A beginner's question to all you spey junkies

[James Daly 0]

Greetings all,

Well, the downward spiral continues. Thanks to Young Mr. Frank Swarner. I got to see a little bit of spey casting and heard some good stories of salmon fishing with spey rods. Now, my interest has been piqued and I've got to purchase me a rig. So, I ask, what would be the best all around outfit with a modest price range, ease of use and enough power to cover a broad spectrum of flies? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks! -Jamie Daly

[RoyalWulff 0]

Hey James,

 

As for weight of the rod some others may have more to day. Although I find scott two handed rods excellent. The T2h is a great rig. I dont work for or have anything to do with scott, other then being a satisfied scott user.

 

Phil

[Redwings1 0]

I have cast the Shelbyville Rod Co speys (the Vision line) and they are really nice rods, with prices mid to upper 300s.

For me I made the decision that i just don't fish enough really big water and so opted to go with the Shelbyville switch rod and love it. 10'7" 8 weight I can cast one handed if I choose or two handed.

[rhinorods69 0]

i would say a 7/8 or a 8/9 around 13 foot 7/8 fort steel and the 8/9 salmon /steel if you can find a steady 8 would be perfect not those slash numbers. any ways scott make good rods so does burkhimer and rb. miser along with loop and cnd can not go wrong if looking for a rod to build your self try the batson rx6 spey series or if you do not build them go to mid west custom fly rod i will list a link any ways good luck and tight lines rhino................

http://www.midwestcustomflyrods.com/

 

 

 

mite want to consider a faster action rod med action rods like st croix and the old tfo pro series just do not cut it

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Pelhament 0]

Check out http://www.speypages.com/speyclave You should be able to have every question imaginable answered there.

[Frank G. Swarner III 0]

I assume you are going to be using the rod for you local waters?

 

If that is the case, I would look into the "switch" rods since they are not as long as a spey rod but longer than a fly rod. You'll get the best of both worlds......you'll be able to 2 hand spey cast when you have the room to swing, and if you come to run you want to nymph you can use one hand and not get worn out.

 

I would think a 7wt would be just right and a 6wt would be amazingly fun, but may be tough to cast larger weighted flies.

 

I'm heading to a spey clave this weekend in Pulaski and will check out some of the rods mentioned above.

 

Frank

[rhinorods69 0]

I assume you are going to be using the rod for you local waters?

 

If that is the case, I would look into the "switch" rods since they are not as long as a spey rod but longer than a fly rod. You'll get the best of both worlds......you'll be able to 2 hand spey cast when you have the room to swing, and if you come to run you want to nymph you can use one hand and not get worn out.

 

I would think a 7wt would be just right and a 6wt would be amazingly fun, but may be tough to cast larger weighted flies.

 

I'm heading to a spey clave this weekend in Pulaski and will check out some of the rods mentioned above.

 

Frank

 

 

that switch point is another great option forgot all about that. glad you said some thing rb meiser and batson make some good switch rod blanks batson not the most popular compared to the rb meiser. there is another brand but can't remember off hand it was a rod more comparable to rb meiser. by switch were talking were talking a 6-7or 8 it's a 10.5 -12 foot rod with a longer full wells grip with a small spey nub on the bottom. you can do all the spey cast and over head like a reg rod it more then likely the best for the river your fishing. rivers like the pm here in michigan and similar sized rivers using a spey is very much over kill. when the river is 50 foot across at some points swing 80-90 foot of line just is not needed and the larger spey line tends to spoke fish. but the switch rod is in between a spey and a reg rod. and your able to fish smaller rivers and save the shoulder and arms from casting a reg rod all day. any ways big thumbs up to frank for thinking of switch rod and good luck and tight lines rhino................

[nrthcsteel 0]

Hey James. Meiser, Beulah, batson, sage (and Im sure I missed a few!) all offer switch rods, as well as speys. Youll find about every pricepoint depending on maker or manufacturer. TFO will soon be releasing there Meiser/Kinney switch rods also. They are 11' and will be available in several weights. I was able to cast a couple recently and they were a very nice casting rod! And the price should be a good one.

Im sure youve been doing some research on spey rods/lines/casting and such and as you can tell it can be quite confusing at times. I would say that if at all possible try and get to a spey gathering or take a class or hit up some friends who have some rods and lines you may be able to try. Finding a rod with an action you like and that works for you is very important. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY finding the correct rod/line marriage is VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!! Someone made a great comment that was along the lines of. Theres not to many bad spey rods out there BUT ALOT of BAD rod/line combinations. If at all possible try and get some instruction and try and cast as many rod/line combos as you can. You will begin to get a feel of what type of combination you prefer, and then when it comes time to lay down the money you will know you are getting a good setup for yourself

Then after a month or two you will start thinking about your second rod and how that rod would be nice and so on..... Just kidding( BUT REMEMBER I DID WARN YOU!) Good luck and if you have any questions feel free to pm me and I will do my best to help. Oh yeah two words of advice when it comes to casting.

SLOW DOWN@@!!!!! Kevin

[Speyman1 0]

Hey James,

All good words have already been spoken here, I'll add just a

few other thoughts, There isn't the perfect all around 1 rod set-up.

Thats why alot of us spey guys/junkies have several rods for different situations/fisheries.

Is there a shop close by that has access to water nearby so you can try

them out before you buy? Sometimes the staff has rods to try out with

them in a class style format before you buy. Grass casting is NOT truly

representative of the rods capabilities or shortcomings, If you are a steelheader, the rods ability

to lift a sink tip with a large fly and break the TENSION OF THE WATER, NOT THE GRASS

at the start of every cast is paramount. All spey casts have some form of a anchor point

and keeping the rod in the correct amount of tension during the casting process

is what makes or breaks the cast. nrthcsteel hit the nail square on

about rod/line combinations, Ask yourself "how am I going to use this rod?"

heavy sink tips/ large flies or floating lines/leaders/smaller flies

trout or steelhead, big water/ little water etc. and keep asking the questions as they come up.

I hope that you are able to take some time, visit some good shops and as was

already suggested visit the speypages, there is alot of info there.

I hope that this is helpful,

Cheers

Speyman

 

[willowhead 0]

Frank, how was the Spey clave? Did you go yet? When you get back, pleas let us know. Misa just got her first Spey rod.....a TFO. I have a St. Criox 13 ft. 7/8. Sooner or later we're gonna make a Spey clave. Jamie, next year bring your Spey with you to Roscoe. You can go to the Big D. and use it. I'll show you where.....you can access for wade fishin'. Come a couple days early. :yahoo: mark.....

[Frank G. Swarner III 0]

It was fun and interesting......a lot of great people and it was nice to meet some of the guys I've met online.

 

It was just the right size because you could talk to all of the reps one on one and the presentations by each of them were excellent.

 

Here are some pics: