Fly Fishing

robcecc

anyone use em?

jeremy · Location: Portland, Maine

I fished a two handed fly rod in the saltwater this spring and a few of my friends also fish them from time to time. Yes, its true you can cast far and all that stuff - but, for me, something about it just wasn't right for an "all the time" application. I can definately see applications where I swing flies for striped bass in tidal rivers or when I am fishing specific rocky shorelines where that extra distance is critical. In those situations, the two handed rod makes sense for me. Very similar to the situation with two handed rods in freshwater environments. Yes, spey casting is fun and swing flies is great and the "tug is the drug" -- I get all that. But, it doesn't mean I am going to use a two handed rod (even a switch rod) in a small trout stream or even a big river, if it is not necessary. Sometimes, I don't like have that big rod, for the same reason I don't need to drive a limousine. Yes, its big and i can fit a ton of people in it and the prom was fun ... but, I don't need to drive one to work everyday. But, some people do drive a limo to work everyday I guess. So, like everything else, it boils down to personal preference. In the salt, I like two handed rods once and a while.

Silverfox · Location: Denmark

Hey.

I really can't see the benefits in using a 2 handed rod in the surf....

They are made for streaming rivers........

I mean.... a singlehand rod does the job Very Happy

a short shootinghead, thin runningline and a stripping basket....u get at least the same distance whitout breaking ur back Laughing

Br

/Silverfox
DK.

greg · Posted: Sat 01/09/10 5:27 pm Post subject: Not an all the time rod

Its not an all around rod, it is a rod for very specific uses. I carry it with me,(two handed rod), in the event I'll want to Spey cast in situation that you can only roll cast or Steeple cast due to no back cast space. In the wooded places I fish in Maine this is handy. I can also use it for nymphing, Steelhead and a variety of specific situations. I would not recommend a two handed rod to someone who was just starting out fly fishing. The 2 handed rod is only as versatile as the person holding it and some people will have no use for this type of equipment. I happen to find they expand my fishing experience and love mine.

robcecc · Posted: Sat 01/09/10 10:33 pm Post subject:

i'm using it purely for distance, overhead casting for stripers on the east end of LI. my beef is that the length makes it a bit difficult to land fish.
second question: what lines are ya'll using? I know beulah makes the elixer line which i hear good things about. anyone have other recommendations or making their own heads that they wanna share info on?
thanks

norm289 · Location: SW PA

Never fished the salt but I do use my switch in my local lakes. Pretty much as what was said earlier, mainly for the distance. Most of my fishing is off of small boat docks to where I can leave line on the dock and not have it tangle or have water interference.

As far as lines go(have a 7wt switch) I have had good results with the Airflo 40+ 8wt line. Pretty impressive distances and alot easier than double hauling my single hander all day.

robcecc · Posted: Sun 01/10/10 10:43 am Post subject:

kory_k · Location: New York, NY

I am a big fan of spey rods, I love to spey cast and have been doing it for some time. Steelhead are the reason that I started doing it on big rivers on the west coast. I got into it when I was a full time guide on the Green River and by the end of the season, there was a desire to do something "different" after 8 months of trout fishing with a single handed rod. All of my guide friends at the time were using spey rods and at the time i didn't know why but eventually it became apparent. Sure, distance was a factor since you need to cast far to catch steelhead on the swing but the even bigger factor was the ability to cast with zero backcasting room which enabled you to fish places that you could not fish with a single handed rod. In fact, with a shooting head and a 9' 6" 8 weight single hand rod, you can make almost as long of a cast as a spey rod (almost), but realistically you don't need to cast much more than 80 feet most of the time. But, you can't cast a single hand rod when there is a huge cliff or a wall of trees immediately behind you and you are wading up to your chest. You can with a spey rod, so in freshwater that is the biggst practical reason.

Another thing for me is that a big part of fly fishing for any species is the casting. Of course this isn't everything, but I have always loved to cast. An older guide that I used to work with, used to say that I was a "casturbator" and he was 100% right. I love to catch fish in a myriad of different ways, but a big part of it for me is to catch fish in situations where the cast is a key component. That is another reason why I love to spey cast, simply for the pleasure of the cast. When you are swinging flies for steelhead on a big river in the west, it is not the most productive method and yes "the tug is the drug" but for me that is not the sole reason that I like to swing flies in fact I do enjoy nymphing and when the river is too small to swing or there are too many people as is frequently the case in the east (at least the way I like to swing), then I don't bother and I nymph. I like to swing flies because I love to spey cast.
Very Happy

This obviously has nothing to do with saltwater applications, but I wanted to give a little background and I can get carried away as many of you guys probably know by now. Very Happy

Anyway, when I moved to the east coast and had several spey rods and spey experience, a lot of the guys here asked me about using them in the surf and a lot of customers in the fly shop that I work in also started asking this question and more and more people are looking at spey rods for other applications so of course I wanted to try it. At first I didn't really understand the appeal because I couldn't see myself effectively spey casting with waves, elevated on jetties, in boats etc. and most of the time backcasting room is not an issue. But then I realized that most guys who use them out here wanted to use them solely for distance and don't spey cast with them, (of course there are some that do some spey casting but most don't) it made sense. The were using them for overhead casting for distance purposes.

