Absolute gorgeous morning out on the rocks today. I broke out the spey rod and fishing the second hour of the ebb tide. After the nasty weather the water is still a little off color for my liking and I think a tide or two is needed to clean it up a bit. A nice easy west wind made casting the spey rod a country mile nice and easy. Didn't get a bite...which was fine...as it was the first time my spey rod was loaded with the correct lines.
Last year I experimented with the spey rod in the salt. Like everything else there's a lot to know about spey rodding to do it anywhere remotely close to effective. Most people, like me, start out with a cheap spey rod, a cheesy reel, and so called "spey line". That's where I was last year. It was all good because I got a chance to experiment without breaking the bank. The problem is it wasn't the proper set up and I was really only kidding myself that I was spey rodding.
I have to thank Orvis Marlton fly fishing manager Andrew Hamilton for spending some time with me explaining to me what the proper rod, backing , running line, head and tips I would need to be effective. I wrote down the information he gave me and made some purchases that he recommended and some others that I had read up on. Below is the direction I went and I am sure I will be adding to the arsenal as I pick it up further.
One of the reels that I use is an Orvis Mirgage VI and after loading it up it fits fine and is well balanced on my Anglers Roost 14' 9/10, HERE. Currently I am looking at the Orvis Clearwater and Helios speys and the Sage Method. I will be walking before running so I am going to put some time on this rod before jumping into a bigger investment.
One thing I noticed while out today was the loop to loop connection between the shooting line and the skagit head gets caught up in the guides towards the end of the retrieve. That's something I will have to investigate and fix.
This is no doubt the ticket for casting larger flies out further than I can with a single hand 9 ft rod. With the bunker around I might finally get in range of those bigger fish off the tips of the groins. Can't wait!
