The Abel 9-foot, 14-weight 4-piece spey rod.

THE BENEFITS OF SPEY RODS boil down to three basic factors: you don't need to make a backcast; you can cover a lot more water; and there's generally less fatigue. But first things first: a "spey" isn't really a type of rod, it's a type of cast — a cast that was developed in the 1800s in Scotland, by Atlantic Salmon fishermen along the banks of the River Spey. And they didn't really "cast" in the traditional sense of the word, they just sort of dangled the flies down to the water. Back then, the rods were made of Ash or some other type of hardwood so they usually weighed pounds, not ounces. All that changed about 150 years ago when some guy from Pennsylvania named Samuel Phillippe built the first split cane rod. And since this new bamboo was much lighter than the 15- to 18-foot tree branches the other guys were using, Phillippe was given lots of Scotch by his fishing buddies, thus beginning the great tradition of mixing drinking with fishing that continues to this day. (Disclaimer: I may have totally made that last part up.)

Though the terms "spey rod" and "two-handed rod" are often used interchangeably, they aren't really the same thing. To paraphrase Steve Rajeff: "All spey rods are two-handed rods, but not all two-handed rods are spey rods." This is because you can cast two-handed rods in different ways. And this, in turn, affects how different actions are built into a rod. I'm generalizing here, but the three ways are basically: 1) Traditional (or UK) — kinda like in the old days, generally a longer, slower-action rod using a floating line without retrieving each cast like you would when using a heavy sink-tip. 2) Scandinavian (or Euro) — a stiffer, shorter, fast­action rod for a quicker, more aggressive casting stroke, often made underhand. Great for big rivers, surf casting, or anywhere you need line speed and distance. 3) Skagit (or Pacific Northwest) — this style is basically a combination of the two, and as the name implies, it roughly means "steelhead rod" — built with enough backbone to lift heavy but relatively short sink-tips from the swift-running depths of the Deschutes or any British Columbia or Great Lakes steelie stream.

Most two-handed rods fall into the 13- to 14-foot range, with a wide range of prices. Sage has a 12-foot five weight for $665 and G. Loomis has a 17-foot 11 weight for $980. (If you're thinking a grand is a lot of money for a fly rod, you're right, but it can also cast from Smithers to Sitka.) Since steelheading — at least in the US — remains the most practical application of two-handed rods, I tried to choose a strong selection from that category. Here's a dozen to drool over.