The TWO HANDed Revolution

BY

TOPHER BROWNE


Two-handed rods are making inroads in North America.

“The rod, which I will now describe, was designed especially for dry-fly fishing for salmon by the late Colonel Monell……this rod, a two-handed weapon, is fourteen feet in length, made in four sections, for ease in transportation.” G.M.L. LaBranche, The Salmon and the Dry Fly, 1924.

Not since my first “Who” concert left me with permanently impaired hearing has a British import grabbed me quite like the two-handed salmon rod. I saw my first two-handed salmon rod on a Canadian salmon river sixteen years ago. The gentleman was casting a fifteen-foot rod from a high bank to a distant pod of salmon. He covered water that I could not hope to reach with my nine-footer, and he was hooking fish, too. I purchased my first two-handed rod three weeks later.

The pursuit of two-handed expertise has taken me to the U.K.—the birthplace of the two-handed salmon rod—and more recently to Scandinavia and the Pacific Northwest. All three regions have adopted their own unique style of casting two-handed rods. As with any living entity, each style continues to develop. The three styles are also beginning to exert considerable influence over each other as anglers travel, experiment, and come up with better ways to cast and fish two-handed rods. I, for one, have had a lot of fun trying to figure it all out.

What Is A “Spey” Rod?

On this side of the Davis Straight—the salmon rivers of Atlantic Canada to be exact—the single-handed rod has seen a long reign, abetted in large part by the short rod wizardry of the late Lee Wulff. The vast majority of salmon anglers in the pre-Wulff era used two-handed rods for most, if not all, of their salmon fishing. In The Salmon and The Dry Fly (1924), G.M.L. LaBranche recommends a “two-handed weapon” of fourteen feet for dry fly work on the Upsalquitch. Colonel Ambrose Monell, one of the most prolific salmon fishermen in the years preceding World War I, employed two-handed rods of his own design. Old photographs and two-handed rods on display at the Salmon Museum in Grand Cascapedia, Quebec clearly illustrate the early popularity of two-handed salmon rods. The current fascination with the long rod in North America is, perhaps, less a tale of recent European incursion and more a chronicle of rediscovery.

If the two-handed rod itself is not new to North American salmon circles, the term “Spey rod” most certainly is. LaBranche, Monell, et al. used their two-handed rods primarily for overhead casting. The recent upsurge of two-handed rod development is sparked by renewed interest in the Spey cast: a change-of-direction cast, not unlike a roll cast, where the water is used to load the rod in the absence of a back cast. Developed on the River Spey in Scotland nearly two centuries ago, the Spey cast makes it possible to cover water when trees or other obstructions prohibit a normal back cast. A “Spey rod,” in theory, is a two-handed rod used to execute this cast. In modern North American usage, the term “Spey rod” has replaced the somewhat bland “two-handed rod.” The term “Spey,” whether it refers to Spey flies or Spey casting, is as popular, hip, and trendy as double lattes, goatees, and high-powered laptops. One might say that “Spey” has cachet.

The difficulty surrounding the term “Spey rod” is we can’t all agree on a suitable definition. It is just as easy to make a Spey cast with either a single-handed rod or a two-handed “Spey rod.” Does that mean that all single-handed rods are also “Spey rods?” If you were to ask the gillies from several major beats on the River Spey—say, Castle Grant, Tulchan, or Arndilly—to define a “Spey rod,” you will draw a series of blank stares. The equivalent British term for “Spey rod” is “double-handed salmon rod.” As there are two-handed fly rods designed for surf casting, Spey casting, Scandinavian-style “Underhand” casting, and West Coast Skagit-style casting, the term “two-handed rod” crisply defines the entire family of rods.

Style Points

Although they invented the double-handed salmon rod and Spey casting, the British are not immune to sweeping changes to the state of the game. Double taper salmon lines and double-handed salmon rods of moderate action are essential components of Traditional British Spey casting. The current crop of medium to fast action two-handed rods and long-belly weight forward lines has issued a challenge to the status quo. In North American circles, Simon Gawesworth of England is the most recognized exponent of the emergent style known as Modern Spey casting. Like Traditional Spey casting, the newer style makes active use of the uppermost or top hand on the rod in order to create a fairly long casting stroke; unlike its predecessor, Modern Spey casting employs a fast-action rod and tight loops to shoot line as necessary. As a pure distance cast, the classic ‘Single Spey’ is in no danger of being replaced; the ‘Snake Roll,’ the signature cast of the Modern Spey casting style, is proving to be more than a match for the traditional ‘Double Spey.’

Salmon anglers in Scandinavia have taken Traditional British Spey casting and neatly turned it on its head. Often faced with little or no room to make a back cast, the Scandinavians have invented an entire tackle system constructed around progressive-action two-handed rods, shooting heads, and a style of casting known as the Scandinavian method. In high contrast to both Traditional British and Modern Speycasting styles, the Scandinavian method emphasizes a relatively “quiet” uppermost or top hand and an active use of the lower or “under” hand on the rod; some Scandinavian anglers refer to their style as the “Underhand cast” due to the emphasis on the lower hand. Instead of double taper salmon lines or long-belly weight forward lines, the Scandinavian method favors custom shooting heads with an average length of 35-44 feet. Using a modified version of the ‘Single Spey’ from both banks, the Scandinavian method is effective and surprisingly easy to learn. Goran Andersson, a leading Swedish tackle consultant and the inventor of the “Underhand cast,” bristles when two-handed rods of his own design are referred to as “Spey rods.”

