Spey: Applications, Where Can You Do It?

There are many places where spey casting or spey fishing can be applied; the two most common applications are in medium sized to larger sized rivers for salmon and steelhead or fishing on foot for striped bass and bluefish in saltwater. There are many other applications for spey casting and places where a spey cast can be used, but these are the best-suited and most frequently practiced ones. Medium sized to large rivers with steep banks or tree lined shorelines that require long casts are the types of places where spey casting was developed and are the first that come to mind as ideally suited for spey fishing. Picture a fish holding 80+ feet from where you are standing with a wall of trees behind you and the water too deep to wade much more than five feet from the bank. With a traditional cast and a single hand rod, getting the fly to the fish would be virtually impossible but with a spey rod and a good spey cast this feat is easily accomplished. Saltwater wade fishing environments such as rocks, jetties and beaches are also well suited for spey casting and spey rods. They are becoming more common in these locations for good reason. Just like tree-lined, steep-banked rivers have limited backcasting room, steep beaches or rocks backed with cliffs have the same problem. This can make the delivery of the fly to your target with a single hand rod much more difficult. With a spey cast and a spey rod, you can easily accomplish the task and get the fly to the fish. In a surf fishing environment on an open beach where backcasting is not an issue, the spey rod can still be advantageous for gaining extra distance. In this situation, the spey rod is typically used to make overhead traditional style casts with longer distance much more easily.