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Expanding Spey Horizons

3K views 14 replies 12 participants last post by  t_richerzhagen 
#1 ·
The most fun I've had flyfishing was when I started using a Speyrod. At the beginning, some 18 years ago, Speyrods were 9, 10, or 11 weight, and I used them for steelhead and Pacific salmon. Nowadays, Speyrods are available all the way down to 5 weight, which has opened up new avenues for using Speyrods, such as stream trout fishing with streamers. Now consider what the major advantages of a Speyrod are; the ability to cast with limited backcast room, and greater mending capabilities. Also consider that Speycasting requires that there be current in order to set up the cast, and that one needs to be wading to get the best results.
I am curious as to what other areas of North America or species of fish that there might be opportunities for using a Speyrod. Keep in mind the above stated parameters, and that the method was designed for SWINGING flies. So, we need current, we need to be able to wade, we need a fish that will pursue a moving fly, and we need enough visibility for the fish to see the fly.
Got any ideas? Let me throw out the first. When I was a kid we spent some time living in Kansas. I remember fishing for a very feisty fish called the White Bass. It seemed quite aggressive towards anything that imitated a minnow, and if I recall correctly, it would run up rivers that fed into large reservoirs in the spring. What I can't remember was whether or not there was enough water clarity to swing streamers for them or not. If all the requirements can be met, this sounds like a great situation for throwing a short, light Speyrod (11 1/2' to 12 1/2' 5, 6, or 7 weight)!
 
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#3 ·
Cool Topic

Hey Riveraddict,

My fishin' buddy Greg Pearson swings soft hackles for trout with great success on his Scott 12' #6 wt.; it works well when imitating pupating caddis flies, or when the trout are ready for a change from a steady diet of dead-drifted artificials.

Single-handed Spey casting works great when nymphing for trout; it's a great way to minimize false casting, and keep the fly in the water.

I have another buddy who is now exploring Spey casting for smallmouth bass; lots of overhanging cover where he fishes...a short two-hander and Spey casting (or a float tube) is an excellent solution.

Cool stuff....
 
#5 ·
Yeah!

Now that we have these light doublehanders, I don't see me ever wanting to fish anything except moving water and Speyrods! The casting is fun, feeling the take/catching fish on them is awesome, and wading is the best! I'll bet that someone will come out with an 11' 9" 4 weight soon... Trout, bass, crappie, whatever - if it will take a swung fly it has to be cool!

Come on you midwest/warmwater people. There must be some streams that harbor good bass/panfishing. I used to love fishing 'gills on poppers when I was a kid, but I can't get into stillwater anymore. But there must be some moving water situations where one could do the same thing. What about walleyes? And, once again, the white bass - gotta be some opportunity
 
#7 ·
Good discussion Ed -

Domenic has got me interested in spey fishing for big ocean shad on the large river systems in this area when they ascend. These fish are often 5-6 pounds and acrobatic fighters. Poor man's tarpon. The river is about 350 feet across and has a very strong current just below a dam, but the fish lay in the seams and current breaks in tight as well as out in a large middle seam.

The 12'2" 5/6w tracker will get the lions share, but I might alternate with a higher weight rod just to mix it up. The river is large enough to warrant a 10/11 setup but unfortunately the fish are not.

This area is also part of an atlantic salmon restoration project and it's not uncommon to see someone hook a salmon or grilse while in the pursuit of shad.

In the spring there is also a notable presence of very large striped bass who are primarily interested in eating the 5-6 pound shad. My sense is that a Spey cast will not be able to throw a fly big enough to imitate such a large baitfish, but there is opportunity to overhead cast with a two-hander and a bulky 12" fly, or use a suitable fly (like an intruder) and target the more average sized stripers which are referred to as "schoolies".

In my case, the primary reason I am going to pursue this fishery is to get the spey casting 'reps' in.
 
#8 ·
In 2001, I began May and June shad fishing with a Spey rod in the Sacramento and Yuba rivers as an opportunity to polish rusty casting skills preparing for BC chrome. But the superb fighting skills of even small shad use the [reverse] leverage of Spey rods to give anglers a real battle.

It's two hands for shad from now on, regardless of the need for polishing.
 
#10 ·
forgot 3 and 4 weights

Riveraddict said:
The most fun I've had flyfishing was when I started using a Speyrod. At the beginning, some 18 years ago, Speyrods were 9, 10, or 11 weight, and I used them for steelhead and Pacific salmon. Nowadays, Speyrods are available all the way down to 5 weight, which has opened up new avenues for using Speyrods, such as stream trout fishing with streamers. )!

You forgot that gary anderson and bob meiser have 3 and 4 weight spey rods.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Hudson tributary April 27

Swinging an 8 inch white saddle hackle blue backed conehead late into the night I came upon a 30-36 inch striped bass with the yellow Loop 8, or rather it came upon me, about 1/3 of the way into the swing, like a hammer, for which I would attach the picture if I could figure out how to get it down to 60 kb. A few nights later a single handed guy got a slightly smaller fish with a 13 inch smallmouth inside it.
 
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