About the Author

Joe Rotter

Joe is the "blogger in chief" here at Red's in addition to being our guide service manager and partner here at Red's. He is a father of 3 spunky children his wife Kelly can only be found fishing when the temperature gets above 85 degrees and the fish are gobbling up dry flies.

In addition to being a fly fishing junkie, Joe is a hard core bowhunter, is a volunteer Hunter's Eductation Instructor, and loves riding horses with his kiddos. Joe still guides a small part of the time but spends most of his time working on web marketing, travel, and helping customers find the right tools and information for the job.

Do MORE with LESS - Trout Spey Casting Tips

February 24, 2017

A lot of anglers diving into "Micro Spey" or Trout Spey game have jumped in with both feet. As they should, its fun, effective, therapeutic, and a great way to hone both your two-hand casting and streamer fishing skills. Trout spey has been an enlightenment for a lot of dudes that are simply tired of the same ol' bread and butter. A well delivered cast on a 3 weight spey rod defies physics and seems to make the universe stop for a tick as the fly and line are in flight.

In a perfect world everyone's cast would be that way. Graceful, patient, slow to develop, and finished with blistering line speed and a tight loop disproportional to the gentle effort applied.

Reality. Don't you hate reality? Most of us don't look like that! The fact is that getting a smooth effortless cast takes some grace, tempo, and coaching. The most common problem that we have encountered as we coach and diagnose is "blowing the anchor". This is caused by anglers not sustaining contact between the water their fly. The result is that the load (tension) on the rod is lost and it fails to deliver its bound up potential energy into the cast.

WHY is this so common? The answer is that the heads most guys are using are super short. 11 - 15' long. Its very easy to lift this head out of the water and "blow the anchor".

The 3 Most Popular Trout Spey "Micro Skagit Heads" at Red's

OPST Commando - 12' Long in Most Trout Spey Applications

RIO Skagit Trout MAX - 11' Long

Airflo Skagit Scout - 15' Long

These are all good lines. The OPST is the most popular of the 3 but we have had fine success with all 3 of these products. Each require a running line and we like about 30# for trout spey applications.

How to Diagnose if You are Blowing Your Anchor

Bullwhip noise. Don't lie to me! You have heard this.
Fly gets caught on the bank behind you. The fly should stay in front of you, a rod length away, on your casting side.
Your cast is one giant suckfest
There doesn't seem to be tension on the rod.

How to Fix "Blowing Your Anchor"

I have bought 2 echo glass switch outfits off you guys that I love. I am getting into fishing soft hackles and wee wets as well as swinging streamers and would love to see some recommendations on trout spey gear for soft hackle fishing. I find the blogs on trout spey very helpful keep them up.
Thanks for another great educational video. I tend to get fired up with my Winston MS 4wt and nothing goes right when I rush the cast. Learning to breath and relax is key for me and maybe less coffee. And to your point, learning to spey on a MS is a great way, if not the best way to improve your spey casting! Works for me!
Wow!! nice to read this post.. I use infinity series rods for fishing..