So I tried it and yes, you can get a lot more distance with a lot less effort but it is not the same to me as a single handed rod which is meant to overhead cast. A single hand rod allows for the ease of switching directions and precision accuracy among other things and if you are overhead casting you need a different line than a line that works for spey casting. Also, you are typically fishing a full sinking line which really doesn't work for spey casting so I immediately lost interest. To me, what i love about the spey rod is spey casting so if you aren't spey casting then it isn't fun to use a spey rod. Granted there are times when I have been on the jetty that I wished I had a spey rod for the added distance, but I don't enjoy overhead casting with a spey rod so I suck it up and stick with the single hander in the salt. Now that is just my opinion and I know a lot of guys who love using them in the salt and are very accomplished at it and if your sole purpose is to get distance and you don't care about the tool you use for it, the spey rod is a great tool for that.

There are a lot of lines that you can use and the ones mentioned are great for spey rods and for single handed rods. For the most part you are just using a single handed line that is about 2 line weights heavier than the spey rod to load it properly.

robcecc · Posted: Sun 01/10/10 7:23 pm Post subject:

well said kory
many of us surf guys that use the 2 handed rod are looking at 120 plus foot cast and although sinking lines are popular, floating lines or intermediate heads have been very good to me when swinging flies to bass that are stacked up in a rip. i like that you can throw 500+ grains off a jetty with big flies to get you down to those bigger fish.

gunner · Location: Monmouth, ME & Hudson, FL

I use a spey rod and/or a switch rod in the salt because it is not a pain in the back and neck. I have had surgery on my neck and low back and single hand casting all day in the surf became impossible. The two handed rod allows for an easier casting stroke with the arms in a lower position, with less effort and I still get the distance I need.

Joe

kory_k · Location: New York, NY

rob-Good point about floating lines swinging flies in a rip. In fact a good friend uses floating lines a lot out here. I always felt you don't have as tight of a connection to the fly with a floating line with waves, wind, etc. but if the fish are on it and you have a relatively tight line it isn't that big of a deal and especially in scenarios where the waves are not very big.

gunner-that is an excellent point and something I forgot to mention is the ease of use compared to a single hand rod. Glad you found that it helps make it possible for you to fish

tycote · Location: Maine

let's be real, I lived in bath for a while... and fished the beach quite a bit. and I liked fishing my 9' surf rod better than my 9' 9 wt.... I always felt a little ridiculous working my a** off throwing 60' feet of line into the ocean...

jeremy · Location: Portland, Maine

I am "being real" when I say, at this point in time, I like "working my *ss off throwing 60 feet of line" with a fly rod and a small single hook with feathers, better than any other option. And, as I see this thread progress from where it started and see comments like "120 plus foot casts" ... perhaps I may use my double handed fly rod a little more than "once and a while" next season Very Happy

... Good Thread.

tycote · Location: Maine

it's all good... as for working my a** off, maybe I'm just a little lazy... then again, if it means the possibility of big brown or LLS I'm a sucker for wearing my arm off slinging streamers all day... I guess my point that I failed to articulate is that I like the idea of being able cast 120' into the surf and really cover some water... which with a spey rod, is possible. I've just never spey cast so, that was where I was going with the surf rod thing. anyway, a spey rod would probably help me overcome my 'ridiculous' complex when facing the big blue ocean. I think we are going to see a lot more switch/spey rods in Maine here shortly... Scott used a switch last spring at a certain freshwater spot where long cast and big wind are the norm for the salmon/smelt run and it was pretty deadly... Imagine banging someplace like the EO with a switch/spey swinging streamers in the fall! lights out.

kory_k · Location: New York, NY

Interesting how this thread has evolved...it has always fascinated me how the different philosophies of fishing motivate different people in different ways. I personally always prefer the fly rod and not for any purist reasoning by any means. I grew up dunking worms and had my share of fun with it. Threw spinners sporadically, but by the age of 7 was introduced to the fly rod and never wanted to do anything else. I have fished bait, jigs, spinners, trolled, pretty much caught fish most ways you can and they can all be fun but I really don't enjoy any of them as much as fly fishing. There is something about the constant challenge of every little aspect that makes it fun for me. With fly fishing everything from the cast to the retrieve to the hook up to how you rig all has an effect and every cast is a new situation. I have never really thought of it so much as working my a** off as much as challenging myself to get the cast out there. Not to say that there is anything wrong with surf casting, but it just isn't as much fun for me to catch fish on anything other than a fly rod. It is fun, but not as much fun so I always stick to the fly rod. Again, that is just me.

robcecc · Posted: Tue 01/12/10 9:42 pm Post subject:

working your ass off for fish with the fly rod is a blast. I know that if I want to catch a 40lb bass i could get a mile or 2 off montauk, liveline a porgy in rip and wham. trying to get em to take a fly, now that's another story

FlyfishMD · Posted: Sun 01/24/10 9:37 am Post subject:

yeah the difficulty of fly fishing is the fun of it it takes lots and lots of practice i fish for stripers in the bay of ocean city maryland and theres often 30+ inchers and theres often 2-3 foot sharks that eat your fish on a long fly battle and its too far to cast from shore to get past the breakers so you go off the jetty but still larger fish taking bites outta your small catches ive had a 10 inch striper get eaten by a 30 and snap the leader so i usually go a little heavy I personally like the TFO blue water series 9-10 weight Temple Fork Outfitters™ Prism Cast Large Arbor Fly Reel 9-10 and either Rio floating saltwater fly line or Scientific Anglers™ Mastery Series Fly Line – Streamer Express - 350 Grain specially made for stripers

NYStan · Posted: Sat 03/06/10 8:22 pm Post subject:

robcecc · Posted: Sat 03/13/10 5:40 pm Post subject:

airflow forty plus
there is a specific line for the beach 2 hander