Spey fishing has a certain mystique. Whether it comes from the rich history dating back to the 1700s, the Zen-like muscle memory required to make the cast work, or the fact that you can cast farther on your first day of Spey casting than most will ever achieve with their single-hand rods, the appeal is undeniable and well-founded.
The benefits are many, but there are also some noticeable drawbacks, misconceptions, and gear limitations that even intermediate Spey anglers may not understand. In this article, we want to go over the three major types of “Spey” setups and really look at what they are good at and what they are not good at, so you don’t end up with a setup that is going to hold you back depending on your experience or desired application.
For this article, we can classify three distinct types of “Spey” setups.
1. The Full Spey Setup
We define a full Spey as any two-handed rod over 12ft long. They generally run from 12 to 15 ft. These are the workhorses of the Spey world. Modern versions are capable of casting the three major styles of Spey lines (Skagit, Scandi, and traditional lines).
What Are They Good At?
They are amazing at delivering a long, repeatable cast with a variety of sized flies and sink tips with way less back casting room than a single-hand rod setup. For a well-practiced Spey caster, the amount of time and effort these long casts will take is a fraction of the time and effort required for the same cast with a single-hand rod.
They excel at making tensioned mends. What does this mean? When your line is tight against the current, the long rod and heavy line can be used to manipulate the line in a down or upstream mend at great distances.
From the above-listed strengths, you can probably see where we are going. The full Spey rod is king at presenting a swung fly presentation, whether it is skating a dry fly or dredging a heavy sink tip with a large multistage streamer pattern at distance.
They are also the easiest to learn on. Their length allows anglers to punch through mistakes, and the learning curve will be much faster for a beginner than the listed setups below. We can’t stress this enough. Even if one of the below setups fits your use case better, starting with a full Spey will accelerate your learning curve, and you can then take those good fundamentals to one of the more niche use cases and setups listed below.
If you are starting out, we highly recommend a full Spey setup to learn on. The Redington Claymore 8136-4 (8wt 13.5ft) is one of the best all-round rods that won’t break the bank. It is forgiving enough to learn with but has plenty of power to really lean into a cast. Its’ baby brother, the 7136 (7wt 13.5 ft), is also a great option for our local flows.
What Are Full Spey Rods Bad At?
They are not good for presenting a cast and stripped fly. Though they can be used to retrieve a fly, the length of the rod and the weight of the lines make them sloppy and not very sensitive at feeling subtle bites or making precise small twitches. The weight of the rod, the flex of the rod, and the weight of the Spey line absorb the “feel” dramatically compared to a single-hand line.
They Are Not Delicate in Their Presentation.
Because of their length, it takes a fly line with more grains to load the rod. Even in lightweight full Spey rods, you will be throwing almost +2 line weights more weight than a standard single-hand fly rod. Let’s unpack that - If you are casting a 6 wt full Spey, it will be like hitting the water with the same grains as an 8-9wt single-hand rod. To make matters worse, many modern Spey lines are short. The 6wt Spey line is packing the same weight as that 8wt single-hand line into half or less length. Long story short, that heavy thick line hits the water hard. All of the Spey setups listed are not the best tool if you want a delicate presentation. This rules them out as the ideal tool for side channel coho fishing, shallow water beach fishing, back-channel cutthroat fishing, or God forbid, sight casting to freshwater or saltwater species in shallow clear water.
They are not Good at Technical Upstream Mending.
With their heavy per foot line and the use of what is called a running line on many short head modern lines, delicate precise mends are an issue. This makes them a poor setup for upstream nymphing techniques. With the big rod and heavy line, a flip or mend is going to splash the water, and if a running line is involved, you will have a hard time getting connection with the head of the line and making a precise non-tensioned mend. This makes them not the right tool for indicator nymphing either for our egg eaters or summer trout applications. Can you, do it? Yes. Is it the best tool for the job? No.
They are not great for overhand casting.
Though you can pick the line off the water and build a back cast and forward cast loop, the lines designed for Spey style casts are way heavier than we would want for a proper overhand cast. If you do overhand cast a full Spey with a Spey line, be careful of how hard you lean into the cast because you can over flex and break the rod as it is not designed for this style. There are specific lines designed to go on Spey rods to be overhand cast, but they do not Spey cast well.
2. Switch Rods
We define switch rods as any two-handed rod from 9.5ft to 12ft in length.
