Spey basics: Lines and tips and bugs, oh my!

[wfocharlie]

When I first became interested in spey fishing, it was very confusing to me. All the lines and tips and casts had my head swimming. I thought I would try to post a very basic explanation the two most common styles for anyone who is just becoming intersted and finding it as confusing as I did.

There are a lot of folks who know way more about this than me so feel free to correct or add anything I left out.

The spey rod is a long two handed fly rod named after the River Spey in Scotland. They are primarily for large fish like big trout, salmon and steelhead and designed to cast longer distances to cover larger water. The advantage to this type of rod is that a long cast can be made with limited backcast room.

There are many different kinds of casts but most try to do basically the same thing. Rather than backcasting the fly way behind as in single handed fly casting, the spey cast tries to first position the fly (aka anchor) in front of and to the side of the caster just before the back cast begins. A loop of line called the D loop is formed behind the caster during the back cast to load the rod just prior to the forward cast. This D loop requires much less back cast room but can be propelled forward, along with the fly, for long distances by a skilled caster.

The two most common forms of spey casting today seem to be Skagit and Scandi.
These two styles are designed basically for the two different seasons of fishing although there is lots of crossover. For simplicity I will limit the discussion to steelhead.

Winter steelhead reside in cold water and will not readily rise to the surface to take a fly so the fly must be brought down to them.

Summer steelhead reside in warmer water and will more readily rise to the surface to take a fly so the fly can be fished close to, or on the surface.

Skagit lines, named after the Skagit river in Washington are designed for winter fishing.
Heavy sinking flies and sinking tips must be casted and presented. A short heavy yet still floating fly line called the skagit head was designed to do this. Skagit casting uses a sustained or waterborne anchor to give the heavy line something to hang on to while the rod is loaded and the D loop is formed.

A typical skagit set up from the reel out would start with backing, 100ft of running line (shooting line), a skagit shooting head (approximately 2x the rod length) , 10-12 ft of sinking tip material(t-11 or type 6 sink tip), 2-3 feet of tippet (monofiliment leader) and a large sinking winter fly. All this can be tweaked to suit the conditions.

With this set up a competent spey fisherman should be able to get a fly out 80 feet by stripping and shooting line, and fish 3-5 feet below the surface as the fly swings down stream in walking speed water, for winter steelhead. It is the short length and heavy mass of the skagit set up that allows this to happen

Scandi lines are designed more for summer fish. They are also a floating line and use lighter tips and lighter flies and are fished closer to the surface. Many steelhead fly fisherman consider a fly taken from the surface to be the most exciting way to catch them. A scandi cast often uses an airborne or airealized (touch and go) anchor since the D loop is not as heavy as the skagit set up and doesn't need as solid of an anchor to be formed.

A typical scandi set up from the reel would start with backing, 100ft of running(shooting line) ,a scandi shooting head (approx 2 1/2 to 3x the rod length), a slower sinking or floating tip(poly leader), a 2-5 foot tippet (monofilament leader) and a slower sinking or floating summer fly. With this set up a competent spey caster can get a fly out 80 feet and present it at or near the surface as it swings down stream.

Casting is another topic in itself and is one of the joys of spey that sets it apart from other styles of fishing. There are many DVDs, books, and intructors that can cover casting in depth.

I hope this basic info helps people like me just getting started or considering becoming involed in spey fishing to make all the lines and tips and bugs a little easier to understand.

Feel free to chime in with any other spey basics that may help those just getting started.

[fisherman]

Sounds like you got the basic idea down. I would just ad that Spey could be more considered a type of casting then a type of rod. Many are now converting small single hand rods into rods with lower second handles and then lining the rods with shooting heads. I did this to a 9'6" 5wt single hand rod and built a 240 grain 14ft head and use it for bass. It allows me to cast larger weighted flies then I could ever do with a normal WF5F line. It also allows me to cast in a Spey casting style that is really fun. I know some others doing similar things for all types of fishing. I have heard of even 8'6" 3wt conversions with short heads in the 150grain range. Sounds fun.

And you are correct in the length of a Skagit and Scandi for the most part but even this rule is being broken a lot these days. I myself fish a 18ft head on a 13ft rod. Many are doing this too, fishing short heads. I do it because I just like it but it really shines when in tight quarters with limited back casting. On the Clack that is rare but on some spots on the Sandy it comes in handy.

