Single hand Trout Spey :
Hybrid heads

Hybrid heads are longer than Skagit heads, and shorter than true Scandi heads, but like Scandi heads they have long front tapers. One could think of them as micro-Scandi heads.

Hybrid heads are designed for delicate presentation, are fun to cast and great for fishing nymphs and soft hackles, skating dry flies, and fishing small or lightly weighted steamers near to the surface or in skinny or slow water.

SA Scandi Lite Heads in 150 and 180 grains are the shortest Hybrid Heads out there (both are 20 ft long) and are the best choice for 9 ft 5wt rods.

I favour the 150 grain Scandi Lite for fishing soft hackles and small streamers, and swinging dry flies during the evening caddis hatch on a standard 9 ft 5wt rod. Presentation is excellent and casting is pure delight.

The 180 grain version is better suited to more powerful 5wt rods and will handle slightly larger streamers, but presentation is not as good with soft hackles and dry flies. Apart from a little more splash, when using light flies the additional weight overpowers the skinning tip, causing it to kick about. This is less of an issue with heavier flies as the additional momentum straightens the tip.

A 9-10 ft tapered mono leader is all that is required for Hybrid heads suited to 9 ft 5wt single handers.

A 5 ft intermediate Trout Polyleader with 4 ft of 4x fluoro tippet is, nevertheless, useful for getting soft hackles beneath the surface and dealing with wind.

A 5 ft Trout intermediate Polyleader also results in a smoother cast with the Scandi Lite 180, especially with lighter flies. A floating Polyleader would work well for dry flies on this head.

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