GETTING STARTED WITH 2 HANDED FISHING GEAR - Readers Cast (Mike Thomas) - Nov 8, 2010

GETTING STARTED WITH 2 HANDED FISHING GEAR

The world of 2 handed casting and fishing can be very confusing to a newcomer, even one that has a background in single hand fly fishing. I am by no means an expert but I have made a start and wanted to offer some advice on setting up for two handed fishing. I will not go into the different casts and how to do them as I do not believe it is a subject that lends itself to the printed word. Get some lessons or at least get a good Spey casting DVD like the Rio modern spey casting set.

I would encourage anyone who has been thinking about trying a two handed rod to give it a go, finances permitting. Mike's concluding comment along the lines that these rods are just downright fun to cast is right on the money.

While I really had no use for the rod ( a 14' for 8/9 which I won in an FAOL monthly drawing ) for the kind of fishing I do, it was so much fun to cast that I could go out an enjoy just casting the rod on big water.

More important, from my experience, is that the things you learn working with a two handed rig translate to your single handed rod casting, and beyond that, if you go there, to Tenkara rods. Rio's three DVD set on spey casting featuring Simon Gawesworth is an excellent learning aid. Simon finishes up by showing how to apply two handed rod casting techniques to casting a single hand rod.

John

P.S. If all else fails, you can always put on a conventional WF3F line and go fish a small creek for beginner steelhead.

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