The Growing Popularity of Light Spey Rods

[Jasonh]

In the last couple of years we are seeing a trend towards more and more people going to shorter, lighter spey rods. Part of this in my opinion is due to the fact that so many of todays rods and lines are 10x better than they were three years ago. Manufacturers are designing lines in 25-30 grain increments and varying lengths to match just about any spey rod on the market. This has not only made it easier on fly shops, but guides and beginning two hand casters as well. With a little instruction, beginners are now able to learn the basics of spey/skagit casting in a matter of a few hours as opposed to days, weeks, or even months. Lately we are seeing more people transition away from 13'6"-15' rods that were 7-10 weights and trying out 11-13' switch/spey rods that are 5 and 6 weights. Part of this due to the fact that with todays modern shooting heads and graphite technology, anglers are now able to cast a 12'6" #6 almost as far as their old 14' 9 weight. Not only are these set ups a lot more fun to cast but they make playing fish a hell of a lot more fun.

In Northern California and parts of Oregon many of our summer/fall steelhead rivers are full of half pounders and adult fish averaging 3-7 lbs. It only makes sense to fish a smaller spey rod in the 5-6 weight range for these fish. While I have been fishing these lighter rods on our summer/fall fish the last few seasons, two years ago I started fishing a 12'6" #6 for winter steelhead and have never looked back, (Seeing the likes of Mike McCune, Scott O'Donnell, Ed Ward, and Steve Choate certainly influenced my use of lighter rods throughout the seasons.) A compact skagit 450 and 9-11' of T-11 with a fly in the 2-4" range fishes well on this rod. There are very few situations I have seen where I really would need more rod. This set-up has landed fish in the 4-15 lb range. Now I am not advocating this for all fisheries, but when fishing rivers where the average fish in 4-8 lbs, there really isn't a better match.

That being said, there are a lot of great lighweight spey rods on the market that would be great summer, fall, and light winter rods throughout the Pacific Northwest. Here are a few popular set ups that we have been playing around with lately. All these rods excell with both Scandi and Skagit heads and are great fishing tools...

Anderson Explorer 12'6" #6
Beulah Platinum 12'6" #6
Echo TR 12' #5
Echo TR 12'6" #6
Sage Z-Axis 12'6" #5
Sage Z-Axis 12'6" #6
TFO Deer Creek 12'6" #5/6

There are many more out there but these are the ones I have spent some time with and would recommend to anyone out ther looking at a shorter, lighter spey rod.

JH

[norcal tom]

Talking about light spey do you have experance with the Echo Classic 12'6 6/7
what size skagit head and how heavy of tips could i use and is rio t14 out of ??? with these lighter spey rods ?

[Jasonh]

While I have not cast this rod, I would say an Airflo Compact Skagit in the 450-480 grain range should be good. You can easily throw T-11 and T-14 tips with this set up and probably use up to 13' of T-14. It might not be the prettiest casting set-up but will get the job done.

JH

[mikel]

Jason...what an enlightening post! I fished spey a couple of days about 5 yrs ago on the N Umpqua. The rod was an 8 wt, maybe 13.5 feet. I liked the casting, but with a fish on it was like a telephone pole. I've been tempted to try switch rods, but haven't taken the time or effort...

So, my question...understanding you are not psychic...would it be your expectation that further "quantum leaps" in spey/switch rod technology are coming up, or are we at a kind of plateau phase where things will stabilize for a period? I don't want to buy a rod that will be obsolete in 6 months, wishing I had my $$$ back.

If this is a dumb one, I apologize now:D

-Mike

[Rick J]

Mike,
Just because new rods are coming out all the time does not make what you buy now obsolete.

I think one of the finest all around trout rods ever built was the Scott G904 which came out in the 1970's and I still have some glass rods I would never part with and love to fish.

what is happening as Jason points out is a bunch of lighter and lighter wt spey/switch rods down to 3 wt right now maybe - but unless you want to wait for even lighter ones there is an influx of awesome rods to choose from in various line weights depending on your target fish, target tackle (lines and flies) and target water so I would not wait - just jump in - the water is fine!!!!

[Jasonh]

Hi Mike,

No such thing as dumb spey questions, this stuff can be confusing!

