Spey Fishing British Columbia, Canada
Double-handed fly fishing, also called spey fishing was born at the river Spey in Scotland. The rods used for spey fishing are longer than your typical single handed fly rods, mostly around 14-16 feet. Spey rods come in various weight classes as single handed fly rods do.
Spey rods are often rods of choice for fly angler who fish big rivers, where there is a need to cast far out to spots you can not reach as easy with a single handed rod. Also for waters where you have “stuff” in the way behind you such as trees or mountains. You than use a simple roll cast and you will be amazed at the distance you get with a simple move of your rod. This is simply because of the length of the rod you have basically a longer arm and you get a better distance compared to a shorter rod.
When spey fishing for trout, the reel quality is secondary because all it has to do is
hold the line. Once you spey fish for salmon or steelhead, the reel quality is relevant because you want a reliable drag system. There are many different reels on the market who hold enough backing and it is worth while to compare. In this photo you can see one of my all time favourite spey fishing shots. Our guest Ian Monroe from England hooked a 45 lbs. Chinook salmon (king or tyee) on the fly about 150 feet out in the seam where the slow current meets the main current of the mighty Fraser River. The jumping fish has taken a salmon fly and is hooked. The fly drifted downstream, the hook was set in an upstream direction. This is one of those magic shots that usually does not get caught on camera.