Quote Originally Posted by winxp_man View Post
What happens when high water comes in? Reason I say this is I have fished shad from 500 cfs up to 15k on the American. And high water requires longer casts at time. Not that a single hand rod will not work, but you will find it harder to get to fish. Had a buddy of mine fish next to me and he was running a setup like yours.... came back the next day with a two handed rod haha.


I’m also a fan of putting the fish in the net in a fast way to give it a fighting chance if it’s not being kept. I have seen scores of dead fish which can be caused be over fighting, and Mia handling. They where not even spawning. Kind of a sucky sight.

But whatever gets you on to some fish I guess... tight lines!
Obviously I hit a nerve, yikes, I didn't even read your post, I was responding to the OP.

My suggestion was right now on AR. Not for last year, not for 2025, but now.

I am not sure why it is it takes you longer to land a fish on a single hander than it does on a spey rod? If I am fishing solo it's quite the opposite due to the netting dance, unless the single is completely underweighted for the task which a 6wt is most certainly not. Also a little confused as to why high flows affect your cast time?

As I said, I am die hard spey guy (the river Spey was literally one of the rivers I learned to fish on) and yes, like you own quite a few spey and switch rods (everything from 2-10/11 wt) but, for me, they're not the best tool for the job of small fish, high volume fishing.

I never take fish, seriously wouldn't eat anything in AR and certainly not shad and I can assure you they all swim away healthy and just as feisty as they were when they took the fly.

My setup selection has nothing to do with me getting on fish. I'll cast to the same place with a single as I would with a two hander.