Double Handed Rods
(Fly fishing in four whelle drive)

It was on my last visit to Ireland in the pursuit of bass that I made a discovery. The sea was throwing everything it had at the beaches and the prospect of a bass or any other saltwater quarry was no more than a hopeless dream. It had never occurred to me to fish for salmon in Ireland. I look back to just how blinkered I had been and must say that the capture of my first Salmon on a fly will stay with me to the grave, or at least until I catch a bigger one!

So all too soon the time comes to return home fresh with new thoughts of spey casting, salmon, sea trout and the joy of fishing in Ireland’s wonderful rivers. The only problem for me is that I am currently based in Cornwall! To live in Cornwall and spey cast is akin to living in Jamaica and desire to snow board, or at least almost. That is unless you diversify and take the long rod down to the beach and that’s what I did and made that big discovery.

A double hander in the salt is awesome! I read on a US web site a quote that roughly said that in the sea a single handed rod is equivalent to’’ taking a knife to a gunfight’’ and it is not until you leave the nine footer in the car on get out your big gun that you suddenly feel that you are no longer quite so intimidated by the large water. Or should I say ‘ready to fish in four wheel drive’.

The advantages I have found are as follows. Foremost they are fun ,lets be honest saltwater fly fishing can involve a lot of casting and to add snake rolls, double and single spey casts and most importantly the overhead cast to your armory will not only make the experience more fulfilling but improve you casting abilities with both the single and double hander. The Power and distance abilities of the double hander are formidable .The long rod is a casting tool capable of throwing large flies a very long way ,an overhead cast will suddenly send your flies out to where few single handers have been before. You also exert a lot less effort with these rods and hence can fish all day without fatigue.

In some situations you can say goodbye to that backcast! Suddenly the list of locations you can fish will increase as you no longer have to check that a likely fish holding area has thirty six feet plus of casting clearance behind it. Your control whenfly fishing in the brine will increase with a longer rod, when fishing the breakers, from the rocks, wading, or from the beach the long rod will enable you to mend the line especially when fishing a quartering style across the surf tables at 45 degrees. Or perhaps if you can find a strong tidal rip (the bass will!) then you can dead drift a fly or swing it across the current more effectively than before, this can be rewarding both in results and in simple angling pleasure. The first time I fished a regular rocky mark of mine with the long rod I realized that I was actually standing ten feet further back than normal. Hence you may not be so compelled to wade out quite so far when you can cast that extra distance with dry feet rather than entering into an ‘extreme wading’ situation where you risk life and limb to gain a few extra yards.

Hopefully those who have not considered either trying the long rod in the salt or salmon anglers who wish to diversify will be starting to understand the advantages. Fly fishing should be effortless not a tug of war with the elements so why not spread the load between two hands ,cut out all that double hauling and gain a bit of extra control and leverage, and obviously extra distance.

Austen Goldsmith
March 2005