A breakdown of the best fishing tackle to use in Scottish rivers when salmon fishing
This is a simple (not too technical) guide to the best fishing tackle, techniques and flies to use for Salmon Fishing holidays in Scotland. In addition an a definition and explanation of the differences between skagit, short spey (scandi), spey and shooting head lines.
If you are considering fishing for salmon on the River Tay, Tweed, Spey, Dee this will be a useful guide. For those anglers looking to fish the smaller rivers in the Scottish Highlands this will help.
Rivers like the River Shin, Helmsdale, Conon, Alness, Gruinard, and Thurso require different tactics. This guide covers both large and spate rivers tactics.

Fishing Tackle for the Big 4 Rivers in Scotland – Tay, Tweed, Spey and Dee
The River Spey, Tay, Tweed and Dee are world famous and anglers travel from all over the world to fish them. They are big rivers, and you need BIG tackle.
Firstly, a 14ft or 15ft double hand Spey fly rod is the best tool for the job. Indeed, this will allow you to cover the width of the river with less effort, and fish the pools correctly. Also, it will help when playing bigger fish.
The Tay allows spin casting and the best rod for the job is a 10-11ft, 10-30g rated rod, with a 4000 or 5000 sized fixed spool reels. Multipliers are popular too, but not recommended for beginners.
Commonly we are asked, can we fish single hand rods. Honestly, the answer is no. Why make it harder for yourself to cast, fish and land a salmon? It’s also important to land a salmon as quickly as possible, so it can be revived quicker and released to continue it’s epic journey.
Come to the river with the right mindset
To begin with, we encourage guests to come fishing with a relaxed mindset. Not to be anxious about catching a fish. To enjoy the experience, stay focused, and try to the best of their ability. Also if a salmon is caught, it should be a bonus, but the day should be enjoyed with or without fish. (and usually is)
A salmon fishing experience has so many other elements that make it special. You can enjoy the scenery, relaxation, a chance to reflect in a restorative time away in nature. Away from the noise of every day life.
A days salmon fishing wouldn’t be the same without the banter with the ghillie/ guide and the stories in the fishing hut. Then of course there’s the therapy of enjoying the simple art of casting mix all this together and you have the elements to make a perfect day. Summarised, you should allow yourself to focus on the journey, not the destination.

Good fishing tackle is an investment…
What is the best salmon fishing tackle to use?
It’s what works for you and your budget. It’s what works for the river and conditions and it’s all about giving our anglers an enjoyable fishing experience. We are lucky in that we can offer our guests very nicely balanced salmon fishing combinations from select manufacturers like Scott Mackenzie, Danielsson, Sage and Orvis.
Moreover, this allows you to try various combinations of rods and line types on your day. If you have a request, simply let us know.
Alba Game Fishing carry over 40 salmon rods and 50 trout rods in stock.

How to stay dry and safe in our Scottish Rivers
We stock Orvis Vision and Patagonia breathable stocking foot waders, ensuring you are wearing safe and reliable gear and have a sure footing on the river bed. All our boots have Vibram soles, and added investment of Tungsten studs to minimise slipping on the river bed.
We invested in 15 new Crewsaver auto inflate life vests for the 2021 season. Safety is of paramount importance as is comfort when fishing. Our guides will talk guests through how these vests work and how to wade safely.
If you want top read more on our tackle and clothing, go here.
Fly Lines Explained – Skagit, Short Spey (Scandi), Standard Spey
Standard Spey Lines
Salmon fly lines in their various formats can be confusing. What are the differences between Skagit, Scandi, Spey and Shooting head lines? This guide should help.
When I learned to Spey cast all these years ago (1980″s) my tutor insisted in using a 65ft head Spey line. This is known as a standard Spey line in Scotland.
In fact in the 1980’s we were still probably 15 or 20 years away from the advent of Scandi, Skagit and Shooting head lines. I learned to cast using a 65ft head Spey line, and this is a great way to learn the basics of speycasting.
Shifting on to shorter head Spey lines after that type of training is an easy transition. The sage like advice imparted from the old spey casters are gold! They had simple and effective way of explaining the mechanics and rod and line paths. They painted pictures with words, and were concise and free from bullshit.

