Spey Rod Rookie

[freestoneangler]

I am entertaining the idea of building a spey rod and would like to hear from the forum as to which blank is highly regarded. I have built many rods over the years, but this will be the first spey rod and the first I've owned. I've been having some on/off again pain issues with my shoulder and punching an 8/9 single hand rod into the wind with weighted flys and sink tips is taking its toll. Every time I watch a spey caster, I wonder why I've held out so long...traditionalist I guess

Also, can I merely switch my single rod/reel line set-up onto a spey rod or does it require a special fly line to load the rod correctly?

Look forward to your comments.

Freestoneangler

[FT]

You need a spey line to properly load a 2-handed spey rod. And these lines come in 4 basic types:

1) Skagit & Scandanavian (both of which are shooting heads for spey rods, but they are built with different tapers and the Skagit is better for use with sinktips and heavy flies). These lines bellies are between 33' and 44' long;

2) Short-belly spey lines with belly lengths of right about 55' (RIO Windcutter, SA Short Spey, Airflow Delta are lines of this type);

3) Mid-belly lines with belly lengths of right about 65' (RIO MidSpey, SA Mastery Spey, Airflow Delta Long are lines of this type); and

4) Long-belly lines with belly lengths between 70' and 105' with most in the 85'-90' range (RIO GrandSpey, SA XLT, CND GPS, Carron's 75' 85' 95' and 105' are lines of this type).

As a beginner you want to avoid the long-belly lines because although I love them and use them almost exclusively, they are not good for learning how to spey cast since anchor placement, D Loop formation, forward spey have to be more precise or these line won't cast. Mid-belly lines are also not the best choice for beginners because it takes a lot more technique to move 65' of belly than 55' and the anchor placement, etc. are not nearly as forgiving as with the shorter belly lines.

The best lines for beginning spey casters, in my opinion, are the short-belly lines (55' belly length) because they have a long enough belly that you have to develop a modicum of technique to cast them well, but the bellies are not so long that they are not forgiving of less than ideal anchor placement or D Loop formation. I also recommend you get a spey line that is one line size higher line weight number than the rod is rated for because it will slightly overload the rod, which means the rod will bend more into the butt and you will be able to better feel what the rod is doing. This helps with learning spey casting.

The shooting head spey lines (Skagit and Scandanavian) in my opinion are specialized lines (as are the long-belly lines) and although it is not difficult to learn how to cast a Skagit line 50'-65', it takes a somewhat different technique than that used with traditional spey casts.

As far a rod blank to recommend, that is very difficult because there are many rod action, rod flex pattern, rod stiffness, rod tip stiffness, rod butt stiffness preferences and the best blank or rod is the one that most closely matches you preferences. Some generalized things I've found over the years I've been spey casting (I've been doing it since 1993) are the type of rod action (meaning stiffness of tip, how far the rod flexes down the blank when casting, speed of recovery after being bent when casting, stiffness of butt, how smoothly the rod transfers increased casting loads down the blank) a person prefers with single-hand rods is usually the type that works best for them in 2-hand (spey) rods. In other words, if you like fast rods like the Loomis GLX, a slow, full-flex, soft tip, Sage Traditional Spey Rod would be a poor choice. Likewise, if you like a more moderate rod like the Winston BIIx, you would want to choose a spey blank or rod like the Winston or St. Croix that has a more moderate action and avoid the fast and slow ones.

Since I assume you have not spey cast before, based on what you provided as background to your question, it would behoove you to go over to Aaron's Saturday morning day-on-the-river over in Carnation. Aaron is a FFF certified 2-hand casting instructor and own's the River Run Spey Shop, also in Carnation. There is no charge for this and Aaron always has many rod from different rod manufacturers and many different lines for people to use or try out. He will provide you with good solid spey casting instruction during these session to boot, and often very good and experience spey casters stop by to try a rod out and they pitch in to help teach as well.

After you let us know what type of rods you like in single-hand, I would be glad to offer some suggestions for blanks. But the best thing you can do for yourself is go over the Carnation on Saturday morning, try out a few different actioned rods, get some spey casting instruction for a superb instructor (for free no less), and let us know which you liked best. This would then allow me to suggest blanks with similar actions from several manufacturers.

[fredaevans]

"FT's" covered the ground very well above so I'll add only one thing (conversion of a present rod). Very easy to do and end up with a 'switch rod.' Personal opinion here only but I'd suggest a rod of at least 10' (longer even better, up to 12). Remove the bottom section of cork (below reel seat) and insert a section of 'old rod' (4-6 inches long) into the bottom hole of the blank. You need to assure you have a tight/snug fit prior to gluing the short section into the rod butt. (Note: if you don't have to remove any cork from the rod butt, all the better.)

Mark point where you have a tight fit; this will be the top of the new cork rings you'll 'ream' on the extended handle. Glue them on (compression fitting is a good thing to assure they're snug as can be), then insert the 'new' butt with a 'quality glue/epox' and let it set.

You should be good to go AND you can use a 'regular' one hander fly line with the above quite easily.

[freestoneangler]

Thanks all for the detailed reply! I will try and get over to the spey casting clinic put on by Aaron's...perfect way to see if this is something for me.