Spey on The Beach
- Thread starter Reeltrout
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Saltycutt
Just Hatched
Lots of guys do. I have fished two handed rods for years on the beach. I prefer integrated lines but any commando style on some mono will work fine. I liked the SA Speylite skagit intermediate for an integrated line. Great for high water. Not always the best tool, but a fun change
I have Meiser 909 (9' 9") shooting head rod that I'll be using on Maine beaches for Striped Bass come May / June. Looking forward to seeing how it goes. I've used longer rods up to 11'9" and they always felt overly complicated and cumbersome and ended up back with my single hand rods. Looking forward to something shorter and more purpose built for this type of fishing / casting.
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There was a thread about this, on the old forum. I remember folks saying that two handed rods make it harder to land fish and impart action on the fly. Those seemed to be the main cons.
I rarely fish the salt, since moving to the east side. However, I was using an OPST line on a single hand rod and it was much nicer than using a conventional line. You can definitely cast a long belly conventional line farther, but single hand Spey is much more efficient. If you're fishing urban areas, it is also much more practical; you don't have to worry about every moron deciding to stop behind you and watch.
See the video below. A 3wt works, but I think a 10ft 4-5wt would make a lot more sense. You probably don't want to go too heavy, because these lines do not land delicately. Keep in mind that a 10ft 4-5wt would tend to have the butt strength of a 9ft 6-7wt. Also, if you do decide to try this, I suggest not following the grain weight advice of the OPST guy; 175gr was far too heavy for my 3wt and it seems like most are using 150gr lines instead. I suspect the (Redington Hydrogen) rod he was using was not a true 3wt.
I rarely fish the salt, since moving to the east side. However, I was using an OPST line on a single hand rod and it was much nicer than using a conventional line. You can definitely cast a long belly conventional line farther, but single hand Spey is much more efficient. If you're fishing urban areas, it is also much more practical; you don't have to worry about every moron deciding to stop behind you and watch.
See the video below. A 3wt works, but I think a 10ft 4-5wt would make a lot more sense. You probably don't want to go too heavy, because these lines do not land delicately. Keep in mind that a 10ft 4-5wt would tend to have the butt strength of a 9ft 6-7wt. Also, if you do decide to try this, I suggest not following the grain weight advice of the OPST guy; 175gr was far too heavy for my 3wt and it seems like most are using 150gr lines instead. I suspect the (Redington Hydrogen) rod he was using was not a true 3wt.
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If I fished the salt I’d consider the Echo OHS, some good reviews of it in this forum.
Wouldn't ever be my personal choice for an every day sound rod, but I've seen too many folks use two handers off the beach successfully to fully write them off at this point.
Many folks like two handers for salmon fishing, generally using two handed over headed casts to launch a lot of line with little effort.
A light switch rod and something along the lines of a commando head could be very useful for fishing certain beaches at high tides.
My biggest complaint about two handers in the past was the various loop to loop connections used with the lines, but new integrated lines might have fixed that. I'm a huge, huge believer in stripping my fly right back to my rod tip and clunky loop to loop connections definitely discourages this.
These days I fish pretty much exclusively from a boat so no need to dabble in the two handed world.
Many folks like two handers for salmon fishing, generally using two handed over headed casts to launch a lot of line with little effort.
A light switch rod and something along the lines of a commando head could be very useful for fishing certain beaches at high tides.
My biggest complaint about two handers in the past was the various loop to loop connections used with the lines, but new integrated lines might have fixed that. I'm a huge, huge believer in stripping my fly right back to my rod tip and clunky loop to loop connections definitely discourages this.
These days I fish pretty much exclusively from a boat so no need to dabble in the two handed world.
I enjoy using a two hander from time to time in the salt, both for salmon and src just because it’s enjoyable and I can work on my spey casting in the only flowing water nearby me, the salt. Apart from that, the best advantage is no worries about the the people, dogs, whatever walking the beach behind me. The biggest disadvantage - the salad. Every time your fly/leader/line touches the water it’s an opportunity to pick up salad. And spey type casts give many more opportunities for that to happen than overhead casts single or two handed.
Andy
Andy
I prefer single hand rods for the beach. I have been an outbound linesman for awhile and probably remain so unless ????
Like mentioned above you can outfit yourself a single spey system or shooting heads and launch some line if desired, which in some cases is advantageous. I have seen only a few at most true spey fishing in the salt but have seen plenty of switch rod users fishing the salty waters….especially for salmon.
I will add I did use a SA steelhead taper in the salt and did well with it. But that was many moons ago and I didn’t want to pay 50-60 bucks for a line which today are 80-100 dollar coin.
