Do You Actually Want a Spey Rod?

Spey fishing has a certain mystique.  Whether it comes from the rich history dating back to the 1700s, the Zen-like muscle memory required to make the cast work, or the fact that you can cast farther on your first day of Spey casting than most will ever achieve with their single-hand rods, the appeal is undeniable and well-founded. 

The benefits are many, but there are also some noticeable drawbacks, misconceptions, and gear limitations that even intermediate Spey anglers may not understand.  In this article, we want to go over the three major types of “Spey” setups and really look at what they are good at and what they are not good at, so you don’t end up with a setup that is going to hold you back depending on your experience or desired application.

For this article, we can classify three distinct types of “Spey” setups. 
They Are Not Delicate in Their Presentation. 
Because of their length, it takes a fly line with more grains to load the rod.  Even in lightweight full Spey rods, you will be throwing almost +2 line weights more weight than a standard single-hand fly rod.  Let’s unpack that - If you are casting a 6 wt full Spey, it will be like hitting the water with the same grains as an 8-9wt single-hand rod.  To make matters worse, many modern Spey lines are short.  The 6wt Spey line is packing the same weight as that 8wt single-hand line into half or less length.  Long story short, that heavy thick line hits the water hard.  All of the Spey setups listed are not the best tool if you want a delicate presentation. This rules them out as the ideal tool for side channel coho fishing, shallow water beach fishing, back-channel cutthroat fishing, or God forbid, sight casting to freshwater or saltwater species in shallow clear water.

They are not Good at Technical Upstream Mending. 
With their heavy per foot line and the use of what is called a running line on many short head modern lines, delicate precise mends are an issue.  This makes them a poor setup for upstream nymphing techniques.  With the big rod and heavy line, a flip or mend is going to splash the water, and if a running line is involved, you will have a hard time getting connection with the head of the line and making a precise non-tensioned mend.  This makes them not the right tool for indicator nymphing either for our egg eaters or summer trout applications.  Can you, do it? Yes.  Is it the best tool for the job? No.