Although the British invented the two-handed game, Atlantic salmon anglers in North America now look to the Pacific North West for the latest two-handed expertise and innovation. Through a remarkable convergence of steelhead, world-class graphite manufacturing and a burgeoning population dedicated to the long rod, the Pacific North West has established itself as two-handed rod central. Twenty odd years ago a small group of hardcore steelheaders clearly appraised the value of the two-handed rod for their local fishery. The coterie of anglers included, but was not limited to, famed steelheader Harry Lemire, Sage Rod Designer Jimmy Green, and Mike Kinney, a guru of lines and line splicing. Aptly described by the author Thomas McGuane as “the monks of the Skagit,” these anglers used the rivers north of Seattle—Skagit, Sauk, Stillaguamish, Skykomish—as their private proving grounds. As a result of their efforts, the single-handed fly rod is something of an anomaly on today’s steelhead rivers.

Steelhead run the rivers north of Seattle nearly every month of the year, but it is the April fishery for big winter-run steelhead on the Skagit that puts a twitch in the boots of hardcore steelheaders. The Skagit is a large river, about the size of the Restigouche in early June. In spite of its size, steelhead anglers usually wade the better runs on the Skagit. As the water is cold and the steelhead are reluctant to rise to the surface, most anglers fish a deeply sunk fly. Skagit steelhead are usually within casting range from shore, but they can be scattered; actually finding steelhead is usually the toughest part of the game. With a lot of water to cover and limited room for a back cast, a “two-handed weapon,” to quote LaBranche, is standard ordnance.

Steelheaders in Skagit country usually load up their two-handed rods with custom-made sinking tips. In contrast to a full-sinking line, the mainstay of the British sunk-line method, sink tips permit line mending throughout the swing; in the right hands, sink tips provide deadly control of the speed and depth of the fly. Skagit lines, as they are called, feature a relatively short weight forward head of approximately 42-46 feet, an overall measurement that includes several feet of sink tip. The sink tips themselves may be changed by means of a loop-to-loop connection in order to quickly adapt to changing river conditions. Sink tips can be difficult to cast, and Skagit regulars have developed their own style of casting to suit their particular tackle requirements. In contrast to the smooth and continuous movement of traditional or Modern British Spey casting, the Skagit style of casting features a pronounced pause in the rhythm of the cast, and uses a sustained anchor (more line in the water) to compensate for a very short leader. The ‘Snap-T’ is the signature cast of the Skagit style; as an alternative cast to the classic ‘Single Spey,’ the ‘Snap-T’ is markedly easier to execute.

Two Hands vs. One Hand

The pull of the long rod can be so strong that many anglers are tempted to give up their single-handed rods altogether. A two-handed rod has the upper hand, so to speak, when a long cast or maximum line control is required: a rod of fourteen feet can access un-fished water and provide unsurpassed fly control. Used for either overhead or Spey casting, two-handed rods are less tiring to cast than single-handed rods for most anglers; when fishing for “a fish of a thousand casts,” the energy savings can be significant (see photos with caption). For those with shoulder, elbow or wrist problems, a properly balanced two-handed outfit can mean pain-free fishing and relief from a steady diet of ibuprofen. Two-handed Spey casting eliminates the need for a standard back cast, making it possible to cover water that would be difficult to fish with any other method; on public salmon water, a Spey caster can be all alone in pools with overgrown banks. The acquisition of a solid quiver of double-handers can put a dent in the bank account, but complaints are few on the river.

In spite of its many advantages, the two-handed rod is not yet the ideal tool for presenting a free-floating dry fly. LaBranche, of course, used a two-handed rod of fourteen feet for dry fly fishing on the Upsalquitch; a single-handed rod of nine feet is a more standard piece of kit for dry fly work in Atlantic Canada today. A high percentage of Atlantic salmon are hooked on dry flies inside a distance of forty-five feet from angler to fly. It is difficult to be highly accurate at these distances with most two-handed rods. Because the dry fly reaches the water at a rather steep angle of descent from the tip of the rod, a delicate presentation can also be difficult to achieve. A quick hook set with a two-handed rod is awkward for many anglers. ‘Switch’ rods, a short rod that can be cast with either one hand or two, offer a potential solution for those who simply prefer a two-handed option with a dry fly, or find a single-handed rod too tiring to cast all day. ‘Switch’ rods have been around for a long time, but only recently have some of the more specialized manufacturers added two-handed rods of 10-11 feet to their already extensive selections.

Playing and landing a salmon on a two-handed rod presents its own unique set of challenges. Although two-handed rods can exert a tremendous amount of pressure on a salmon, the longer lever places additional stress on the angler when playing a fish. A similarly stout single-handed rod is usually a better fish-fighting tool: fly rods for billfish are often eight feet in length, and stand-up rods for big-game saltwater fishing can be as short as five feet. Landing a salmon on a two-handed rod when fishing alone can make an angler wish for longer arms. It is easy to beach a salmon with a two-handed rod, but that tactic is inadvisable if you plan to release your fish. If you wish to land your own fish, the best option is to take a position downstream of the salmon and float the fish ‘tail first’ toward you; it is important to have enough line out beyond the tip of the rod in order to avoid breaking the rod when you go for the tail. A good gillie or fishing partner is another viable option.

Veteran salmon and steelhead anglers will often select the rod— either single-handed or two-handed—that provides them with the best opportunity to hook a salmon. A two-handed rod is a considerable advantage in high water or anytime a normal back cast is difficult or impossible. Long casts and sophisticated methods of line control are substantially easier and less tiring to execute with a two-handed rod. Single-handed rods are the better choice when fishing free-floating dry flies at standard distances, or when fishing smaller salmon and steelhead streams. The two-handed rod—to borrow LaBranche’s term—is simply another weapon in the arsenal, and more graphite in the tackle closet is never a bad idea. It is difficult, after all, to play golf with only one club.

Topher Browne has guided professionally on some of the world’s finest Atlantic salmon rivers; he now instructs fly casting—both single-handed and two-handed—for a nationally-known fly fishing school.