[mikepat1]

Hey guys. New to the forum. Actually new to everything spey. Hope I have this post in the right topic so here we go.
O.K. I have a 7 wt medium fast rod. I have iined it with an amush 7 wt tt. I have yet to really dig into wich leader to buy.( airflo or rio). I have been experimenting with this rod and difeent type sink tips made from type ii .iv .vi. but they all suck. I have realized that tapeed leaders mentioned above are the way to go. I mostly fish this rod in large river systems like the thompson in bc. Back cast room is usualy available. But would be nice to learn single hand as I go to vancouver and play in smaller streams as well. Mostly I fish weighted/unweigted streamers 3-4 inch. And have oher lines for nymphing/indicator. So with my spey cast and the leadrs available. I am wondering. Trout/salmon 5/10 ft. T8? Im thinkng to turn over the larger flies I was looking at the airflo salmon steelhead 5/10 ft leaders. I just dont know having a 9ft 7 wt paire with ambush tt 265 grain. My head is spinnng. Ill let you guys talk now!!

 

[Rustybee]

Airflo leaders are the preferred choice. Just turns over better IMHO.
Assuming you have a 7wt SH rod paired with a Ambush 7. If that's the case, I don't find that the grain weight on your line is ideal to turn over larger weighted streamers like the ones your referring to (ie. heavier lines for heavier flies). Or if it does, it sure won't look too pretty. That said, if I had your setup, I would try a 10ft (Max) intermediate sink polyleader with unweighted flies (stingers or alaksabous).

 

[mikepat1]

Yeah. Was wondering if a 5 ft leader would help turnover being shorter. I have had sucess with the lighter unweighted flies made from synthetics and bucktail. Also could I chop the line and set up like a micro spey?

 

[mikepat1]

Sorry and should clarify. Most flie I use are smolt patterns tied on #2 hook or a little larger. Not huge weighted flies like rabbits or intruders. I just need to get the fly down sometimes. I understand that I will need a proper spay setup for larger flies but I like this rod and yhe compact functionality.

 

[Rustybee]

Yeah. Was wondering if a 5 ft leader would help turnover being shorter. I have had sucess with the lighter unweighted flies made from synthetics and bucktail. Also could I chop the line and set up like a micro spey?

I guess that could work but why? Not worth chopping line and compromise it's original design usage. Better to just start over. Ask yourself if you what you want the line to do. Overhead 2 handed casting, splash and go (Scandi) or sustained anchor (Skagit) casts. There really isn't a one sized fits all solution the most you can hope for with this line is 2 out of the 3 options (ie. overhead+Scandi or Scandi+Skagit). At least that's my experience with these lines.

Here is more info from their website.

Size @ Length Grain Weight
TT-4-F @ 18’ 195
TT-5-F @ 18’ 215
TT-6-F @ 18’ 235
TT-7-F @ 20’ 265
TT-8-F @ 20’ 290
TT-9-F @ 24’ 350
TT-10-F @ 24’ 400
TT-11-F @ 24’ 450
TT-12-F @ 25’ 500
TT-13-F @ 28.5’ 550
TT-14-F @ 29’ 600

Ambush General Description
A short heavy head line based on the proven triangle taper. Available with a contrasting integrated shooting line in weights 4-14 or head only in lineweights 8-14. Front welded loop included for convenient changing of leaders and tips.

Conventional Use
Fishing in tight quarters with very limited back cast room. The short heavy head facilitates quick loading and efficient turn over when using weighted flies, split shot and strike indicators. The short rear taper makes roll casting and shooting line easy and lends itself to the various single hand spey casts. The heavy head "digs" in the water surface, slowing the line speed, in the typical down and across presentation, making it ideal for swinging soft hackles or stripping streamers.

Switch use
The short head on the Ambush line makes it the ideal fly line for switch rods. Rule of thumb when selecting a line, is to use 3 line weight sizes above the rod weight. For example, a 5wt switch rod would take an 8wt Ambush line or head. A 7wt switch rod would load well with the 10wt Ambush. If you are going to primarily overhead cast with a switch rod, then go just 2 line sizes above the rod weight(7wt Ambush on a 5wt switch rod).

Scandi use
If you choose to use the Scandi or underhand style of casting, select an Ambush line 3 sizes above your rod weight. Poly leaders (all densities) work exceptionally well on Ambush lines. Total length of your poly leader should be 1 to 1.5 times the length of your rod (including tippet). Poly leaders, because of their similar taper to the Ambush line, tend to increase the overall head length of the Ambush, promoting longer turnover time and increase casting distance.

Skagit use
Skagit style lines are made to cast large flies and heavy sink tips. The Ambush line is similar to other Skagit lines in length but have a more pronounced taper (a short Triangle Taper) which softens the way they turnover (less clunky). When selecting an Ambush line for throwing big flies and sinking tips, go 4 line sizes heavier than the rod weight. For example, for a 8wt spey rod choose an 12wt line or head. A great shooting line to use behind the Ambush head is Wulff’s Tracer shooting line, which comes with an 8 inch loop for easy head changing and has a 2 foot bright orange color at the loop end, to help detect where the shooting line and head meet.

 

[mikepat1]

Ok. But back to my firs question. The main thing I was wondering should I go with steel head/ salmon or with yhe trout series.?

 

[Rustybee]

Between the 2, I would say the steelhead series. Especially since your fishing the T.

 

[mikepat1]

Thanks a lot. Appreciate the input