Part One

Two Handed Fly Rods, and their applications have become very popular worldwide. Up until only a few years ago, double handers would normally be found only on the coastal rivers of Scandinavia, the British Isles, and Canada, utilizing two handed techniques while pursuing Atlantic Salmon and Coastal Trout. Today, the two handed rod has become the tool of choice for many anglers pursuing not only anadromous species, but for an extremely wide variety of both salt and fresh water gamefish as well. Today's double hander has not just limited their rods to coastal rivers, they can now be found fishing over the surf and flats, big stillwaters, and interior river systems.

Having a few of these rods in your own arsenal may be to your benefit, and I hope that this article will help you build them.

A Brief History of the Two Handed Rod

The Roots of the two handed rod dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. In the 1850s, the majority of both European and North American Trout rods were double handers of 12 to 13 feet in length. Salmon rods were somewhat similar in length to our contemporary traditional Spey rods. Rods of 15 to 18 feet were the norm, with Shannon rods being even longer. These early Trout and Salmon rods were made of various materials. Most commonly used were Ash, Lancewood, and shaved Greenheart. While finely finished and ferruled, they were relatively simple in construction, and could weigh several pounds. Rod guides were often simple un-braced brass rings, which flopped as the line struggled through. The ardent angler made his own rods, and perhaps a few extra for his friends. The advantage of the long rod was that it's reach allowed the angler to cover more water. Often with the rod at full extension, flies were simply dapped on the surface in front of the holding Trout. Although few anglers had the equipment, nor technical expertise to shoot line, an extremely fit fellow with expert casting abilities could roll cast 30 to 35 yards of line. Surely this technique allowed the angler to properly cover big waters, but the shear weight of the rod alone required great physical stamina to complete a days fish. Perhaps liberal tosses of good Scotch Whiskey eased the pain a bit. Thus the tradition!

In 1849, Samuel Phillippe, a gunsmith and violin maker from Easton, Pennsylvania changed all of this. With the skill of a minor Stradivarius, he revolutionized the Trout and Salmon rod. Phillippe is credited with building the first entire split cane rod. His "rent and glued-up cane rod" now allowed the angler to work a long rod that weighed a fraction of the contemporary hardwood rods. The advantage of this milestone was tremendous and obvious. To this day, the cane rod, whether it be for Trout or Salmon, is considered by many to be the ultimate fishing tool.

Over the past 50 years, synthetics in the form of first fiberglass, then Boron, and Graphite have caused a revolution of their own. Although there is still a strong, in fact growing appreciation of Trout length bamboo rods, longer rods from 10 to 16 feet, utilizing graphite blends, internationally have become the overall choice of even the most demanding and avid long rod anglers.

SPEY ROD ACTIONS

Spey Casting, and the applied techniques of other various two handed presentations once learned, are among the most effortless, and enjoyable means by which to efficiently and effectively, cover large sections of fish holding water.

To generalize, there are basically two kinds of two handed presentations: One being the two handed overhead cast, and the other being the traditional Spey cast.

The primary application of the both the Traditional Spey and the two handed overhead cast is to efficiently cover the maximum amount of holding water, while exerting a minimum amount of casting energy!

Anglers swinging flies to fish holding in the mid-stream seams and tailouts of large rivers often need to achieve extended or long distance casts to effectively present the fly. This presentation often needs to be accomplished while tight to bankside riparian, or canyon walls. These common obstacles will totally eliminate the ability to efficiently perform the back cast. Nothing can accommodate this situation more effectively then the classic Spey presentation. A properly performed Spey cast will always keep the "loop" along side, or in front of the angler, thus eliminating the need for the back cast.

Again, to generalize, North American anglers have come to recognize two specific rod actions within the Spey family: The Traditional and Euro/Scandinavian actions.

The action of today's Traditional Spey rod has it's roots deeply ingrained within the river systems of the British Isles. Here, broad deep rivers burdened by thick bankside riparian, required the angler to develop advanced roll casting techniques. By utilizing their long rods, extreme roll cast presentations allowed advancing line to remain in front of the caster. The Greenhearts, and especially the later Bamboo long rods set a precedent for the desired "feel" of this action. Today's Traditional action Spey rods have retained the heart of this feel. To achieve this, most of today's blank manufacturers will utilize lower to mid range modulus graphite materials, rolled into tapers that will achieve medium to medium slow actions. Most will have heavy butt to lower-mid section strengths, while still allowing the rod to have an overall parabolic feel when presenting line. The cast is preformed with a slower, long stroke, relaxed delivery.

