Spey: Atlantic Salmon, A Significant Fish (375 reads)
The Atlantic salmon is extremely significant in the world of spey casting and spey fishing. If it weren’t for the Atlantic salmon, the spey cast and spey rod may never have been developed.
The name spey comes from the river Spey in Scotland where the spey “style” of cast and spey rod were created. Like many rivers in this part of the world, the banks in many places are very steep and lined with trees with little room for a backcast. Anglers needed a way to deliver the fly to the Atlantic salmon that swam in the currents and were out of reach with a conventional cast or a roll cast, so the spey rod was born. And along with it various casting methods that are now referred to as spey casts.
The method of casting was used on this and many other rivers located in Western Europe in pursuit of the Atlantic salmon, one of the most highly sought after game fish of past and present times. Spey casting became the dominant method of fishing for Atlantic salmon and, in fact, became synonymous with Atlantic salmon. To this day, the spey rod is the primary tool used to fly fish for Atlantic salmon in many rivers in Western Europe and wherever they are found, including Canada and Russia. Prior to their recent resurgence in popularity, spey rods were little known outside of the Atlantic salmon fishing community. So regardless of the type of fish or water, you can thank the Atlantic salmon, a significant fish, for making it all possible.
|
