Spey for Trout

I'm thinking of building a spey rod for this season, and am a bit over my head when it comes to this gear. I know a few of you spey cast for trout; what are you guys using, and what would you recommend?

I'm going to be living in Yellowstone May-October, so I'll mostly be fishing within the park. Right now I'm casting a 3wt Winston GVX and a 5wt Winston Boron IIx and love them both, so I'm kind of gravitating toward the 5wt BIIIX TH MS, but again, I am new to this and could use some help! I really just want a rod to swing streamers on small to medium-sized rivers, and probably won't catch that many fish over 20".

WWJD?

In my alcohol soaked brain, I am remembering that it's hard to learn to spey with a switch. Don't remember why, but something to do with weight/length/line ratio. What you are looking at looks like it's close to that switch ratio. Can you borrow a 6-8wt spey rod to learn on? That said, what you're looking at looks ideal for where you are fishing. I'd probably go down to the 4wt if this is going to be your only 2-hand rod. I'd rather be catching a 20" fish on the 5wt, but is that going to happen very often?

I have a Redington Prospector 5wt switch. Took a trip from CA to NV, UT, WY, ID, MT, ID, WA and OR with 8 rods. The 5wt switch was the only rod that was used. They are incredibly versatile. On bigger water, I'd still want a spey. Just a bit more reach out and touch that's not there with a switch. Off tomorrow to spey a nearby river, because two hands are better than one!

I would go lighter than a 5 personally. The Echo Glass, Winston Microspey, and some forthcoming rods and lines that have my hands in them are all pretty darn fun for fish under 20". If you made a run over to the Salmon in the fall then a 5 would crossover for steelhead fishing, otherwise go lighter. There's some cool lines coming out that will allow you to throw big streamers but still be the light grain weight to load a 2-4 wt rods. That's all I can say for now!

I started with a switch and I really think it just held me back learning. I ended up with a TFO 5/6 weight 12'6" which I freaking love. It's how I do most of my fishing these days unless I'm in the boat. It may be kind of overkill for trout but I do fish some rivers with good size fish and they put a nice bend in it, it's also been great for steelhead.

Snapt, think someone with less skills than you would struggle to throw big streamers on those lighter spey rods? I know I have challenges with mine when casting sink tips and heavy flies. Most of the flies I use for spey have little to no weight for that reason.

The new heads that should drop soon eliminate the issues of being too light in grain weight to turn over a heavy tip or big fly. I can throw 10' of t-14 and an intruder on the 250 grain. Next time we link up I'll let you try em out. Though you're right, a bigger rod is easier to learn on.

I have a 5 wt z axis in 12'6 with a compact scandi on it that I love. Makes small trout a lot of fun. The occasional steelhead an epic, and anything bigger just break that shit off.

Me

I just put in an order for a 12' 6" 4wt from RB Meiser. Can't wait to build this thing and get out on the river with it!

On a related note, what kind of reel would you guys suggest for this? I can't seem to find anything definitive; some suggest going 2 over the stated weight for the rod, while others give a weight for the reel. I'm kind of lost on this one, and I know reel choice is a lot more important here than it is for a one-handed rod.

Bump for this. How do you match a reel to spey rod? I see random thoughts all over the place. Is there a golden rule? Seems like it'd be less important with a lighter rod/line, more so with a heavier setup. I recently bought the entire family of Loop Classic reels, and I'm trying to figure out which one matches to 7126 Method. Do you go by reel weight?

Depends. What kind of backing? Camo or Goonies?

How many guides are on that pole? What color is the cork? Red cork = heavier reel, obviously.

Did you get the red ones?

Bejazzled Barbie™ plastic grip, and no guides except the tip.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by snapt

Did you get the red ones?

---

I did. The entire effing family. Looks great against the method blank.