When compared to the Traditional actions, the Euro or Scandinavian style Spey rods will have a stronger butt and mid section, with rod strength distributed further up the blank, typical of faster action tapers. They will perform with as much efficiency as the Traditional action, but the cast is performed with a faster, shorter stroke delivery, a style that may be preferred by the aggressive caster. The faster action Euro rods will often utilize higher modulus materials to maximize rod strength, yet hold blank weight to a minimum.

Both Traditional and Euro action rods commonly range from 12 to 16 feet in length, with lines varying from 6 to 13 weights.

TWO HANDED OVERHEAD PRESENTATIONS

In some respects, the two handed overhead cast is similar to the conventional single hand overhead presentation, the major difference being that two hands are used to perform the cast. Both techniques require balanced lines to load the rod and achieve line speed. The single hand caster will utilize the single or double haul technique to maximize line speed, and achieve optimum forward distance. The double hander on the other hand, will not be dependent on the haul to achieve extreme line speed, rather, the caster will be more dependent on line grain weight to load the rod. In essence, the rod performs most of the work, minimizing fatigue to the casters arms and wrists. The two handed overhead cast has two primary functions, one is to achieve extreme forward line distance while presenting heavy, and/or wind resistant flies. The other is the ability to easily present an incredibly wide variety of shooting head systems, with an absolute minimum of false casting. Although the two handed overhead cast can be performed while using most faster action Spey style rods, it is best performed while utilizing fast to ultra fast action rods, that range from 10 to 13 feet in length, and will throw shooting head systems from 150 to 1200 grains.

Part Two: Building the Two Handed Rod

From the rod builders perspective, the double hander can become a very interesting, and challenging tool to create. Although all of your tried and true rod building techniques should be applied during their construction, there are a few unique characteristics of these long rods that should be addressed. Because you are the rod builder, you have the opportunity to absolutely maximize the functional potentials of the blank and it's applied components. Here are a few builder points that I hope will help you achieve this goal.

In order to properly build these rods, it may be best that we consider the basics of their specific fishing applications. The old adage that "Form Follows Function" is especially applicable to rod building. Therefore; in going through the various components used to build these rods, I will touch on the reasons, and also a little history of why particular components are used on today's two handed rods.

Components
Blanks

Whole volumes can be read on this subject! But the bottom line is that we're building fly rods, so let's keep it in that perspective. Like all fly rods, the blank should be chosen to match your particular application and favorite presentation techniques. Double handers are no different.

Spey Style Two Handers
Examples:

Smaller coastal or interior rivers with runs of anadromous game fish that range from 3 to 15 pounds can be effectively fished with 6/7/8 to 8/9/10 weight lines. Waters of this size would require Spey style rods that should not have to exceed 14 feet in length, with many anglers preferring to fish rods in the 12 to 13 foot range. The lighter weight lines and rods working best for dry fly, Skating, or very thinly fished Greased Line presentations. The heavier lines and rods being more suited to swinging sub surface wet flys or fishing through high water conditions.

Medium to larger river systems, pursuing riverborne game fish from 15 to 50 pounds can require longer rods and often times; heavier lines. These longer rods are often preferred not only to match the size of the fish, but more importantly; rod lengths and line weights that will match the presentation demands of these bigger waters. The complex hydraulics, and diversity of holding water within large rivers will often require extreme distance, long drift presentations. The longer reach capabilities of the rods' length itself will definitely come into play on these bigger waters, assisting in proper line mending throughout the flies targeted drift. The 13'6" to 14' rod in 8/9 to 9/10 weight is generally accepted as ideal rod lengths/line weights for medium size rivers. These are excellent all purpose rods that will have the ability to present a wide variety of lines, and will effectively cover a broad spectrum of waters.

Many double handers feel more comfortable casting 15, even 16 foot rods over the larger rivers. These longer rods do allow an easy presentation of a multitude of lines, including floating and sinking multi-tip, interchangeable line systems. Rods capable of Spey presentation using 10 to 13 weight line systems are generally found in these rod lengths.

Rod action for all these waters are totally an issue of personal preference. Both the Traditional and Euro action rods have their place on these waters, and both are capable of presenting the fly while performing all the classic swing techniques.

Two Handed Overhead Rods

Rods that are designed to present balanced lines utilizing both the two handed overhead and underhand Spey style presentations are very common to the Scandinavian angler. These rods were designed primarily to present extended belly shooting head systems. The rivers systems that led to the creation of these techniques were markedly different then those fished by anglers of the British Isles. Many of the upper latitude Scandinavian Salmon river systems were smaller, higher gradient and more confined by rock walls, and steep bankside riparian. Their two handed rods were adopted to meet this environment. The rods were shortened, necessitating faster actions to launch the heavy head systems.

