single handers

[Charlie Gonzales]

Doesn't anyone fish them anymore? At 500cfs the American is perfect for one. Or is it not cool enough anymore?

[baldeagleflyfishing]

fished w/a 7 wt Ross worldwide w/ a 1939-40 pflueger 1496 reel and had 4 on and 2 to hand today. largest was 32"
Doesn't anyone fish them anymore? At 500cfs the American is perfect for one. Or is it not cool enough anymore?

[Garrett S]

Nope theyre still cool

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/585/vla7.jpg

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I think they are still cool....we will get back to them after we catch more fish on our two handed rods.

[Tony Buzolich]

There's a time and a place for everything. These big two-handed rods are made for big water and require a solid and steady stance from which to cast allowing the angler greater distances over water he might never be able to reach.

Now, in converse of this put that same angler in a boat. Moving or drifting water does not create a stable platform from which to stand. Add to this the over-all length of a much longer rod and things get in the way very fast especially in the tight quarters of a boat.

Then comes casting, is there such a thing as a quick roll cast with a spey type rod? In a boat it's often the norm to make quick casts to rising fish or certain spots along the bank as you drift by. A shorter rod here would be the preferred rod for its ease of movement and quickness.

Can you even imagine two guys in a boat chasing stripers using spey type rods at the same time? Even in a very long boat I think two guys swinging spey rods (even one guy) would be a constant battle of rod tips and tangled lines before an accident of some kind happened.

Lets take this to another level. Why do you suppose some of the rod manufacturers are going to shorter rods like SAGE's Bass series at only 7'-11"? Obviously for tight quarters and areas of limited space where long casts would be impossible. Think about areas around mangroves or heavy brush and tules when fishing blackbass or baby tarpon and snook. Want to try a spey rod here?

No, I don't think I want anyone with a spey type rod fishing out of my boat. On the other hand, (pun) if I were an avid wader and fished near a big body of water a lot I'm sure I'd have a two-handed rod of some sort as well.
Tony

[troutless]

Why is there this persistent myth that two-handed rods are only for speycasting on big rivers?

Casting really big flies -- and I don't mean the pipsqueaks people use around here for stripers, I mean something like a 12" articulated muskie streamer -- a two-handed rod, cast overhead, may very well be the right tool for the job. It is much less effort, and, most people can cast such a rig easier off their weak side than a single-hander. In my experience when there are a pair of 5/0 hooks flying around, guides are appreciative of anything that can be done to keep that fly as far away from the boat as possible. Lots of people use 10' single-handed rods when nymphing out of a boat, an 11' rod is not really that much longer. I have landed fish on one with as many as THREE other anglers, plus a guide, in the boat, without difficulty.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, there are a lot of situations, particularly small-stream trout and steelhead, where a spey cast on a single-hander is the only really practical option.

Conditions like we have now on the American, I think it is hard to make a case for anything outside of personal preference.

[DAVID95670]

Lets take this to another level. Why do you suppose some of the rod manufacturers are going to shorter rods like SAGE's Bass series at only 7'-11"? Tony

because bass are a lame fighting fish that you yank out of the water???

[Frank Alessio]

Wrong and Wrong....Sage Bass rods are 7'-11" because that is the Legal Length Limit you can use in a Tournament.... If you know your Black Bass Tournament history you will recall when Dee Thomas began flipping He used an 18 foot pole... Yes a pole with no reel...Then the restrictions started because he was so good at it... They told him he could use any rod as long as it had a reel attached to it...Then when they got tired of him kicking their collective asses they started restricting the length of the rod and the Flipping stick was born....There you Go....

[Larry S]

Frank,
Spot on. We don't agree on our politics; but,
very often you hit it right with the fishing.
Best to you and yours,
Larry S

[Frank Alessio]

Thank You Larry...

[BillB]

Was just tossing my Xi2 in the suds Monday Charlie. I can throw a pretty good line with it. Too bad there were no fish. Memo: Don't fish for perch during a heavy surf advisory.

[steel2theReel]

I love the single hander. For dry flies for trout; in the flats for Bones, permit, tarpon; on our rivers and delta for Stripers.
I love the Spey for swinging for steelies and some salmon.
I love the switch rod too.

I like to let the conditions and the water dictate the way I want to fish.

In other words I like to fly fish!