I don't imagine any huge quantum leaps in rod development other than rods getting a little lighter. I think a lot of the manufacturers are now just dialing in lighter rods and making sure they get the action they are looking for in these rods. There are also many "older" spey rods that are just as good as many of these new ones, they are just a bit heavier.

If you are in the market for a 6 weight spey, I think many of the ones we have on the market now are amazing rods. Two of my favorites would be the Beulah Platinum 12'6" #6 and Echo TR 12'6" #6. The Beulah is probably the lightest 6 on the market and a great casting/fishing rod. The Echo in my opinion is the best "price point" rod out there and a great casting/fishing rod as well.

Hope this helps,
JH

[mikel]

Rick...I'm sure you're correct. I have a couple of glass rods from the '70s and they are great for fishing dries, same as they were 30 yrs ago...I have no reference point for how big the changes in rods (spey and switch) have been lately....point well taken though.

Thanks Jason...I'd sure like to try like a 6 wt switch on the Trinity...sounds like a great match to me. Right size water and fish.

I watched some guys nymphing with what looked like BIG spey rods on the trinity a couple of weeks ago and it looked almost silly to me. I could roll cast my 1 hander to where they were fishing...but the switch makes sense to me.

Thanks for the info...-Mike

[Fats]

Rick...I'm sure you're correct. I have a couple of glass rods from the '70s and they are great for fishing dries, same as they were 30 yrs ago...I have no reference point for how big the changes in rods (spey and switch) have been lately....point well taken though.

Thanks Jason...I'd sure like to try like a 6 wt switch on the Trinity...sounds like a great match to me. Right size water and fish.

I watched some guys nymphing with what looked like BIG spey rods on the trinity a couple of weeks ago and it looked almost silly to me. I could roll cast my 1 hander to where they were fishing...but the switch makes sense to me.

Thanks for the info...-Mike

That could have been me... I was giving it a shot and it was pretty silly. My angle was this, If I don't fish a spey rod, I'll never catch a fish on one. I'd landed a nice buck the previous day and was working on some kinks. My wife was fishing right along with me with her one handed rod and was doing just fine. I went back to the single handed rod the next day... and hooked some fish.

[mikel]

:D nah, Fats...it was three guys camped in the Palisade hole all day....never let another soul in the water...I'm guessing you and your wife would have shared the water a little when you heard me whining on the bank :eek:

-m

[Fats]

:D nah, Fats...it was three guys camped in the Palisade hole all day....never let another soul in the water...I'm guessing you and your wife would have shared the water a little when you heard me whining on the bank :eek:

-m


Well I'm glad you were not pointing the finger at me... I was feeling pretty goofy running my 14' 9 wgt... Smallest spey rod I have right now. Overkill for the river for sure, but I learned some stuff about how the dang thing fishes and what you need to do to pull it off.


Oh... yeah, we would have shared some water with you.

[Grampa Spey]

I made the transition to my Z6126 wrapped by Gary Anderson 3 years ago this next spring.

Rio's AFS Heads had just come out and Simon advised me to use an AFS 6/7 Head.

I got the rod at the Speyorama that year and Bob Pauli helped me balance it with the correct Versi Leader with the AFS 6/7 Head. We tried the 10' Spey Floating Versi leader first, and it didn't feel like it was there yet. We put on a 15' Floating Versi Leader and everything hummed. My biggest problem was getting to use my new rod as so many people wanted to use it. The good casters that day not hackers like me were often putting the casting fly into the next pond or on the concreted divider between the ponds.

Good casters on the American River were/are able to cast 100'+ with that little combo with basically no effort.

Recently, I have replaced my Skagit 450 with the new Rio Skagit Flight Head 425. With the 7' and 10' Versi sinking leaders this is an awesome combo. Also, I can put one of the floating Spey leaders on this line and it performs about as well as my AFS 6/7 head. So in the late fall, winter, early spring, my AFS heads will probably stay in my trunk or at home.

Fortunately, the year before at that Speyorama, I got to discuss these shorter rods with Mike McCune and Scott O'Donnell. At that time they felt that these shorter and lighter weight rods would become the Soup du Jour for most of our waters. They were correct as usual.

I use my Z7136 in heavy wind conditions and when I need to get deep like for Shad on the middle Sac..

The difference between ease of casting with the Z6126 and Z7136 is incredible. I can cast for hours with the Z6 and maybe an hour with the Z7. At the age of 71, easier in most cases is better.