What Are They Good At?
The shorter length allows them to be cast in tighter spots than the full Spey, yet they can still deliver reasonably heavy sink tips and reasonably large flies at good distances. Because they are not as long, they are much “handier” than the full Spey. They take more effort in the cast because they are shorter, but when fishing them or hiking, the shorter rods are more manageable. With the shorter length, though they are still not ideal for a cast and strip presentation or delicate presentations, they are “better” for these applications but not great.
What Are They Bad At?
They are harder to learn on. Because of the shorter rod, they take a more precisely timed stroke and are not as forgiving as a full Spey. Learning on a full Spey and then taking out a switch rod with the learned muscle memory will get you in the game much faster than if you start on a switch rod.
You are Playing the “Jack of all Trades, Master of None” Game with a Switch Rod. You will not have the best cast and strip precise casting setup, and you will also not have the best long casting swung fly setup. You will have a rod that can do both, but if in the hands of a new angler, both presentations will be sloppy and will take a lot longer to learn and master.
The Word “Switch” is Not Always Well Understood. Many new anglers hear the word “switch” and think, “perfect, I can get the best of both worlds. I can switch between overhand casting and Spey style casting.” In a way, this is true, but it comes with some considerations that you might not understand. If you set up your switch rod with the best line for Spey style casts (usually for beginner and intermediate anglers - a shorter head, Skagit or Scandi style line) and you try to overhand cast these lines, you will have a clunky inaccurate cast that also has some concerns when it comes to overloading the rod and breaking it. Flip it around, and you want to overhand cast your switch rod; you can load it up with a line designed for this (+1-2 line wt short head single hand line), and it will perform beautifully. I personally love this setup when I need speed and fast distance off the beach; however, trying to “Spey” cast this line takes a lot of skill and will never perform like a dedicated Spey style line. So, you can switch, but you will need two lines, and you will need to choose before heading out on the water what the game plan is.
PS: If I ever see you on the beach splashing around a heavy Spey line with Spey style casts, don’t take it personally when I head the other direction down the beach. Why? The fish will be heading the same way, away from you and the commotion of a Spey style cast.
3. Single Hand Spey
The world of single hand rods and dedicated single hand Spey lines is not new; however, in the last 10 years, they have become very popular. We will define this section as any single hand rod that we have loaded up with a Spey style line. The Commando Head line from OPST is probably the most popular.
What are they Good At?
Single hand Spey setups are very useful little tools. They are king at making casts in the tightest spots. Though they will not cast as heavy a sink tip or fly as the above two-handed rods, they can still get you in the game with a medium-sized fly and medium fast sink tip.
If I am looking to swing a fly on a smaller tight-banked river, they are the tool for the job.
What Are they Bad At?
With many of the similar design features of the large full Spey lines, the short single hand Spey lines are more clunky and less accurate than traditional single hand lines. They do a better job at both cast and strip presentations and nymphing presentations; however, they do still have some of the drawbacks of the above full Spey setups, and an experienced angler will be able to do both presentations more effectively with a single hand line as long as they have the space required to make the cast happen.
Beginners Think They are a Cheat Code… but they are actually a major hurdle to learning proper casting technique. With the heavy line and short head common with single hand Spey lines, it is very easy for a beginner to “huck” out a 40ft cast. This does get them into fishable distances fast; however, taking the rough “huck and duck” cast and making it into an accurate 55ft-65ft cast that doesn’t hit the water like a ton of bricks will take a complete rework of the casting mechanics and a considerable amount of time to unlearn bad habits. If you are new and want to jump into a single has Spey line just keep this in the back or your mind.
If you are thinking about your first Spey rod or you are thinking about the next rod in your Spey quiver, I hope this article will help you avoid some of the hurdles of this amazing style of casting and all the gear options available. Next month (Feb 19 & 23, 2025), I am holding our annual Introduction to Spey Cast Course. If you are looking to get into Spey or are an intermediate caster and need a tune-up, we would love to see you in the course.
You can sign up here!
At Pacific Angler we have a wide variety of options in both Spey, Switch and Single Hand Spey rods Check out all the Spey and Switch Rod Options here!
If you would like to line one of your single hand rods for single hand Spey, check out those line options here.
If you still have questions done hesitate to call the shop we can talk you through the options in more detail - Call 604-872-2204
