twohandedrods

The Contented Angler
"A Genuine Fly Shop"

The Return of the Two-Handed Rod

It was about 20 years ago that I tied my first tube fly for fishing for Atlantic Salmon on the Mirimachi.
You made do with what you could find as tube supplies weren’t readily available then. Probably why the
flies weren’t popular here. I don’t remember if Rod Yerger, the master of the tube fly, was selling tube
fly supplies at that time.

A few years ago, I predicted that the tube fly would become popular here. I got lucky and all of those
guiding and writing magazine articles were tying tube flies.

A few years ago I predicted that this will be the year of the switch and spey rod. Once again, I got lucky
and we are now seeing the huge popularity of the two handed rod. Expect to see magazine articles with
the author holding a switch rod. It’s just the cool thing to do.

Spey casting takes a lot of practice to place the anchor with precision and consistency, but somehow,
today’s magazine writers perfected it with no practice at all. I wish I could use a quote from Dec Hogan’s
book on how all the two handed experts are suddenly appearing. Who will be the first one to step on
tradition and make an upstream cast with an indicator? Don’t be mislead. It's going to take a while to
master all the different casts.

One of the gems in my library is “The Salmon Fly” by George Kelson. First published in 1895, Kelson
devotes 14 pages to the “Spey cast.” A factual testimony that spey casting is nothing new.

Two-handed casting so far consists of Spey casting, Scandinavian casting and Skagit casting. Each one a
different style of casting and each one designed for a particular geographical area.

Skagit casting, developed by our friends in the Pacific Northwest solved the problem of casting a large
fly with a sink tip into heavy current. It requires a special line and a different style of casting to do this.
Skagit compact lines are made shorter to accommodate rivers where backcast room is a problem. You
don’t have to make a 50’ “D” loop. The head lengths of Scandi and skagit compacts are just right for our
Pa. and N.Y. rivers.

I had the opportunity to attend “Spey Nation” this year in N.Y. It was a huge gathering and it enabled
me to cast different rods and gain some valuable advice. Since I was in the business of selling these
rods, I had to know how to match up a line without depending on grain weights. Lee Davidson, who
designed the very popular Ballistic lines, showed me what a well-matched setup should feel like. There is
a little more to it than matching a line to the grain window on the rod.

Even with single handed rods, we need to refer to grain weights instead of the outdated method we use
now, so we are encouraged to choose a line that brings out the best in the rod. Line ratings for rods are
just the opinion of the person who designed the rod. Chances are, it may not feel good to you with the
recommended line.

Here at The Contented Angler we can’t just sell you a switch or spey rod. We want to make sure you
have a rod with the perfect line that enhances the “sweet spot” in the rod. However, the main reason for
properly matching the rod and line is that it will make it much easier for you to learn these casts. No one
should be selling these rods without knowing how to choose a line to match the rod. If you are in the
market for a spey rod, ask the person selling it if he knows how to match the proper line to it. Listen
carefully to the answer, and ask him how he knows this. The wrong line will discourage the angler from
learning the casts. Rod builders now know this and some now offer the proper line for the rod. The
seller doesn't have to learn anything.

With Spey flies, at least what people are calling spey flies, gaining popularity, it was easy to predict that
the two handed rod would return. I am fortunate that I accumulated 20 years worth of material for tying
spey flies. I am fortunate I have and have read the old books. I love fishing speys on the “Cat” the
traditional way.

Please wade in Here for Part 2:

The difference between The Contented Angler and the nearest competitors
is that we actually know how to line these rods!