What IS trout spey? Sometimes called micro spey, it’s basically a sized-down version of the two-handed spey casting used for salmon and steelhead fishing. Trout spey fishing has gained a following in recent years, and for good reasons. It offers some cool advantages compared to single hand rod fly-casting. But most importantly, it’s just plain fun.

For some insight on the world of trout spey, we sat down with Anglers All eCommerce Manager, Blake Katchur. Blake has enjoyed learning the art of trout spey fishing over the past few years and has some great advice on why and how to get started.

Why Trout Spey?

Spey casting was first developed on the River Spey in Scotland, where the long, two-handed fly rods allowed anglers to make long casts into otherwise unreachable water, and where steep banks and brush limited back-casting. Later, salmon and steelhead anglers in North America adopted these techniques. Again, in places where dense foliage limits back casts, and where coastal rivers present a large expanse of water, this style was perfectly suited.

So why trout spey? Some of those same benefits apply to trout anglers as well. This style of casting allows an angler to cover a lot of water, from bank to bank, with a much more efficient less tiring casting stroke. And all without putting any line behind them during their cast where riverside brush can wreak havoc. But according to Blake, that’s definitely not the only reason to give it a try.

“If you enjoy the art of casting a fly rod, this is the ultimate form of that art,” Blake told us. “It’s fun learning a new technique to fish for trout. It’s a new discipline in your set of skills. It will improve your single-handed casting. And if you’ve been fishing dries, nymphs and streamers, this is something totally different.”

Blake also acknowledged some of the technical benefits of this style of casting. “You’ll fish a lot of different water than you normally would,” he said. “Some water that you might walk past if you had a dry or nymph rig on, you will fish with a spey rod. This technique opens up those opportunities. You can cover more distance and work the entire river from bank to bank. And you can fish without any line behind you, allowing you to fish places where there's no room to back cast.”

Another major benefit to spey casting is that it can be done in windy conditions, no matter which way the wind is blowing or what side of the river you are on. If you’ve ever whacked yourself in the back of the head with a streamer, you know exactly what we’re talking about. The nature of a spey cast allows you to load the rod over either shoulder. So, there’s really no such thing as too much wind or a bad wind direction.

However, none of those are even the top reason why Blake has enjoyed learning how to trout spey.

“It’s the tug! When a fish eats on a tight line swing, it nearly takes the rod out of your hand, and you cannot hide your smile. That’s my why,” Blake added. “If you've ever experienced the hammering strike when swinging a streamer, that's the experience you get with trout spey. Rather than being a visual cue like a dry fly or an indicator, it’s entirely tactile.”

The Gear to Get Started

Blake’s trout spey setup includes an 11-foot, 4-weight Winston micro spey rod paired with a Bauer RVR micro spey reel. But he is quick to point out that you don’t need a two-handed rod just to get started.

“You can get a taste for this type of fishing with just a few adjustments to your single-hand fly fishing setup,” Blake said. “Get a handful of soft hackle flies or small streamers and a Polyleader. Then, start practicing those downstream roll casts. You'll be limited in distance. But you’ll quickly get a feel for that down and across style of fishing. You might also consider picking up Rio’s single-hand spey fly line. This line is designed to perform roll casts and spey casts with a regular single-hand fly rod.”

Trout Spey Rods

After you’ve dabbled in this style of fishing or if you already know you want to learn more, fishing a true trout spey rod will make a world of difference.

“What makes a spey rod a spey rod, is the length and action,” Blake explained. “It's a much softer tip and more flexible all the way through the rod – until you get to the bottom third, which is very stout.

“A 4-weight trout spey rod is more like a 6 weight in its single-hand counterpart,” he continued. “And you’d use a 3-weight trout spey rod in the same situations where you'd normally use a 5-weight single-hand trout rod. At least here in Colorado, and much of the west you really don't need much more than a 3-weight or 4-weight micro spey rod.”

Trout Spey Reels

According to Blake, the reel for a 3-weight trout spey rod is also larger than a reel you'd put on a normal 3-weight single hand rod. It's more like a 5/6-weight reel.

