Thanks and Rookie Qtn

First of all I owe a big thank you to the guys at Kiene's Fly Shop. My wife got me a spey rod and reel for graduation and she was help by the guys at the shop. I dont know the exact people/person who helped her, but I she told me had it not been for you guys she would not have had a clue about what to get. So thanks for your help. It made my graduation very pleasant.

Second, my rookie question. How do I go about lining this reel? I mean I know how to put line on a reel, but how do I go about choosing what kind of line to use. I am a complete knob to the spey game, and the entire reason I wanted to get into it was to chase steel in the Pacific Northwest in Washington state.

To follow this up, let me tell you want I got, and then if there is anyone who has a suggestion let me know. My wife got me a 7/8 weight. My hope in getting a 7/8 weight was to have something I could use for summer and winter run. My question about line then is whether I could use one type of line for for summer and winter runs. The kind of flies I would like to throw are MOAL's to Green butt skunks. Is there a line that could handle that kind of varity?

OK, thanks to Kiene's and you fellas for listening to my knob questions.

Check out Jason Hartwick's post on his blog http://steelheadonthespey.blogspot.com/ titled 'find what works for you'

It should help you out.

I'd suggest buying a running line with seperate heads that you can loop on and off. One scandi style and one skagit style. This setup will cover almost if not all possible combos of flies and conditions for fishing.

You could fish the summer flies with a skagit head if you really just wanted one line but IMO casting the scandi is really enjoyable and I like to use it when fishing summer runs and floating lines.

As aaron said Jason's blog has a lot of good info about lines to choose.

This is another one that helps clarify when to use a skagit head or scandi head.
http://steelheadonthespey.blogspot.c...skagit-vs.html

What model/brand is the rod? A 7/8 from two different manufacturers can have a little bit of variance.

Ryder

Also checkout the kienes online speyshop, If you got your rod from kienes it'll be on there and it should have good reccomendations for lines that cast well on your stick.

Ryder - The rod is a Beulah Classic Spey Series 12'7" 7/8

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I have a lot to learn about this!

Hey WT. Sounds like you have a very nice wife. And with the help from the Kienes staff she hooked you up with a great all round spey rod. Another line you may look into is the Beulah Tonic series. They have a line made specific for that rod. I actually cast that setup this winter with a pretty good sized fly and a tip (cant recall the exact tip) and it handled it with no problems. The line felt nice and I could see it crossing over to a full floating setup very nicely.
Once you get into the spey game though you will find it gets pretty addictive. Soon one line just wont cut it and you will get the urge for more. Like St stalker suggested a running line setup with a skagit head and a scandi head is a good way to go.
Beulah also makes an elixir series line that is a scandi style line. The Tonic is more of an inbetweener with a skagity/scandi taper. Great lines that match up perfectly with there rods. Lots of info available online about your rod and the Beulah series of lines. Speypages, Kienes spey shop the Beulah site all have alot of info on that rod and the tonic and elixir lines . And of course the crew at Kienes can help you out face to face. Good luck and enjoy that rod. Its a good one. Kevin

Beulah makes great rods. I would probably stick with the beulah lines as they specifically made the lines for each rod they have. I if you were to start with one i'd go with the skagit. It can be used for basically all situations, winter sink tips and it can handle greased line fishing too. I think beulah reccomends their tonic 485gr. 24.5' head for that rod.

I'm not exactly sure but I think kiene's has some demo lines that you can take down to the river and cast to kind of feel what you like, but you'd have to double check with someone who works there.

good luck
Ryder

Great info. Thanks guys

Hey WT,
If you're brand new to the spey game, I highly recommend taking a casting lesson before heading out fishing. It'll speed up the learning curve and make your time on the water a lot more enjoyable.
Best of luck.