THE ART & SCIENCE OF SPEYFISHING

"Spey casting is making a comeback in North America, thanks to the development of a true spey rod and the dedication of people like Mike Maxwell."

-Atlantic Salmon Journal,
Summer 1990, Vol. XXXIX,
No. Two

How many times have you fished your favourite river, knowing the fish were there, but found it impossible to cast without hooking the bushes behind you or sticking yourself with your fly.

Many anglers faced with this annoying situation will try to wade out farther, often into dangerous currents, to provide backcasting room. Frequently they end up disturbing the fish they are attempting to hook. Others will false cast parallel to the bank before attempting to swing the line out into the river, while some will make a fish disturbing roll cast to the target area. These emergency measures force the fisherman to make the only cast possible instead of the presentation they intended.

These frustrating and sometimes dangerous conditions frequently result in the angler muttering to himself that there just has to be a better way. There is a better way, one that is as old as the hills and used with great success throughout Europe. However, for some inexplicable reason, the technique seems to have taken a long time to cross the Atlantic to North America.

The better way, of course, is fishing with a long, double-handed speyrod or salmon rod, as our European readers call it. Once you understand the full advantages of this method of angling, you will without doubt ask yourself: can it be learned and is the equipment available.

Fishing with a double-handed speyrod allows you to make any presentation you choose, at any angle, from downstream to upstream, with dry or wet fly, in high or low water, and in all but gale force wind and without dangerous wading.

Furthermore, all this is possible without the fly every going behind you or coming near you. And, with a long, limber speyrod in your hands, you'll have the ability to make perfect aerial and water mends, you'll lose fewer fish using smaller flies, due to the shock absorbing characteristics inherent in the rod, and you'll enjoy an unbeatable method of angling.

To illustrate the main advantages of the speyrod, consider the sketch which shows a typical river scene. The overhead caster is located on the gravel side of the stream, to make room for his back cast, and he is casting to the fish on the other side of the river. He is wading deep, has virtually no control over the fly, and wastes time retrieving line, false casting and replacing broken flies. However, the enlightened speycaster, who is closer to the fish, stands pretty well out of the water, covers the fish without him or his fly ever being in danger, returns the fly to the water immediately after each swing, without false casting and then controls the line and the fly perfectly. He usually fishes alone, covering undisturbed fish with about twice the effective fishing time. Who is going to be more successful?