Although the two handed overhead rod, and it's applied techniques are relatively new to the average North American angler, they have made major headway in recent years.

The typical two handed overhead rod will have a fast to ultra fast delivery. Blanks used for these rods will range from 11 to 14 feet in length, utilizing lay-ups that will maximize the blanks weight to strength ratio. The best word I can use to describe the desired action of these rods would be "authoritative." Although the Scandinavians routinely use these rods to perform a wide variety of specialized overhead and underhand casts, North Americans have found their primary applications within the two handed overhead presentation. By utilizing the two handed overhead cast, distances of up to 140 feet, throwing lines that can exceed 1000 grains, can be easily achieved. Today's advanced multi-tip, interchangeable shooting head systems are the lines for these rods. The various Spey style casting presentations are optimally performed within a moving water environment. The two handed over head cast on the other hand, can be performed over nearly all waters including: mid to large rivers, large stillwaters, surf, and shallow salt water environments.

Reel Seats

Nearly all of the major reel seat manufacturers inventory a series of seats either suitable for or specifically made for two handed fly rods. The builder should keep the following criteria in mind when purchasing a reel seat for two handed rods.

1. Make sure the reel seat is sized properly. Double handers demand reels with extremely large capacity spools. The required lines can have huge diameter belly sections, 30 foot interchangeable tip sections, 60 to 70 feet of running line, plus 250 yards of backing. At minimum, this will require reels capable of handling a 10 weight, weight forward line and 100 yards of backing. Reels may have to reach 15 weight capacity. Legs on a few of the European reels favored by many double anders are by our standards oversized. They will not seat properly. Often our hoods are to small, or the barrels to short. Make sure to check the out the reel before you build the rod. Many of the manufacturers standard salt water seats work very well on the smaller to mid size butt O.D.s These seats will often go from .600 to .640 I.D. Most will have double lock nuts with integrated "O" rings, and some will have slot milled barrels to better accept the legs. Many of the traditional Spey style rods will have butt O.D.s that will far exceed .640, often reaching .750. These may require Spey specific seats.

2. Seats can have wood or cork inserts, but the insert will often have a rather small I.D. Try to avoid excessive reaming of these inserts as this will tend to weaken them. For the larger O.D. butts, it will often be best to use aluminum or titanium barreled seats.

3. As with all components, it is always wise to purchase the best you can afford. Reel seats for two handed rods can be put under extreme loads, and the fish can be large. Double lock nuts, slotted barrels, and heavy duty hoods may save the day.

4. You can use either up locking or down locking reel seats. The decision of this will often depend on how you want the reel to balance out the finished rod. Rod balance is of great importance for these long rods, and this issue will be addressed a little further on in this series.

Grips

The proper construction of grips for the two handed rod is a real priority. The various rod styles each have specific handle configurations that are directly related to their casting styles. Again, form follows function.

When performing the classic Spey cast with rods of 14 to 16 feet in length, a comfortable hand spread would be 18 to 22 inches. Casters working shorter rods of 13 feet and under can lesson the spread a few inches. A common length of the lower grip would be in the 4.5 to 8 inch range, with the upper grip being 14 to 18 inches. The total length of the handle assembly, from the bottom of the lower grip to the top of the upper would normally be in the 22 to 26 inch range.

Finished cork diameters for these handles will often be in the 3/4 inch to 7/8 inch range, with the actual casting grip areas being very similar in diameters to a conventional mid-weight fly rod.

While swinging the fly through the drift, the lower grip is usually tucked under the arm at the elbow, and left resting on the hip. This is the most comfortable rod position for this common technique, and is how the rod will be held for the majority of time while presenting to river fish. A common practice would be to end the rod handle with a mushroom shaped rubber/metal or rubber/decorative wooden butt cap.

Guides and Guide Placement

The same principles of guide placement are applied to these rods as are applied to all mandrel formed composite rods. In this respect, their extreme length should not be of concern to the builder. Your favorite guide placement, and spine location techniques will do. The issue of real interest concerning guide placement on the two handed rod is where to place the guides on the rod in relation to it's functional spine. To help answer this, one should consider the dynamics involved in performing the Traditional Spey cast.