Like mentioned above you can outfit yourself a single spey system or shooting heads and launch some line if desired, which in some cases is advantageous. I have seen only a few at most true spey fishing in the salt but have seen plenty of switch rod users fishing the salty waters….especially for salmon.
I will add I did use a SA steelhead taper in the salt and did well with it. But that was many moons ago and I didn’t want to pay 50-60 bucks for a line which today are 80-100 dollar coin.
Anybody have any suggestions for a Redington Dually 5 wt. that is one of the early models? I did some spey fishing with it yesterday on the S. Sound for the first time and tried a buddy's integrated Spey lite in 330 grains but thinking something with a shorter head and maybe a better anchor. Its a lot of line for anything close in which my past experience at places like Olalla are you don't need a long cast to find fish 15 feet off the bank! I also am looking for recommendations for a 3 wt. spey/switch that can fish for trout with soft hackle emergers. So many choices of lines and new rods, it's overwhelming. I agree with Nick Clayton that the knots with a looped system are a pain to deal with.
Saltycutt
Just Hatched
When you say "shorter head and better anchor" you're all screwed up. Are you blowing your anchor with the speylite? Short heads don't need full snap Ts and double spey casts, because youre gonna blow your anchor with the short heads; start working on perry pokes. Watch Larimers video on the Airflo scout lines for good tips on short heads.
If you want more anchor go with longer tips, even 12' can make a big difference.
Two hand trout rods are so good, pick any good brand and price point you like in a 3 weight and you'll be happy.
Thanks to all. My casting stroke needs some help as I don't do a lot of spey with steelhead in short supply in Puget Sound, my reason for switching to trout Spey. Great advice!
My friend uses a 350 iflight or a 350 skagit max short on his 5wt dually. He uses 10ft intouch replacement tips in #5 instead of light mow tips. I use the same setup on my 5wt switch. I copied this setup from one of Joes (Red's FS) YouTube videos, banging system
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I only recently learned of that rod. Which rod in that series did you choose?
For the West Coast most guys I know either use a 8wt single hand 325 grains or a 7wt 11ft switch and use a 10wt outbound Shooting head. Wondering what manufacturer makes a saltwater shooting head above 425 grains for those larger rods in that 909 series
I've used 11' switch rods, fishing for coho, off the beach for years...with fairly good success, BUT, was usually outfished by my buddy using a sh rod. In fact, the 3 most successful beach fishers I know all use sh rods...and I finally figured why the difference: 1) Their casts are fully airborne, with no surface noise ripping waterborne casts. (coho are notoriously spooky) 2) Using fully integrated lines, they are able to strip as much head as they want into the guides, (allowing following fish to come much further in) false cast the head out and quietly make their cast again. This was huge, since, with a switch rod, I could only strip to the start of the head, then fire another waterborne cast out. Even doing o/head casts with the switch, I didn't have the opportunity to strip the head 1/2 way into the guides, since no opportunity to false cast out again. This past fall, I built a 9'9" sh rod, used an integrated line, and easily doubled hookups over my switch setup....I'm a now convert to sh for the beach.
@BeeKay415 I have the 7/9 so the grain window is 450-525 I have some Rio Outbound 12wt lines and Beulah Serum which is designed for these types of rods. Also the Ambush Neutralizer gets up into the 400 grain range. Additionally if I'm using tips then that will be an additional 100 grains or so. It will take some line tinkering for sure. Attached a screenshot of a convo about these rods on SP where Bob Meiser chimes in with thoughts. I found it very helpful...
You say you were using a "Spey Lite in 330 grains.", Since you felt like you needed a shorter head, is it possible you were using the scandi model at 25'? The skagit design is 17'. Both are SA "Spey Lite" lines. I have stuck to skagit heads in the little beach casting I have tried so far. I feel the length is much more conducive to what I'm trying to do (sustained anchor casts).
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Agree with afried that the biggest issue is salad. It can make it totally frustrating, if not impossible. But if you have little to none of it, it's a lot of fun. I'm trying it out to save wear and tear on my elbow. So far I've preferred to use a wrap cast (seen at about 3:40 in the video below) or a poke immediately after I've rolled/worked my head back out of the guides. An integrated line will certainly make things easier. Will spool my new one up and give it a try this spring.
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Agree about the salad. In my area, most beach fishers use a stripping basket, for both sh and two-handers....and yes, o/head casting does reduce the amount of seaweed picked up by the fly and tip.
Because of old age my body’s falling apart I ended up only using a switch as a two hand overhead casting rod. My lines lets me to strip almost to my leader which I then drag the fly in front of me to check for failing of the fly. A roll cast and feed out line then a short single hand cast get a water load and let errr fly.
