[goochm]

Wanted first to say hello to all, been reading the forum for a while and decided to join! This post may ramble a bit, bit stick with me.
I don't yet have a two-hander, but one thing I have noted many times is, "get a rod that matches your casting style." Leaves me a bit perplexed, that advice; I've been single-handing for decades, and I can say that single-hand and double-hand casting shares the same physics: load the rod. But there are so many differences between the styles that I don't see much carryover from one to the other. In other words, to me learning double-hand casting, whether skagit, scandi or tradtional would be like starting over for a single-hander like me. Capiche? So finding a new spey rod should not be a big deal, right? Beats me. Personally, I think I can cast anything EXCEPT superfast jobs, just don't like them, to me they are broom handles.
I have returned to the great PNW for the third time, this time to stay, by God. And I got lucky; after fruitlessly traveling up and down the coast I found a job in Roseburg, OR: meaning my "home" river is the N. Umpqua. Lucky me! However, with luck I plan to retire next June, perfectly willing to take the 25% "early retirement penalty" to live in my van and poke from river to river. This may sound off-subject, but it has bearing on what I'm getting at.
My current steelie rod is a ten-foot, 8-wt Sage single-hander loaded with a Rio Versitip, meaning I already have a set of tips.
So, the question: being both poor and miserly I'll likely only own one double-hander. Seeing as how I could find myself at any time on a stream harboring half-pounders or 20-pounders, that I already have a set of 8-wt tips (15', by the way, floating, int., type 3,type 6, and 14-grain tips 10' and 15' long), and I beleive learning to spey cast is essentially "starting over," what might be the "best" rod for me? 7-wt, and maybe cut the sink tips back (keeping the floater on the single-hander) or 8-wt, keeping everything cool without cutting tips. By the way, I'm looking at the Redington dually, Echo classic, or used.
Yes, this post could go anywhere; intros, crazy ideas, gear, opinions. So forgive my choice of post locale. Hope all goes well for everyone this steelie season. And if things don't look right, forgive; I'm typing this on a phone.

 

[borderfly]

Wow:chuckle:

That being said I was a die hard single hander till a friend talked me into trying his rods, he worked for Sage, and off I went. It took me a good three months of hard practice to get what it's all about but when it clicks you are good to go. I would say a used Meiser 6/7/8 and that would cover the Ump, Des, and many other rivers, Meiser lives in Ashland not to far from you give him a call.

Take lessons or a guide for the first time if you can afford it. This will cut the learning curve a ton as they will put you in the right direction fast.

Beware!:devil:

You will want more for different rivers, this stuff is addicting like a drug.:Eyecrazy:

Oh and by the way welcome to the site you're going to have fun.

I fish the north ump. Two or three times a year it is a magical river.

KC

 

[goochm]

howdy!

Oh, I'm already in drug rehab, man! I currently own 7 rods and cannot remember how many more I've had over the years! Fortunately, I won't turn to crime to feed the habit np matter how poor I am!

 

[Rick J]

I'll be joining you in 15 months - pulling the plug, selling everything and buying truck and trailer and follow the fish - OP, Oregon, Idaho (CW) as well as summer trout and back to N CA on the Klamath in late fall as well as up to the Rogue where I hope a couple of very good friends may soon be hanging their shingle

If I could only have one rod that would handle both winter and summer it would likely be a 7 wt. in the 12.5 to 13' range.

As borderfly suggested - just down the road you have Bob Meiser and also Gary Anderson - two awesome rod builders and you can easily stop by and try before you buy - they are right on the Rogue which likely is a better fishery right now than the NU which is pretty sad though I keep going back to it - kind of like visiting a graveyard to see an old friend!!!

 

[goochm]

Well Rick, I wonder if we'll both end up half-crazy from all the fishing, like Gus did before meeting Eddy...but what the heck, it's our lives, and we're welcome to live as we wish. Good luck to you! Maybe we'll meet on a crick or river someday. I like the suggestions on rods, but I am a cheap beezulbub, and poor as a churchmouse. We'll have to see what life brings, but for now I'm still looking at Echo or the Redington (or maybe a Deer Creek). Thanks!

 

[borderfly]

I have a Deer Creek and love it.

 

[Pere]

If you watch the classifieds here you should find what you want. But like you said , I be following the pages for some tome and finally joined. Be patient you'll find that rod..

 

[akor87]

Hey man, congrats it is so fun to cast with two hands, I'm still learning new stuff every day, like diagnosing how i'm screwing up. So I picket up a Sage VT2 13 footer 7 wt back in 09 and have caught little 4-6 pounders up to 18 pounds and it feels great. The rod is kind of a 2X4 but on days when my technique is off or I haven't picked up the rod in a while it always gets the job done.

P.S. So the advice I got was to get a Skagit head and get to fishin when I started with the double hand. I'm sure there are at least 1000 different all equally reasonable opinions but that did well for me. I feel like its great in all scenarios. I probably won't upgrade for a while because I'm also cheap (I prefer to pay money for trips rather than gear). Meow when I cast other lines (Scandi's, long belly, etc.) I feel the difference and can use what I learned with the Skagit to throws what I have at the time.

 

[JDJones]

Rods

I don't normally like to make specific recommendations when it comes to rods. Likewise, casting styles. But since you will be on the NU frequently, forget about long rods, long belly lines and traditional style spey casting. As anyone who has fished the NU can tell you, there simply isn't room for those long D-loops! Scandi & Skagit styles are much more suitable to the NU, as well as the D, the Rogue & a lot of others.

To that end, there is a Decho 1307 outfit in the classifieds. http://www.speypages.com/speyclave/showthread.php?t=137322 "Decho" is slang for Dec Hogan series Echo rods. These are relatively slow sticks, ideally suited for sustained anchor (Skagit) style casting. Will also work well with a Scandi head setup.

 

[SpeySpaz]

first, welcome to the Pages.

I don't think you have a style yet, let alone a preference. You have a journey ahead of you if you're transitioning from sh to dh casting, and along the way you'll find out what works best for your particular casting mechanic. But it'll take awhile, especially if you plan on avoiding the early plateau in skills that Skagit heads seem to precipitate

Can I suggest you go on a couple trips with a patient and accommodating friend or a guide, and try several setups out? That's a good start and the price is right.

 

[Hardyreels]

Hiya Gooch,

You told me everything but a first name so I'm going with Gooch for now. I can't tell you what rod you'll fit up with or which style casting and line rigging will suit you either. I'm a mid belly line guy using 55 - 70' lines but that isn't everyone's cup of tea for learning. When it comes to ending up with a bunch of rods, that seems to happen even to guys who swear they won't. I was positive I would just own one but I'm waiting for the deal to close on my 7th one..........

Welcome to the site, I believe you'll find a very kind and helpful bunch here for sure. The people have been simply wonderful to me here

Ard

 

[goochm]

Thanks for all the advice, folks! Frankly, I haven't considered anything BUT Skagit style; I still have my 10' single-hand for "other" techniques. I also beleive that the transition from single to double hand is sufficiently different that "style" or "technique" is almost immaterial. I've adapted to many kinds of rod actions over the decade (including a bamboo rod I have), so can adapt to two handed Skagit too! I'll keep an eye on the classifieds, still have one more paycheck to go before purchase. And by the way, the name is Mike. Tight lines, big chrome to all!