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All Things Spey

In this page we hope to simplify the world of Spey, and explain why we are so obsessed with this style of fly fishing.

If you're new to Spey and looking to learn the Spey talk/lingo, the difference between Spey/Skagit and Scandi lines then you're in the right place.

Grab yourself a coffee or a beer and scroll on. There's a lot to learn!

Spey is what we do!

At Waters West we are die-hard spey junkies, and very glad to see the rest of the world has come to recognize the efficiency and the shear enjoyment Spey fishing brings!

We have been on the spey scene since the very beginning of the spey craze starting in the 90’s, and have seen them come and go with time. From “chuck and duck” to “precision weapon” our Spey rods and gear have come a long way since the last 20 years as has our understanding of line weights, reel balance, rod selection and casting mechanics. We outfit die-hard spey junkies fishing all over the world and we can answer just about any spey question you can throw at us.

What is Spey anyway?

Spey is a specialized form of fly casting. A Spey cast is any waterborne cast performed with either a two handed rod, and these days, even single handed rods.

The Spey cast can be performed with virtually any line/rod combo, but specifically designed Spey lines will perform much better.

Where in a conventional, or overhead fly cast the rod is loaded by the weight of the fly line fully extending between forward and back casts; Spey casting removes the need for back cast room by using an "anchor" which is the point where the front of your line makes contact with the water. This anchor allows you to form a D-Loop just like in a roll cast, but with much more horsepower.

Basically a spey cast is a roll cast on steroids, but the motions used to set the anchor, and to initiate load in the rod are very unique to Spey casting.

Why Spey?

  • It's super fun.
  • You can fish in really tight brushy areas with very little back cast room, and not worry about throwing your fly into the trees behind you.
  • Very efficient from an angling stand point, you can make more presentations in less time. More presentations = more fish.
  • You can cast really far, which allows you to cover much more water than with single handed rods.
  • It is a very engaging way to fish, but you can still zone out and enjoy the birds and scenery.

Why is it called Spey?

The name "spey cast" comes from the river Spey in Scotland, where this style of casting was popularized due to the river's large width and difficult river bed footing. Anglers were mostly unable to wade out into the river, so the ability to make a long cast with minimal space for a back cast was crucial to their success.

When Spey Casting was developed in the 1800s it was a skill taught as a traditional sport exclusively for gentlemen and the privileged.

Good news is today it doesn’t matter where you come from or your social status. You can be living in a van as a steelhead bum and be on water with a quality spey outfit for less than $600.

FIXME Shop Spey Rods

The cast is very much a zen-like meditative motion that delivers distance with little effort. Very similar to a golf stroke in its intricacies, except it's better because you can catch a fish with it.

More about Spey

Spey Rods

Spey rods have come a reeaally long way even since the last decade. These days spey rods are more like high power precision sniper rifles. These rods are designed in lengths of 10ft to 15 ft. This long length gives the caster leverage so you can make further casts, handle longer fly lines with minimal effort. The added length gives you better line control over the water, like mending and line control during the swing.

The longer the rod, the easier it is to make longer casts. As a rule of thumb, you gain about 15 feet of cast for every foot of rod. So if you're casting 70 feet with a 12' rod, a 13' rod will get 85 feet with about the same effort.

Spey Rod:12.5 ft – 15ft (in the past rods have been in excess of 18ft, which is not very practical for most rivers, and not necessary given the advances in rod and line technology nowadays)

  • We use spey rods 6wt to 10wt @ 11 to 14 feet for all sizes of salmon and steelhead.

Switch Rod: 10ft – 12ft. They originally called them switch rods under the premise that you can "switch" between single hand casting and two handed casting. A switch rod is really just a baby spey rod. Great for fishing in tight quarters with lots of overhanging trees(like we have here), and they also much lighter so your arms don't get as tired as they would with a 14 foot rod.

Trout Spey: 1WT - 5WT rods, 10 - 13ft. In recent years most rod companies have started releasing more and more "Trout Spey" rods which are just Spey rods in lighter line weights which is AWESOME.

These rods allow you to fish all kinds of new water that would be much more challenging with a single hand rod. They're great for much more than just trout too. Beating up on smallmouth bass with a 3wt Trout Spey, a skagit head, and a sculpzilla is some of the most fun you can have with pants on.

Types of Spey Lines

Where can you use Spey?

While Spey casting is best suited to the flowing water of rivers and streams. You can apply these techniques to pretty much any fly fishing situation. We know folks that Spey fish lakes, and even the ocean.

Some people enjoy the casting so much that they'll do it in barren concrete ponds!

from

coast for Cutthroat trout,

bass in rivers and lakes,

trout fishing (streamers and yes even dry flies!)

These days we have short compact spey lines for single handed rods. Check out The OPST Commando Smooth.

You can now fish a shooting head Spey line on your single hand rod from a 3wt on up to 12wt. These compact spey lines are very fun to fish and effective on any river.

Bad shoulder?

Has a shoulder, elbow, wrist injury limited or altogether prevented you from enjoying your time on the water?

Using two hands to cast, Spey casting requires less energy/strength input with tons of output!

Spey causes less strain on the joints which is why you will find a lot of anglers with physical limitations using Spey.

Many of our senior customers have taken to Spey casting on the beach for Sea run Cutthroat as it allows for maximum distance while minimizing the joint pain associated from double hauling all day.

Pictured here is our good friend Dennis Ingram with a clean D-Loop and a torn rotator cuff at 83 years young.

The very nature of the spey cast takes only a few hours to learn but years to master. Nowadays rods and lines are so efficient that that learning curve has been cut in half. Learning to spey cast has more to do with developing muscle memory than knowledge of how to make the cast. (You may have already experienced this) you can YouTube till you brain hurts but actually performing the cast is something entirely different.

?????????????????????? Learning Spey. The very nature of the spey cast takes years to master but only a few hours to learn. These days rods and lines are so efficient that that learning curve has been cut in half. Learning the spey cast has more to do with muscle memory than the knowledge of how to make the cast. (You may have already experienced this) you can YouTube till you brain hurts but actually performing the cast is something entirely different. So the driving point to make is this. If you start off developing muscle memory that is incorrect than the learning curve just became your K2. Spey Casting Class. Learn from one source how to perform the correct casting motion then go from there. Personally speaking I spent a year learning it on my own hacking away developing bad habits and it only took (exactly) 8 minutes with our Head Guide/instructor Curt Reed to completely flip my world… Having an instructor, who not only knows how to cast, but has a developed systematic method for teaching spey will boost your skills and confidence tenfold. We’ve been doing these classes for over a decade now have a sleeve full of differing approaches to suite a wide range of learning styles. The whole prerogative is for you to have fun learning, get out on your own and have fun doing it. ??????????????????????
Spey rods have come a reeaally long way even since the last decade. These days spey rods are more like high power precision sniper rifles. These rods are designed in lengths of 10ft to 15 ft. This long length gives the caster leverage so you can make further casts, handle longer fly lines and the length gives you better line control over the water, like mending and tending to the line during the swing. Spey Rod: 12.5 ft – 15ft (some rods have been in excess of 18ft… which for most rivers is not very practical these days) We use spey rods 6wt to 12wt @ 11ft to 15ft for all sizes of salmon and steelhead. Switch Rod: 10ft – 12ft (a switch rod is really just a baby spey rod) For trout, 1wt to 6wt spey @ 9ft to 11.6 ft (now called “Switch” rods for anything shorter than 12ft) these rods are the scaled down versions of their big brothers but super fun for the trout angler! Other Species: bass, panfish and even tarpon.
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