Trout Spey

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goshawk87

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Thanks for sharing!

Trout spey has always been in the back of my mind as something I really should try. I have been in a couple situations where it would have been perfect. Hmm....

I can tell right now this is going to get me in trouble with my wife.
 
runningfish

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I met Simon Gowesworth at the Pleasanton Fly Show, what a humble guy and a good chatter. He introduced himself first and asked me if I had some questions. I took some pictures with him as he kept on checking them to ensure the pictures were good.
His pointer to me was to remember when to make compact casting strokes and when to open up based on the shooting head length. My question was why my casting with long scandi head is inconsistent compare to skagit and rage heads.

I started to really enjoy trout spey-ing after I built my Gary Anderson ACR Elite 2 wt 10'6", casting 190-210 grain heads. Prior to that I was too busy trying all the brand name switch rods. It's bigger brother is the rod that Tom Larimer is using in that video, the Gloomis GLX Roaring River 5wt 11ft switch. Both of them is basically covering all my trout spey-ing needs all the way to American Shad and Steelhead.

Speying has becoming more enjoyable after I stopped playing with all different rods and lines and just sticking to the same combos and knowing their potential.
 
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jujim

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OK so you have line which is a certain mass(weight) and the shooting head. Does the shooting head have to be the same mass as the line? Or Do you need a shooting head? Or do you also add leader and tippett? Man,this gets complicated. I'm thinking a 3 or 4 weight trout spey. I have a nice Hardy #6 reel in the box ,I could use. Thanks,Chet
 
mcnerney

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jujim said:
OK so you have line which is a certain mass(weight) and the shooting head. Does the shooting head have to be the same mass as the line? Or Do you need a shooting head? Or do you also add leader and tippett? Man,this gets complicated. I'm thinking a 3 or 4 weight trout spey. I have a nice Hardy #6 reel in the box ,I could use. Thanks,Chet
Click to expand...
No the shooting head is very thin and has nothing to do with the mass of the shooting head. So a basic setup on your reel goes like this: backing + running line + shooting head (either Skagit or Scandi) + a leader (sinking, intermediate or floating).

View this video, Simon explains the whole setup:
YouTube
 
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ryc72

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Generically speaking you have...
backing on your reel.
then anywhere from 50ft to 50 yards of running/shooting line.
then your skagit or scandi shooting Head.
Then your tip or poly leader. Floating, slow sink, or fast sink.
Then 3-4 ft of tippet.
Then fly.

Or you can get an integrated line that combines the running line and shooting head just like a regular fly line. Advantage of this is that you don’t have knots going through your guides when stripping in close...which is never pleasant. The disadvantages of the integrated line is then you can’t switch heads and it probably won’t shoot as far.

It seems complicated but once you get the terms and lingo figured out it gets a lot easier. It certainly feels like drinking out of a firehose in the beginning but give it time and you will figure it out. Lots of great videos out there...Ashland fly shop, reds fly shop, Tom Larimer, Simon Gawesworth, as well as a bunch of others. Highly recommend watching them...helped me a ton.
 
runningfish

runningfish

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It seems pretty daunting and confusing at first with the gear selection and not to mention learning the cast. My suggestion is to pick a cast for each side of the river that you think you can master quickly. Learning to spey cast on a lake is helpful as well since you can switch from river left to right and vice versa to practice basic casts.

About integrated head and running line, I am a true believer in that idea for trout spey-ing. I've had Rio line, Airflo integrated scout 210, and now the SA Spey Lite. Out of those 3 SA spey lite's running line would be the thinnest. It was way thinner than 20# coated running line. Add a tip and you are done. You don't need to cast a mile anyway with 2wt 3wt trout spey right?
 
Car7x

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Hi, I'll second that integrated concept, after talking to a few knowledgeable shop guys. New to trout Spey, have that loomis shorty 4 wt. First line is the SA skagit in ... 300, I think? Whatever Rohr at Emerald recommended, I strung it up and already forgot (;/). Barely spring here in MN but will be swinging for steelhead in the Rocky at Easter and will have it in the quiver. Very excited to use it on the Madison...no weeds, lots of good wading...lI'll leave the boat at the shack!
 
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prmike307

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I have two handed rods for larger fish but honestly I've gone to using single hand rods with a matching OPST head and mono running line. I can cast pretty darn far with this setup.
 
mtbright

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Car7x said:
Hi, I'll second that integrated concept, after talking to a few knowledgeable shop guys. New to trout Spey, have that loomis shorty 4 wt. First line is the SA skagit in ... 300, I think? Whatever Rohr at Emerald recommended, I strung it up and already forgot (;/). Barely spring here in MN but will be swinging for steelhead in the Rocky at Easter and will have it in the quiver. Very excited to use it on the Madison...no weeds, lots of good wading...lI'll leave the boat at the shack!
Click to expand...

I used SA Spey lite line on my burk 4114 this last week and just loved it, but had one issue the transition color was to black and had trouble seeing it. When i use my OPST on my 7wt i can easily see the transiton to running line as the running line is bright green. anyone have this issue or is it just my issue of failing eyuesight?
 
Car7x

Car7x

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You know, I haven't cast it yet (MN guy) but I believe that it also has a tactile element to it so you can feel it in your line hand, and even hear it gliding in the tip top. Does that ring a bell? thanks
 
flav

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I know where you're coming from when you talk about having trouble seeing that transition point, especially in low light conditions. I have a couple lines where the head and running line are the same color. Usually I can find the point by sound and seeing where the thick head ends, but I have occasionally put black magic marker on the line right where I grip it, instead of out at the rod tip, so I can see it easier. Some guys put a nail knot of thin mono at the transition point so they feel it tick through the top line guide. I'm very happy with my OPST smooth, it has a light blue head and a bright orange runner, it's very easy to see.
 
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ryc72

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I have the spey lite 300 grain integrated skagit and it definitely has a tactile reference point. I don’t look at the line or tip of my rod...just strip until it starts humming and then I know I’m where I need to be and just reload and shoot from there. Regardless of light conditions I always know when to stop stripping.
 
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