DNA Spey

I have owned for some time a T&T 13' 6" Spey Rod 8# DNA 1368. I have just returned from a great trip to the Rio Grande in Tierra del Fuego where I landed 17 sea trout between 10-20lbs . Fresh strong fish. The T&T Spey is an exceptional rod - casting a Skagit line (575g) with a T11 tip and single hook Size 10 fly effortlessly across this wide river in winds reaching 40-50mph. It has just the right action - with a hardly noticeable stiffness to play these aggressive fish. A real delight to use . While I have other rods (not T&T) this has always come out 'on top' as one I really enjoy using. The Rio Grande really puts it through its paces and it handles that with joy!! I am hoping to treat myself to a new one shortly..

I grew up in the PNW and have been swinging flies for steelhead nearly my entire life. The diversity of our region opens the door to so many possibilities in the world of two handed rods. Whether you are summer timing it on the Deschutes or North Umpqua, getting intimate on the Coast or reaching out on the Skagit, these DNA rods have incredible latitude to handle a wide array of heads, tips and flies in a myriad of situations.

Personally using both the 8120 and 7130 for our rivers here in the Seattle area with Scout, Rage and Scandi heads. In hand these rods might feel a bit fast but they honestly have amazing versatility. Depending on your stroke, unlike other rods on the market, they can accommodate a broader spectrum of grain weights and still perform well.

My personal favorites are a 480 grain Rage head on the 8120 and a 480 grain compact Scandi on the 7130 which allow for a naturally easy stroke with little effort. Maybe my favorite attribute to these rods are the Western Grip handle for the upper hand. This tapers down nicely allowing the top hand to find its most comfortable position for your casting stroke. The thinner grip also means you will feel when the rod is loaded letting you know it is time to stop rod and voila...tight loops galore!

Reiterating what Barrett said, he is spot on and I think we both agree these are as good as any two hander you could choose...happy to answer questions should anyone have them as well.

#therodyoushouldown

Let me start by saying I’m a steelhead guide a and T&T prostaff. With that said, I have a couple hundreds of days with this rod. In fact, this rod (and it’s designer) is the reason I wanted to join the T&T team... it’s that good! There’s not much this rod can’t do. Smooth and powerful, light in hand, and the perfect weight/length to be a do-it-all steelhead rod. You can push this rod hard on the stroke and the strong bottom half of the rod will love it. Or you can tighten the stroke up and cast of the tip if that’s what you want. There is no one that I put this rod in their hands that can’t cast it well! For skagit work, I like 500-525 grains. This rod is smooth enough that it will take much of the ‘clunky’ feeling out of these shorter heads. Loves longer 12-15 foot tips and can cast any fly you want. If I only had one rod for winter steelhead, this would absolutely be it! A 450-480 Scandi is very easy, nice and light off the tip for floating line fishing in the Summer/Fall . This rod is also very at home with the slightly longer lines, and the Fall Favorite 6/7 from Nextcast is a great combo if you’re interested in trying out longer lines. Light enough in the top half of the rod for smaller fish, but all the reserve power for any steelhead that swims. I’ll take this rod anywhere, confidently!

After having thrown sinking lines through the Winter here in the Pacific Northwest, who else is just as anxious to break out the longer floating lines and drop some bombs?? I sure am! This is the rod that signifies a transition to a lighter but also longer option to accommodate Scandi style lines, which tend to be at least 6 feet longer than their Skagit counterparts. That being said, the Scandi style lines I prefer on it seem to fall somewhere in the 440-470 grain window and range from 32-40'. As with many other T&T's, this rod responds very well to a crisp, high stop on the forward stroke.

Although it's labeled as a 6, I'd like to think of this as more of a super light 7, as it has the fighting power to turn large fish, but when in hand, lacks the swing weight of a 7. It's longer length is hardly even noticed, and makes touch and go casts a pleasure, right from the hangdown. I personally like mine balanced with a reel around 9 0zs, and currently rotate between a 450 Airflo Scandi Long, 460 SA UST and Nextcast Fall Favorite 45 @ 470.

I pair all of these lines up with 10' polyleaders (the Scandi Long has the hardest hitting power, so it's very capable of throwing sinking polyleaders) and 3-4' of level tippet. For light sink tip work (T8-10), the Airflo Rage 450 gives a hybrid line casting experience to extend this rod's versatility into the Fall or early Spring.

The perfect compliment to a Skagit/sink tip setup.