Spey: Steelhead, New Traditions & A Modern Movement

While the Atlantic salmon ushered in the beginning and origins of spey casting Steelhead define the current growth and modern developments of the sport. Without the steelhead, you may not be reading this article today. The popularity of spey casting in the United States is a result of the use of spey rods and spey casts on the rivers of the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia in pursuit of Pacific Steelhead. Anglers in this part of the world fish big rivers that require long casts, frequently with limited backcasting room. In addition they cover large expanses of river trying to maximize the time that their flies are in the water. The spey rod, being originally designed for fishing in these conditions, was perfectly suited for the job. Initially, anglers using these strange looking, longer spey rods drew a lot of attention as this type of casting and fishing was foreign to the steelhead fishermen of the time. As time went on, anglers started to catch on and realized the advantages that these longer spey rods and spey casting techniques presented. As a result, a modern movement and revival of spey casting was born. Spey casting took on a life of its own in steelhead circles. New casts were being developed and American rod manufacturers began making versions of these two handed spey rods. Line and reel manufacturers followed suit and equipment started to become available that previously was very difficult to attain outside of Europe. The spey revolution is heavily underway, with new rods, lines and reels being developed continuously. Current technology and equipment designs, fueled by increasing demand and interest, are making a wide range of rods, reels and lines available for a wide range of applications. As a result, the ability of beginning anglers to get into spey casting is easier than ever and it will just continue to get better. This is largely a result of the Steelhead and its growing popularity in the fly fishing community.