Just curious if you employ these cast into your fishing?

Looks like to me it would be great in a boat fishing for bass. Less false casting. Less wear and tear on shoulder. Looks good for surf or bay fishing as well.

I went ahead and bought some Spey line to spool on my 9 weight. See if it helps gain any distance. Orvis has it on Clearance for $29.

I was hearing it's more about the Spey line than it is the rod. Any truth to that?

Thoughts? Good videos on this subject? I've been watching some and trying out what they talk about.

The short answer is yes. Many of the Spey casting techniques can be use with either a one hand or a two hand rod. Using them with a one hand rod gives you more versitility than just roll casting. The better I learn them, the more I'm using the techniques.

I haven't fished two handed rods much, but I got serious about learning to use them this year. These things are a whole lot more fun once you learn how to cast them. Watching videos did not work for me, but a couple of lessons with live instructors made a world of difference.

One key note about Spey lines, they are approx. 2 lines sizes heavier than a single handed line. So, a 9 wt Spey line will weigh about the same as an 11 wt single hand line.

There three groups of lines; Spey, Scandi, and Skagit. Spey lnes are traditional two handed lines and come in short, medium, and long head styles, and range from about 50 ft to 80 ft head lengths.

Scandi and Skagit are shorter, shooting head lines. Both require running lines and Skagit also require tips. Skagit are short and heavy, about 30 ft. Scandi's have about a 40 ft heads. I've been playing more with a Scandi head and it is a lot of fun.

Long answer to your post and I've over simplified pretty much everything, but I've been having fun with a two handed rod this summer.

I have one those Orvis lines and it has a long head traditional style line. The shorter head line styles are easier to overhead cast.

Also, Sierra Trading Post currently has some Spey lines in stock.

Good luck!

http://www.orvis.com/store/product.aspx?pf_id=0H2H

Do you think I made a mistake buying this for my 9 weight?

The more I learn, the less I know....LOL! This sport is something else! Makes golf look simple.

I was watching video on spey casting by April Vokey, I was sold by her beauty and her beautiful casting style. I want to learn spey casting before I even own any fly rod. hahah.

I bought a Cabelas switch rod combo, and have the opportunity to learn the basic technique from RexW. Thanks again RexW!

I did lot of research on regular spey line, scandi and Skagit shooting heads, watch lots videos on spey casting. I practice spey cast in my front yard. So far so good.

In my humble opinion, the spey line you bought may be too long for your 9' rod. You may want to buy a short spey line. There are short, medium and long spey line, as RexW mentioned.

I will try a short version spey line on my 9' rod later. Just make sure to down weight 2 sizes.

By the way, Cabelas spey rod/reel combo is very decent. One complaint though: the reel size is a bit too small for the rod, and does not hold enough line for my purpose of fishing big fish.

Rex is the local expert on casting and lines, so listen to him first. I've had some experience with both traditional and Skagit lines and have used them primarily for fishing the rivers of the northwest for steelhead. I was fortunate enough to spend a week on the Grande Ronde with the three guys who invented and developed the Skagit lines and style of Spey casting and can agree with your comment -- it's both challenging to do and complicated to understand. My personal experience is that Spey rods and lines are most useful when fishing in large bodies of moving water. I've tried them on other kinds of water, with mixed success. But I also agree with Rex that learning Spey casting techniques can certainly give you more versatility with a single hand rod.

Doh, guess we will see next week when it comes in.

Might be a $30 mistake. I got the 9 weight line. For a 9 weight rod.

I did watch one video of a guy using his standard 5 weight spey casting.....he said it was more about the line....but now you mention it...I think he said he was using a spey line developed for single handed rods.

Good info....now it looks like I have more research to do if this doesn't work right.

I was thinking Spey casting would give me that distance you look for when fishing clear water bass.

Shooting the line out rather than false casting like a mad man to get rid of all the stripped line from the retrieve.

If you master the D Loop is the Spey/Skagit casting easier?

9 weight spey line = 11 weight regular fly line. It may still be ok. I learned that we can use 2 weight line up or down for the rod. Hope I am told right.

I had heard one size up was good too. I guess it's a $30 experiment.

It typically does take a longer rod to effectively handle a Spey line. At minimum, an 11 foot switch rod. My Spey rods range from 12.25 to 15 feet long.

I have my eye on TFO Pandion 14', 9 weight spey rod now. I will get it later, after I go in the warehouse, try it first hand first.

That's a big stick and should handle everything up to and including big steelhead and king salmon. My old Sage 15' ten weight casts like a telephone pole. After using it for awhile, my nine weight feels like a five weight.

15'...wow. Almost reach the power lines with it!