Friends:

I've been invited to fish the Tee with a gent in Scotland. Unfortunately, I know little about spey rods, as they are not my erea of expertise. I am told that he uses a three piece 15 footer, but that's all. I suppose I could ask him the AFTMA line weight class, but I'm not even sure they use that there as the last time I fished over there they were using the older letter nomenclature (so I may be dating myself).

So, there's my task. Assemble something that will do the job nicely. I suppose like anything else there is a band of choices from heavy to light that would suffice. I suppose the advice I am looking for would be the spey equivalent of the happy medium: the 6 weight rod for river smallmouth, the 9 weight flats redfish rod, the 6-10 lb rated spinning rod for white bass, the .30-06 whitetail rifle, you get the point. Luckily I have some time to put this together.

Any comments appreciated, although caliber arguments for deer would probably be quietly discounted...

Warmly

Whit

Whit

Are you sure its the Tee and not the River Tay? I only ask because I can help you better with more info. There is a River Tee's in England. I have fished quite a few rivers in Scotland as I live here so I should be able to help.

Ahh. I thought he said Tee (Which is a river name etched in my mind from my youth, so he might have said Tay and I heard Tee) I'll confirm that, and also try to get the line weight.

Whit

Yes, its the Tay. We might also go on the Tweed, which runs along the border between Scotland and England. He uses a Bruce & Walker rod he got it from Jock Monteith, a famous ghiillie on the Tay, but is not sure of the line weight. Whit

Whit

The Tay is BIG water and so can be the Tweed depending on the beat. It all depends on the time of year as this will dictate fly size. I would be fishing a min 14 foot. On the Tay you will most likely be casting from an anchored boat. You fish the small rivers within a river so to speak. Check with your mate on fly size but I would bet tubes, cone head tubes etc. with either sinking or sink tip fly lines Although AFTMA rating doesnt mean anything when it comes to fly rods and more so for spey rods I would suggest a starting point of something in the 9-10 range. Now if your fishing the grilse run in the summer I would go something like an 11 or 12 foot switch in maybe a 7 or 8. Summer grilse tend to like small flies and the water is usually in its summer low level.

You may also want to check out Speypages.com for more information as I know they can help you, good luck.

Hay Scott :

You know your stuff. Now if I ever get some one from England I know what to build them.

There was that guy that wanted a 20 foot rod in Hawaii ??

Bill - willierods.com