[Arctic]

Agreed! The Short heads are now part of my arsenal.

Charlie, did ya know the Skagit cast is the only Spey cast to utilize a true sustained anchor. And I simply do not like any Scandi line set Ive tried. I just use a lighter Skagit head, and a hi-floater tip, as opposed to a sink tip... Does the same thing, but easier for me to work. Plus, those Rio floating heads, and tip sections really let you chug, and gurgle those bugs! For how little rod hours(comparatively) I get with my two hand outfit, I sure spend a lot of time tying patterns, building lines, and practicing in the grass.

[wfocharlie]

Ian I haven't even tried to cast my scandi line yet. I may end up summer fishing with a skagit and slower sinking tip if scandi gives me fits. I was able to learn the basic skagit casts so I'm hoping to figure the scandi out at some point. If not I'm good to go with the skagit rope.

Fisherman, I can see a smaller rod in my future for my favorite upper parts of rivers.

[Irishrover]

You can fish for summers all day long with a Skagit line, just put on the mono tip if you want to go top water. I use an Airflo compact skagit line and just change up tips for the conditions. As for waterborne anchor it's true that they are in general the best style of cast for the skagit set up, but you can launch a snake roll all day long with a skagit line. If you have the spey cast figured out with the skagit system I'm sure you'll master your scandi in no time flat. It's those long belly set- ups like wind cutter that can give you fits. You have most likely already seen this set of videos, but if you haven't check out Simon Gosworths RIO video on spey fishing. It has three videos in the set and covers all you need to know. It may be somewhat dated as I got my copy about five or six years ago but all the basic are there. Also on the vedio are spots by Ed Ward, George Cook, Scott O'Donnell, and Dana Sturn.

[Arctic]

Yeah! Ed, Scott, and Dana basically made manufacturers produce Skagit gear because of their innovation, and experimentation.
Charlie, learn the downstream Perry Poke. It is a Sandy river MUST!

I personally feel that those guys that throw long bellies... They just dont fish everyday. I dunno how you can peel, and cast 80 feet of line of the water all day, everyday, and still make effective presentations. Sometimes i like the put on a leader that allows my fly to sink faster than the rate of my sink tips, sometimes its the opposite, but I do know... Long belly lines wont cut it for me! Un-weildy, and inaccurate unless you are waded chest deep in the prime slot up on the deschutes or something. Hahaha!

I have really been liking the MOW tip system from RIO, for Summers on the North. And a note about Summer systems derived from Skagit gear. If you are in a pinch, and dont wanna fuss with it, just get a WHOLE floating line, that weighs the same, or a little more than the shooting HEAD of what you use to jack your heaviest Winter gear. The rod should load nearly the same.. It should anyways.

[fisherman]

A Scandi is easy to cast and not that much different then casting your Skagit. I think the real issue with a Scandi is that they suck if there is any wind. And, as we know wind is not all that rare around here.

[Arctic]

'Specially on the Sandy, or the D!

Agreed! Not a bad idea, just not as user friendly.. But man, given the right conditions... I can bomb that hopper, popper, thing... WAY out! North Ump would prolly lend itself well to a compact scandi system. I just dont have much extra cash right now, otherwise I would have tried the new RIO Scandi Short VersiTip this past summer on the D, and NU... But to no avail. Maybe next year tho.

[Chinook SSSF]

As I get older I am finding myself putting down my guns for nice quiet compound bows [<---yes is gun shy] and I find myself putting down my drift gear [<---yes is combat fishing shy] and wanting more fly gear to fish quiet far away rivers. It is SOOOOO time for this kiddo to purchase my first spey.

Artic said something recently about trying to land a summer steelhead on the Deschutes with fly gear. I MUST do this too, it sound like far to great of a challenge to pass up.

Thanks for posting the INfo Charlie : )

[Arctic]

The D is cool, 'specially since you pretty much know, that you will be able to scratch out at least one fish if you swing, and dredge the shelves all day. But you need to leave a couple days wide open this coming summer. Get yer dam waders on, and hit the North Umpqua trail with me. Lets go raise some fish!