Anyone try fishing with a Spey rod on the Russian or Kenai for sockeyes or silvers. The concept seems sound but unsure how a rod that long would actually work.
To long? Cumbersome? To heavy?

Absolutely no on the Russian...

I have caught many salmon on spey rods of many iterations over many years. Spey fishing is not known as the way to whack and srack a ton of sockeyes.

Agree.

Fun way to fish Kenai silvers though.

I guess the bigger question for the OP is … do you spey cast?

The tug is the drug …

Absolutely! Surprisingly difficult question to answer to anyone that does not understand the tug...

Never felt the tug. Never owned, or even held, a spey rod. That is why I was looking for advice from others who have.
Thanks

I've never owned a spey rod but have used one a couple times. I don't see and need on the Kenai as silvers are usually caught close to the bank and the Russian River just isn't large enough. The large rivers in western Alaska would be a better use for a spey rod IMO.

A single hand spey cast is very useful in many ways and places. But that is with a typical 9' rod.

I agree 100%.

I really enjoy swinging flies with a spey on the Kenai in October. You can get some feisty rainbows and chrome silvers. Beats dead drifting beads by miles as far as fun goes. If I could find some spare time I'd be down on the Kasilof trying to swing up a King right now!

I think a 2 handed Spey rod on the Russian during the peak of the Red run sounds like a blast. I’d be up for watching….😂

Own three Spey rods and they're wonderful for streams that are about 20+ yds wide and especially so on big water. Totally different casting action and a bit difficult to master if one has single handed for 20 or 30 seasons. If that's the case, get out with someone with experience for a couple sessions or go to a Spey Clave if there's one in the region. Claves can be great as all kinds of rod builders and line manufacturers show up with gear and one is free to try everything out. Had a Clave here near Portland for about 20 years, and there was probably half a million bucks of gear available to experiment with.

A lot less effort to cast (buddies with shoulder issues have gone that route), as one's hands are rarely if ever above shoulder height. One has more time with his flies in the water too, since there is no false casting.

Spey rods handle wind effectively, and in some instances, wind can be a blessing. Also, one can stand with his back against a wall or beneath an overhead tree and still blast out 40 or 50 yds of line.

I still trout small streams and lakes with my single handers, but exclusively use Spey gear now for steelheading.

The classic Spey rods where huge heavy instruments, but today's gear is extremely light. I still favor long rods (like 15 or 16 footers), but many are going to Scandi or Switch rods that are down into the 9 to 10 foot range and amendable to smaller waters.

I pick all of mine out of a gillnet.

the best way to catch sockeye on the Kenai River is drifting a 5 footer off a boat

Ahhhhh.... born with no soul!