Within the fly rod family, Spey blanks are unique in that they are asked to perform as much work on the lift as they are asked to perform while presenting the forward cast. The maximum load placed on a conventional single hand fly rod, is at that moment when the haul assists the fully extended backcast, just prior to the shot. Many fly rod builders will finalize their location of the spine/guide relationship in order to maximize the rods potential to assist in this particular task. Spey rods on the other hand not only demand adequate power to generate the line speed required to perform the forward cast, but will also require as much (perhaps at times more) potential energy to move a sufficient amount of "hinged" line to form the "D" prior to the shot. In other words; the rod requires as much, or more potential energy to lift and move the line as it does to throw it.

I have found that the old tried and true approach of determining spine location is your best first step. Once this has been determined, try this process: Temporally locate the guides along the blanks determined spine, and give the rod a full work out, performing all aspects of the Spy cast. Then, rotate the rods upper sections (two handers will usually come in 3 to 5 sections) as a unit in increments of around 60 degrees. Do this until you reach 180 degrees, test casting at each increment. Chances are you will notice an appreciative difference in the overall abilities of the rod as you test cast your way through this process. When you feel you have reached the location that maximizes the rods overall performance, permanently locate all the guides on this plane.

Part Three

Two Handed Fly Rods, and their applications have become very popular worldwide. Up until only a few years ago, double handers would normally be found only on the coastal rivers of Scandinavia, the British Isles, and Canada, utilizing two handed techniques while pursuing Atlantic Salmon and Coastal Trout. Today, the two handed rod has become the tool of choice for many anglers pursuing not only anadromous species, but for an extremely wide variety of both salt and fresh water gamefish as well. Today's double hander has not just limited their rods to coastal rivers, they can now be found fishing over the surf and flats, big stillwaters, and interior river systems.

Having a few of these rods in your own arsenal may be to your benefit, and I hope that this article will help you build them.

Building the Two Handed Rod
Guides

The style of guides used by the builder on the two handed rod is again an issue of personal preference, and practicality. As always, the important issues to consider are the rods applications and aesthetics, with the priority issue being the size of the guides and the number of guides needed to maximize the rods potentials.

The angler is accustomed to seeing classic components on the Traditional two handed rods. Snake running guide systems are totally functional for the Traditional Spy rod styles, and the use of ceramics for the strippers and tip top are not only practical, but accepted. On these rods the use of the standard profile strippers would be the norm. Ceramic strippers by Hopkins and Holloway, and the NSG SICs by Fuji work very well. Snake guides by Hopkins and Holloway and Snake Brand are excellent.

Guide sizing for the two handed rod family are comparable to what would be required for mid-size salt water fly rods. The larger stripper for line sizes of 5 to 7 weights would be 16, the smaller 12. Line weights from 8 to 12, would require stripper sizes of 20 then 16. The running guides should also be up-sized to accommodate the larger diameter lines required. The smallest snake should not be less then size 3, With the largest running guide starting at a size 6. Keep in mind that these rods will start at 5/16 and go to 12/13 weight. By nature, the lines that will make these rods function properly will inherently have larger diameters then what the average single hand flyfisher may be used to.

Static testing for guide placement on these long rods are the same as would be required for any fly rod, although static testing a 16 foot rod can become somewhat of a challenge for those with a limited rod building area. Often times, the blank manufacturer will have a base guide placement sheet. This information can be obtained upon request. Some manufacturers will even state that if their guide placement recommendations deviate beyond recommended peramaters, they will not warranty the blank. This should be of consideration to the builder.

I static test all blanks that come through my shop, regardless of their source. I use the following system: The horizontal "V grove" panel siding boards on the interior walls of my shop have an even 4 inch profile. I use these evenly spaced horizontal lines as increments to determine my guide spacing. The bottom most siding line becomes 0, the second being 1, third being 2 etc. on up. I have set up a moveable, vertically tracked platform that clamps the rod into a plane parallel to the siding increments. Each 4 inch increment represents one guide on the rod. A 12 foot rod would require the rod to be mounted on the track at siding line number 12. The rod has the seat, grip, and tip-top built in place. The rod is spine aligned, and the grip is secured to the platform. With a cord attached through the tip top, the rod is pulled down the face of the wall, and secured to point "0." With a china marker, I will mark all occurring siding line intersections directly onto the blank. These points will then be my base guide lay-out. Adjustments may still need to be made, but this system does allow the rod to tell you quite accurately where the guides may be placed. I will generally start the first guide at 3.5 to 4 inches up from the tip top. This distance will vary somewhat, depending on how slow or fast the tip is. When statically placed as defined, the slower tip will create a radius more acute then a faster action rod. This, then would require the first guide to be closer to the tip top. The opposite true for the faster action tip.

