Spey Rods/Baja Surf....

[Darian]

Anybody see anyone using a spey rod in the surf at East Cape or elsewhere in Baja I'm curious if a shorter (12' - 13') spey rod would be a good tool in the Baja surf....

I'm sure about spey casting being an advantage but how about fightin' large fish in the surf on a long rod.... What about the mechanical advantage of fighting the fish on a longer rod Line management issues, etc.

If this turns out to be a positive, I just might consider converting (for that purpose only ). :P :P :P :P :P

[MSP]

Hey Darian, just curious about Spey rods in the surf. It seems to me that on a river after a cast the line swings down river and you pick up the line and whip it back out again after it straightens out. In the surf it would seem that after a cast you would have to strip to make the fly look like an fleeing baitfish. Can you still make cast after stripping the line almost all the way back in? I don't know a thing about spey rods or spey fishing but it seems like it might be kinda of a pain. Your thoughts?

[David Lee]

Darian and Mike -

Great subject .... and one I've pondered much as of late !!

I don't think 'Spey' rods are the tool for the job .... but OVERHEAD two-handed rods would work well . I've been trying to get my hands on a TFO 12x12 - that would beat the crap out of anything down there , from what I've heard .

No one here carries them without having to buy one first

David

[SullyTM]

David...My local fly shop guy had an English two-handed rod a few weeks ago. I think it was a 12 footer. Gotta admit, I was flinging it But I coouldn't tell you the difference from a Spey rod cuz I know nothing about those bad boys either...Take care. Thom

[Jay Murakoshi]

Darian,


In all my years going to baja and fishing both the blue water and surf, I have only seen one person using a spey rod and it was only for three or four casts. Most of the fish this guy was casting to were within the 40' to 60'. Well within the casting range of a standard rod. Watching him fight a fish with this 14' rod was an adventure. First, the rod had way to soft of tip and not enough power in the butt to put leverage on the fish and when it did come in to the beach, he had a hell of a time trying to land the fish. It looked sorta like me trying to land a shad with a spey rod. He couldn't slide the fish close enough to him to grab on to it. After trying to put some vertical pressure with this long spey rod he gave up, which by the way vertical is not the way to go. Play these fish with a horizontal plane rod and you will get them to come in alot quicker.

Next problem. the poor guy couldn't strip fast enough with the spey rod to get the fly moving and with his stripping basket around his waist, he couldn't even hit that.

It was even more hilarious to watch him land a skip jack in a panga. The only thing you saw was all butt. The rest of the rod was in the water and pointing straight down to Davey Jone's locker. Definitly no leverage

I don't want to discourage anyone from trying it or more power to those who have but I would leave it for the rivers.

Just my opinion

Jay

[PaulC]

Wow. A skipjack on a spey must have been a sight.
Perch and beans are one thing, but definitely think its out of place there.
I've been looking mostly for rivers but some areas in SB would be nice get get a good real long cast out there and see what happens.

[Darian]

Hey Guys,.... Thanks for the input. I've never seen or talked to anyone who ever used a Spey rod down there. I had my suspicions about the use but you've all confirmed my thoughts....

Thought the calm surf zone down there might be more accomodating but didn't think that line management would be as much of a problem as it appears. It's, also, true that most surf casting is to targets within 60' of the caster....

I never did think it would be good idea from a Panga.... Even the casting would seem to be a problem there.

Anyway, thanks again....

[stonefish]

Darian,
Take a look at the Atlantis series from CND.
http://cndspey.com/products.htm
The are two handed rods designed for ocean surf fishing. My friends say they are starting to see more of these types of rods all the time on the East Coast for striper surf fishing. I've even seen a few in use here on Puget Sound in the Seattle area. I don't see why these rods won't work in Baja. I agree with other to stay away from traditional or European style spey rods down there.
Brian

[Darian]

Hey Stonefish (great handle by the way)...., Thanks for the site. The Atlantis looks interesting. Guess the only length is 11'. I'm assumming that's a two or three piece rod (since it doesn't say). That might present a problem for international travel....

Have you had any personal experience with a two handed, overhead rod

[stonefish]

Darian,
The Atlantis series are 3 pc rods.
I don't have any experience with overhead two handers, only traditional spey rods. If they made a 7/8 or 8/9 I would consider buying one for beach fishing up my way. The 9/10 and 11/12 are to much rod in my opinion for searun cutthroat and silver salmon. The 9/10 and 11/12 would be a good match for the fish down in Baja.
The last time I was in Cabo, I stopped by Baja Anglers and spoke with Grant Hartman. He mentioned he uses a spey rod to fish off the beaches. I'm not sure if he uses a traditional spey rod or an overhead rod, although I believe he said his rod was 13 ft long.

You might want to place a post regarding overhead rods on one of these East Coast boards. Overhead rods seem to be taking off there and perhaps someone could provide you with feed back on overhead casting and other rod options.
http://reel-time.com/forum/index.php?
Brian