Lettin er fly on the Kitty. PHOTO Quinn Styles

Lines- Likely the most complicated part of this series, only rivalled by the next installment being Sink tips.

OK, Big disclaimer on this one as well. Opinions are going to differ significantly on this topic, and that's fine. Differences are what make us all unique and special. What I don't want to happen to these posts is for someone to come at me trying to convince me that their way is better or that my way is wrong. These take long enough to write as it is. I don't need to spend double (or more) that time arguing with someone about how I'm wrong. If you've got an axe to grind, you are welcome to start your own blog (I'm certain it will be amazing), you can steal all my followers, be awesome and live happily ever after. My opinions are based on what I have found to work for my guests and me over time.

So-ice throwing the rod I call “the Big Red machine” its an ancient Loomis GLX . It’s become one of my favourite rods for chinooks. It’s a 14’9 10/11 wt that throws 15’ of T-17 and a 660 FIST like a dream. PHOTO Quinn Styles.

You've got your gear and your Spey rod. It's time to put a line on it. Manufacturers spec is a great place to start, but if you are an inherent tinkerer like myself, curiosity gets the best of me and I have to take it a step further. For now, we are going to talk about standard length "Skagit" there are also Skagit shorts and Skagit longs.

To keep it simple, a "loose" guideline might be 12.5'-13' and under - you can use a short. Rods 13-14' standard may be the choice. Anything longer than 14' or if you have a preference for longer heads, a Skagit long may be your choice. These are not rules but a guideline to help understand the concept.

Spey camp “River left” practice. PHOTO Lukas Koltulsky

So you have your rod and manufacturer's line recommendation. In a perfect world, you can borrow a Skagit kit with all the line weights in it to balance your rod. I like to take a minimum of three heads which will most often cover you for what you need. These three will be the recommended head, one grain window below and one grain window above.

Follow me now, I like to start light. So for example, your recommended line weight is 540. I would start with a 510gn. Throw a few different casts. Make observations about its overall performance or anything that stands out, good or bad. Switch to 540 throw a few different casts. Make observations about its overall performance or anything the stands out, good or bad. It should have gotten better to cast but make note if it did not. Now throw on a 570 throw a few different casts. Make observations about its overall performance or anything the stands out, good or bad.

When you get deep into a balance session it often gets messy. Lime Buble’ is best served during line balancing.

Now that you've tried all three, hopefully, it has told you that the manufacturers recommended is the best one for you and you are done. Two of the lines may stand out. If it was the 540 and 510, you might need to try a 480. Although unlikely to be the 480, this will let you know that maybe the 510 is better for that rod. Suppose the 540 and the 570 stand out. Try a 600gn. Again, unlikely to be the 600, but this may tell you that the 570 is the better head for that rod. In the rare case that it starts to cast better the heavier/lighter you going, Keep going that direction until it doesn't. You may end up switching several times before you decide. Quite often, there is a standout. The odd time you may find it's a standoff between Two grain windows. In this case you could take it a step further and look for another manufacturers line to bridge the gap. Generally, I'd advise stopping here, but if your curiosity gets the best of you. . . . . go for it. The problem now is you have gone down the rabbit hole and the control group of your experiment has been compromised by changing manufacturer. You likely won't stop there and will do the same experiment all over with both manufacturers

So what has happened here is you've just learned how to balance your own rod. During my Spey Camps, we spend half the second-day casting rods and changing lines. This is when I really see the light go on in the student's brains. No one has left my course without an understanding of this. It's a huge confidence boost and an indication of their depth of understanding for me as the instructor.

So why have I told you this? I cannot count the number of good fishable hours that I have been spent doing this instead of fishing. When you show up with the wrong head for your rod it usually takes a little time of casting poorly (in-turn fishing poorly) to diagnose. I like to throw a few casts with the client's rod if they're having a hard time, just to make sure the head is correct. It's fine, my pay is the same either way, but I'd rather you be fishing than doing a crash course on rod balance to try and get you up and running. That being said, I'm happy to teach this on any guided trip, but it's nice to choose the time of day in which this happens, not primetime first run, fresh tracks in the shade. Save the lessons for high midday sun in runs that have already been beaten up. Or even better just plan on spending your first day of the trip getting dialled and then anything beyond that is a bonus. I like to say that the first day is a “get the kinks out” kind of day anyway.

OK, so you know your grain weight for the manufacturer that you have chosen. You've got a setup for throwing sink tips. What about if you want to throw some dries? This has me asking a few other questions. Do you have a second rod setup? or how much of it do you plan on doing?

There are lots of choices Long-belly, mid-belly, Scandi, rage? I'm totally fine with guests using any or all of these lines for their dry fly setup, provided it's balanced and they cast it well. For newer casters (or anyone for that matter), I've had a lot of luck with the Airflo "Rage" lines. They can be best described as a bridge between a Skagit and a Scandi line. They can handle light tips if necessary and throw a dry on a tapered mono leader or poly leader nicely. I find myself gravitating to these lines as I don't want to cast very far when fishing a dry fly. I'm fishing a dry because I want to see them eat it. If my head is too long, I'm forced to throw longer than what I may want to fish. I suppose I'm not forced, but I do like to fire the whole head and a few pulls of running line to make it fun. If I'm trying to fish short with a longer head, then some of it is still inside the rod tip. Keep in mind, this opinion applies to where I am fishing and the type of water I like to fish. All the long throwers are welcome to come behind me and scoop up what I left out there.

Long bellies/mid bellies and even Scandi lines, for that matter, are best used in an application with the touch-and-go casts. Single spey and snake rolls are more difficult casts and not as forgiving as Skagit casts for beginners. Their concepts are straightforward yet somewhat universally known to be more challenging to master. Bridge fly lines have come up with some fantastic tapers if you are interested in that world. I am excited to try their new Wintertide Line I have a feeling it may become my new spring ‘go too’ and replace the Rage for me in a lot of applications. If you are ever presented with an opportunity to do a lesson with Tim Arsenault, you definitely should. I was fortunate to do a couple of hours with him a few years back and it opened my eyes to that world and the applications longer heads present.

Tim demonstrating his ideal firing position.

Whatever line you choose, the rod balancing process can be mirrored to make sure you have the best line for your rod. -Disclaimer- Ensure that you are reasonably proficient with these casts before you start into self-diagnosis and rod balancing for any or all lines and styles. That's where some instruction can come into play and help immensely. It's nice to know when it's the wrong equipment, not you and at the same time, visa versa.

I feel like I've only scratched the surface of this very deep subject. We haven’t even touched on sinking heads that’s a conversation for another day. I hope it comes across clearly and simplifies things for some for those who choose to read it. There's lots of info out there. I’ve said it before, listen to those who know, filter through what works for you and come up with your answer.

How To prepare for your Steelhead trip part Three "Lines"