“The size of the reel is designed to balance out the longer rod and to hold the backing, running lines, heads and tips that are needed,” he explained. “Additionally, spey reels are typically fully caged or closed-framed. That’s because the running line is so thin, it tends to get caught between the spool and the frame of an average trout reel.”

While that fully caged spey reel is the best tool for the job, Blake noted that you could get away with repurposing a regular 5/6-weight reel to get started.

Trout Spey Fly Lines

Blake noted that his Winston 11-foot 4-weight micro spey rod pairs perfectly with a 270-grain Scientific Anglers Scandi head, or a 300-grain Scientific Anglers Skagit head…in plain English, what does that mean for those of us who don’t speak trout spey?

Blake explained that in all spey fishing, the relationship between the grain weight of line and the rod you're using is more important than in any other type of fishing. To make it simple, manufacturers offer grain-weight charts. They will list a very specific grain-weight range for each rod that they make. Just like your 5-weight fly rod is designed to cast a 5-weight line, each micro spey rod is designed to cast a specific line weight range, in grains.

“If you are a beginner spey caster, always lean toward the heavier side of the grain weight window,” Blake offered. “Going to the heavier side of that range makes it easier for beginning spey casters to load the rod.”

The next thing that new trout spey anglers need to know is that there are two types of spey lines. Those are called Scandi and Skagit.

“It might be easiest to think of these two in terms of the fly size,” Blake told us. “In Scandi fishing, you're typically using smaller flies, like soft hackles and emergers. You don't need very much mass to deliver one of these lightweight flies, so the Scandi head is typically longer and lighter.”

Blake added that the Scandi style of fishing dates back hundreds of years to Scotland, where unweighted Atlantic salmon flies were fished through low-gradient shallow waters that might have been 100-yards wide or more.

Meanwhile the second type of spey lines, which are Skagit lines, are designed for fishing larger, heavier flies in deeper water. These are your go-to spey lines for fishing streamers and heavier leech patterns.

“When talking about Skagit lines, it’s about mass moving mass,” Blake went on to explain. “Skagit lines are more compact and punchier, designed to deliver larger flies. This style was developed in the Pacific Northwest, where the rivers have steeper gradients, faster water and deeper runs.

“You’ll probably end up using Scandi setups primarily in the summer when fishing patterns like soft hackles and caddis emergers,” he added. “Then the time to fish a Skagit setup is often during the spring and fall months when water is up, and you are fishing streamers and leeches.”

Trout Spey Rigging

Rigging begins just like your normal trout reel. Whether you end up fishing a Scandi or Skagit setup, the first thing that goes on your reel is backing. After backing comes your running line, which is a thin, strong fly line.

“The purpose of the running line or shooting line, is to allow the head, once it's moving, to carry its momentum and pull the running line along behind it,” Blake said. “To your running line, you will then attach either the Scandi or Skagit head.”

Blake explained that when fishing a Scandi head, your next step in the rig is basically just a standard tapered trout leader or an intermediate sinking leader. All to focus swinging that soft hackle in the first 0-8 inches of water depth.

“When fishing a Skagit head on the other hand, you're always going to use a tip system,” Blake added. “Those tips vary from full floating, to half floating/half sinking, to full sink. In trout spey setups, we use what are called light tips, which are generally between eight and 12 feet long. A ten-foot light tip is standard and perfect for Colorado. The purpose of all these tips is to help deliver the fly in different water depths and currents.

To the end of your Skagit tip, you’ll typically use a short, stout streamer leader or straight fluorocarbon or Maxima, usually five feet or less in length.

One option for new trout spey anglers to help simplify this system, is the use of what are called, integrated lines. For example, Scientific Anglers offers their Spey Lite Integrated Scandi Line, in which the running line and Scandi head are integrated together. Likewise, there is also a Spey Lite Integrated Skagit set up.

“These are simple and they are a great way to start. Skip carrying different heads and loop to loop connections and focus on the swing” Blake commented. “But as I've enjoyed trout spey fishing more, I’ve found the need to fish both Scandi and Skagit setups. Sometimes in the same day. That requires either a second reel, second spool for my one reel for both integrated lines, or a separate (non-integrated) running line that allows me to switch between Scandi and Skagit heads.”

