Spey Reviews

One question that we get asked all the time is whether or not X reel is a good choice for Y rod. In single-handed rods, this is generally a pretty easy – you find a 5-weight reel to match your 5-weight rod. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work so well in Spey land. Rods are much longer, have two handles, and lines are much heavier. Luckily for you, we’ve put together a couple of quick guidelines that will make this process totally pain-free.

One of the questions we’ve gotten most often about our recent Trout Spey Shootout has been in regards to our line recommendations. More specifically, why our recommendations for Scandi lines are much heavier than one might expect, relative to our Skagit recommendations. This has been particularly true for Pacific NW anglers who have been indoctrinated into thinking that Scandi is ALWAYS lighter than Skagit, no matter what. Read on to find out why we recommended the lines we did in our Trout Spey Shootout.

The first time I heard of Gaelforce Fly Rods was a couple of years ago. A good friend came into the shop talking about these amazing rods made in Scotland. He took his 14’ 9wt out of the case and it was the most beautiful rod I had ever seen. Fast forward two years and I have a handful of these rods… safe to say I have been blown away by all of them. Read on to find out what we like about the Equalizer Switch.

One of the most confusing aspects of Spey casting is lines (and tips). Unfortunately, this has carried over to Trout Spey as well. This article is meant to accompany our Trout Spey Shootout and not to provide an in-depth analysis, review or explanation of every [trout] Spey line on the market.

Have you ever wondered which Trout Spey rod is the very best? Well, the wait is over. We've ranked the industry's top 3wt Trout Spey rods based on a comprehensive criterion. Which rod took home the title as 'Best Trout Spey Rod on the Market'? Read on to find out. Plus the Best Buy and fly line recommendations for every rod. Don't buy a Trout Spey rod without reading this shootout.

Sage has re-worked their flagship series, the Sage ONE, into a more moderate action, caster-friendly rod, the Sage X. Sage designed the X for the every-man trout angler. The X is a departure from the Sage norm of fast-action rods and caters to a wider audience than rods like the Sage Igniter or the Sage ONE. The Sage X two-handed series, or the Spey series, follows the design of the one-handed Sage X rods with some significant departures. Read on to find out how the Sage X Spey Series provides industry-leading power and castability.

In our first ever Spey rod review in ages, I thought I would start out with a real winner – and a rod for which there’s little to no information – the 7130-4 Asquith Spey Rod (Yup – it’s got a silly name, but get over it). This rod is awesome. I first fished it with Tom Larimer on the Big Hole when we filmed some Spey casting videos and I was so impressed that I went out and bought it. Fast forward a year and I got to actually get out and fish the rod on our first ever hosted trip to the Kedgwick River in New Brunswick. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see how the rod performed on a really big Atlantic Salmon, but that’s a story for a different day.

I took the Method up to Gaspe for the last few days of the season, and was thrilled with its performance – as were the fish.