. It is also very hard on the shoulder and back to cast a one hander that hard all day long. Longer casts mean I do not have to wade as far to fish the same drift, this gets more important every year. Longer casts enable me to fish 2 or 3 more current seams in the same run than my one handed counterparts, although much of this is due to line control.

Line Control
Without a doubt this is the single biggest advantage in fishing a two handed rod, especially with sink tips. With a single handed rod the cast must be almost perfect when it hits the water. With tips it is very hard to mend all the way to the fly. With a two hander you will be amazed how much you can mend. Even at 100+ feet you can mend a heavy tip all the way to the fly. With the mending and reach advantages you can cast much more across the river and wind up fishing out 2 or 3 more current seams in a given run. Time after time I have followed Lani Waller through a pool and while fishing behind him usually leaves poor chances of success I have found that although we cast the same distance I am able to set things up better and fish the extra 2 or 3 seams and pick off fish which he could not present to properly. The extra length also gives you great control leading the fly through the drift and making it swim and move enticingly.

Managing Hooked Fish
I used to loose a lot of fish with my stiff single handed rods. I am convinced that time and time again the hook was being pulled out due to my inability to reduce tension at a critical moment. With a true Spey action on a two handed rod the angler is given the advantage of a great deal of dampening as far as direct pull is involved. There is a noticeable delay between the time the anglers applies pressure and the time it is applied to the fish and this gives the angler a shock absorber which results in more fish landed. The extra length also allows the fisher to apply pressure from largely different angles at will which can be used to keep a fish off balance.
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