While the running line and different heads might seem like a lot at first, one of the great things about trout spey fishing is that your terminal tackle is actually very simple. When compared to a typical nymph rig, the trout spey setup doesn’t require much.

“You can get out on the river with just two spools of tippet, your tips in a tip wallet and a box of streamers or soft hackles,” Blake told us. “You don't have weights, indicators, floatant, nymphs and dries, and all that other stuff that complicates other rigs.”

One more thing that Blake suggested adding to your rigging toolkit is a micro swivel. When fishing a Skagit setup with larger streamers or mouse patterns, a micro swivel can be a game changer. With those big, bushy patterns that can easily get twisted up, the micro swivel helps prevent those issues. When rigging with a micro swivel, a general rule of thumb is to tie it about 24 inches above your fly.

Trout Spey Flies

It’s important to know that trout spey fishing doesn’t just limit you to fishing wet flies.

You can skate caddis with a trout spey, and even salmon fly dries” Blake noted. “You can fish streamers. Mouse patterns included.

“I almost always fish multiple flies when using a Scandi setup,” he added. “My favorite caddis combo for example, is a Holy Grail caddis emerger, trailed by an X2 Caddis as the bottom fly. I try to keep it simple and just run these two fly rigs in tandem, tying in my second fly to the hook bend of the first.”

When it comes to streamers on a Skagit setup, Blake says that he generally fishes a single streamer pattern. Some of his favorites are intruder style flies like the Make it Rainbow, the Party Girl as well as some of our go-to trout streamers like the Sculpzilla, Daili Lama, and Thin Mint.

“With the caddis and soft hackles, you’re trying to represent emerging flies,” Blake explained. “As the line becomes tight during the swing, your flies rise as they are swinging through the current. This effectively imitates that rising or emerging caddis or mayfly. With streamers, you're really imitating an injured baitfish or sculpin that's trying to get from faster water out to slower safer water along the bank.”

Learning How to Spey Cast

Having all the right equipment is one thing. How does one learn how to spey cast?

While the casting is intuitive to many anglers, especially if you know how to roll cast, there are some techniques you'll want to learn. One place to begin is the same source of so much great knowledge – YouTube. In particular, check out Simon Gawesworth’s videos. Another great idea is to take a class with a local fly shop or instructor.

“Then practice, practice, practice,” Blake suggested. “Because it's all downstream, there's no such thing as a bad cast. If you make a bad cast, just let your line swing and run out and start again. Cast, cover water and work your way downstream one step at a time. It doesn’t have to be pretty to catch fish at first. Learning a new technique and the art of casting is a big part of the appeal. And don’t forget the dangle! Let your fly hang out at the bottom of your swing for a bit before recasting” Blake exclaimed. “Some of my most memorable eats have come the second before I cast again.”

It may be helpful to know that spey casting can be done with a single-hand rod. So, you can begin learning the cast and the technique even before you purchase a spey rod. But unlike a single-hand rod, you can’t learn to spey cast out on the lawn. Spey casting requires the resistance of the water to load the rod, so you’ll need to be on the water to practice.

Where to Fish With A Trout Spey Setup

“Here in Colorado, rivers like the Arkansas, Colorado and Gunnison are big enough to give spey casting an advantage,” Blake added. “With a spey rod in hand, you will fish shallow riffles and long flat runs that you might otherwise skip with an indicator rig or a dry dropper rig. Fish feed actively in those shallow, highly oxygenated waters and they are perfect for a trout spey rig.”

While you may not need the distance of a spey rod, you can certainly have fun with a trout spey setup on many other local rivers, including our popular tailwaters on the South Platte. Even stillwaters can be a great place to get out and throw a streamer with your trout spey. And remember one of the great things about trout spey fishing is its tactile nature. Unlike watching an indicator or a dry fly, you can look around and enjoy the scenery. Look up at those mountains, watch an eagle soar above you, but hold on, cause that tug is coming!

Reach Out With Questions

Have questions about trout spey? Please don’t hesitate to ask. Trout spey is an incredibly fun way to fish. It’s also very new to many of us, and there are no dumb questions. Visit us at the fly shop in Littleton. Or give us a call at 303-794-1104. We’d love to help you get started.