Contrary to popular belief, spey casting is not limited to double handed rods or swinging flies for anadramous fish like salmon and steelhead.
In fact, single-hand spey casting is an extremely valuable tool that allows for fishable casts under conditions that a traditional overhead, or even roll cast, wouldn’t otherwise allow, regardless what you fish for.
The good folks at RIO recently put together a great video on the fundamentals of single-hand spey casting. It’s a great primer for anyone confused by the advantages of spey casting with a single hand rod, and you can give it a watch below.
Note: If you’re viewing this in a newsletter or a reader, click here to see the video on our website.
To make a single-handed Spey cast, it’s best to have the appropriate line, such as the one featured in the video. But can that line also be used when fishing in situations where a Spey cast is not needed? In other words, can it be used when making a standard overhead cast, say with a dry fly to a rising fish? And how easy are these lines to mend? I would not want to be trying to switch back and forth between a regular WF5 floating line and a Spey line on my 5 wt while trout fishing!