The number of guides one uses is again determined by the rods action, but as rule of thumb, one guide per foot can be a good base start.

When wrapping the guides, it will also be the time to address the ferrule wraps. Although nearly all blank manufacturers will strengthen the critical ferrule areas with additional graphite lay-ups, it is important for the builder to realize that these areas should be also reinforced with thread wraps and epoxy. This is especially true of the two handed rod. The tip-over-butt female ferrule should be wrapped the full depth of the male ferrule; even a 1/4 inch or so beyond. The spigot ferrule system will require the same, and in addition the male plug of the spigot system should also be wrapped its full depth into the male section.

I cannot stress how important this issue is... It can make the difference between your ferrules failing or not! I do not find it necessary to double wrap these areas, it is more important to wrap and epoxy the full penetration. If guides conveniently fall on the ferrules, all the better. Simply tie them into the total length of the ferrule/guide wrap.

A small note concerning keepers. Hook keepers for these rods will often hold heavy wired hooks to 4 or 5 ought, with long feathered, Spey hackled architecture. The use of larger keepers should be considered to hold these fly patterns...Or simply eliminate them all together.

You may consider using the above suggestions as a guide, but ultimately, the finalization of all the factors within each rods unique guide/spine relationship will be determined by the outcome of you test casting your results. Bottom line, build your rod the way it casts best for you!

Building in Rod Balance

The two handed presentations are very efficient. They will allow the angler to cover the maximum amount water, while expending a minimum amount of energy. But. . .the rods can be long, with blanks alone weighing in excess of 6 0z.s. This factor alone may make the weight shy Trout rod purist run for cover, but then, strap on a large capacity reel loaded with a line system that may exceed 1200 grains. This can get HEAVY! Balancing the rod is very important. In fact, if properly distributed, weight becomes a factor that will actually enhance many of the various two handed casting presentations.

For most double hand casters, the ideal casting balance point is located within a hands grip width at the top of the upper handle. This is your "pivot point," while performing all of the Traditional Spey cast presentations. It is important that this balance point be determined with the reel and line in place. This balance point can be off set rather easily, and therefore can be adjusted just as easily! Often times the use of a down-lock seat arrangement rather then an up-lock seat will be enough to balance things out. The materials used for the lower grip can also make up the difference. I will often make the lower grip either totally or partially of wood, rather then cork. This not only adds a lot of class to the look of the rod, but will balance it out very well. Wood species can vary a lot in weight. Mango, although quite hard can be nearly as light as burl cork, Vera or Olive for example, can be much heavier. Burl, or rubberized corks are substantially heavier then normal rings, and can be utilized on the lower grip to the rods advantage. I try to avoid point weighting the immediate butt end of the blank with lead shot, metal washers etc. This technique seems to off-set the rods overall balance rather then enhancing it.

Another technique I use to balance the lower end of the blank is to slip a determined length of solid fiberglass shaft into the butt section. For this I will use solid fiberglass electric fence post material. It is dense, relatively heavy for it's volume, and flexible. I will fill the blank I.D. diameter void by wrapping the shaft with fiberglass sheetrock tape, saturate it with builders epoxy and slide it in place. Make sure that you swab the I.D. of the butt section with alcohol to clean out all the mandrel release agents prior to insertion, or the epoxy may not grab. The length of the plug should not exceed the length of the lower handle. If longer, it could create a hinge point, and weaken the blank.

Always keep in mind that these rods are primarily meant to be cast utilizing two hands, and while casting, the weight distribution of these seemingly heavy rods, is distributed over the casters entire upper torso, not just the wrist, forearm, and shoulder. When the rod is held at the casting stance, the right hander will have the left hand holding near the bottom of the lower grip, and the right will be holding near the top of the upper. With this stance, a well balanced rod of 6 to 14 oz. will feel nearly weightless, and will cast effectively with very little effort.

Summary

1. Application - What size of waters, and species will you be fishing, and is the rod to be used primarily as a two handed overhead, Spey, or combination of both? These factors will determine the length and action of the blank you will want to use.

2. Components - Choose the components carefully. They will need to be sized to match the line systems and reels best suited for your applications.

3. Rod Balance - Try to do maintain that "Pivot Point" balance. It will make your rod a much more effective, and enjoyable fishing tool.

R.B. Meiser fly Rods ~ S2H106 ~ SHX ~ ST ~ S2HSPEY  &  The Interchangeable Lower Grip Assemblies for the S2H106 Series are Trademarked, and are the sole properties of Robert B. Meiser. All photo work is copyrighted by Paul Miller.