Spey fly lines take a long time to master. Imagine though you are coming to Scotland for just one well- earned day of fishing, as part of your vacation and want to simply enjoy a day on the river without going on a Spey Casting masterclass?, well read on, there are easier lines to use.
Short Spey Lines (Scandi)
Spey Lines with a shorter length head are sometimes referred to as Scandi Head lines. The weight of the head is to the rear of the line, so as an example 43ft in length (as opposed to 65ft) and these came integrated (better) or looped to a running line.
The head as a longer more graduated taper and therefore better for presentation. However they are not ideal for throwing heavier sink tips, poly leaders leaders and heavy flies. They are also easier to cast than a standard spey and ideal for smaller flies.
Skagit heads explained
Skagit lines have a more aggressive taper and a lot more mass at the tip of the flyline. The Skagit head is ideal for heavier sink tips and Skagit Heads of varying sink rates can be attached loop to loop, (similar to polyleaders, but balanced to the Skagit Head) and large weighted flies.
In simple physics mass moves mass, therefore a heavier head Skagit will turn over heavier tip and your fly with a lot more easier than a Short Spey Line. These are also easy to cast, and your guide can get you up and running safely and quickly for an enjoyable day on the river.
Shooting Head Fly Lines
Shooting Head fly lines have a short, denser section of fly line attached to a thin running (shooting) line offering minimal resistance, and drag on the head in flight. Once you get the head outside the rod tip,(get the right level of overhang) send the cast and the heavier shooting head pulls the thinner running line through the guides.
Chosing a running line can be as important as the head. Ideally pick a running line that is easy to handle and does not suffer from too much memory.
Here are some benefits of a shooting head system:
- Quick loading, requiring minimal false casting.
- Effective in confined spaces or when back cast room is limited.
- They punch well through the wind.
- Like a Skagit, Shooting heads provide more mass, handling heavier or larger flies easily
- Basically a shooting head allows you to cast further, with less effort.
- Flexibility of loops to loop different heads quickly, without changing over spools / reels.
Disadvantages of Shooting head fly lines
Whilst Shooting head lines are easier to cast, there’s a payback. These lines can be clunky and land with little finesse compared to a longer tapered line like a Spey or Short Spey Line. In addition mending the line is impossible, as the running line has no mass and ability to mobilise the head. Finally it can be a bit of a pain retrieving the line back to the head each time, and I know of some anglers who suffer from a repetitive strain injury from doing so.

There are derivatives of these various fly lines, that sit somewhere between Skagit and Scandi. The Airflow Rage has been designed to simplify the transition between casting sink tips and heavier flies and then perhaps looking to switch to casting lighter intermediate tips on smaller flies. . . it has been designed to offer at the best of both worlds, in that it?s flexible with both scenarios. It?s also excellent for beginners to very easy come to terms with Spey Casting.
Our team of professional fishing guides include SGAIC casting instructors, so if you want to try various combinations fo rods and lines and learn various Spey casts, we can help.
Switch Rods, Spey Rods – Lengths and Applications
Switch rods came out in the early 2000 and generally are under 12 foot in length. These can generally be cast with one or two hands. This is where the term switch comes from.

A double hand rod over 12 feet in length is generally a spey rod and requires both hands.
A few years ago switch rods evolved to become lighter and lighter, now there are #2, 3 and 4 weight switch rods and these are referred to as trout Spey rods. Generally with the smaller rods, a rule of thumb is that you double the rod weight to calculate the maximum size of fish that you will catch, in other words a #4 weight is ideal for any fish up to about 8 pounds in weight.
The best fishing tackle for smaller salmon rivers in the Scottish Highlands and West Coast
Firstly, in Scotland we are spoiled for choice with rivers. We have smaller, spate rivers offering an interesting alternative to bigger rivers in Scotland. Generally as a rule of thumb, we fish switch rods on these rivers.
Often there is little space on these rivers to cast, and your casting requires deftness and precision, not long distance. Fish tend to lie in seams and pockets that call for accuracy and subtle casting. A smaller switch rod like the excellent 11ft 4 #8 weight Scott Mackenzie Atlas is an excellent small river rod. Ideal for the Rivers Shin, Cassley, Alness (below), Gruinard, Inver, Luce, Stinchar and other small rivers. It’s also powerful enough to cope with a salmon between 7 – 16lb, which is a common size in these rivers.
Mid Sized Rivers, the best tackle
Finally, when fishing slightly bigger rivers like the Findhorn, Conon, Garry, Lochy and Thurso, a 13, 14 or 15ft Spey rod is a better option. A longer rod allows you to cast further. On big rivers, flies sometimes need to be deeper(heavier sink tips). It’s also easier to control a big fish with a 14ft or 15ft rod. I’ve seen many salmon lost, by anglers ignoring this simple rule.
The Lochy spring salmon average 15-17lb and bigger fish in the 30-35lb class have been caught in the past.
A short guide to Polyleaders, Versi Tips, Sinking Tips
This is how Sink Tips and poly leaders apply to different rods and lines. Lets define the name firstly, that’s easy. Versi leaders refers to the Rio range of tips, and Poly Leaders are the Airflo brand.
These are essentially tapered leaders which are either coated with a tungsten material of varying densities, or a plasticised material for floating. A sink tip is generally a faster sinking tips, looped on to the end of a fly line.
Common sense applies to what tip to use with what rod and line. For example a # 8 weight Scandi line is going to struggle to cast the very heavy sink tips or Versileaders, and there will be some hinging on the cast stroke. This is because the Scandi head tapers and there is no mass at the end to move the heavier tip.
Here is the range of Versileaders and sink rate offered by Rio for Salmon/ Steelhead:

Skagit lines benefit from the addition of a Poly Leader and generally as there is a lot of mass at the head of the fly line. These lines can cope with most weights and sink rates of additional leaders.
Rio have also introduced the MOW tips. These are ideal for Skagit lines and offer incredible sinking tip versatility, with a tips for any fishing situation.

Rio MOW tips – various sink rates
The Extra Heavy MOW Tips are the heaviest with T-17 for the sinking section and with a sink rate of nearly 10″ per second. Each of the tips either have a gray floating section, or if full sinking are a dark gray colour, for easy identification. These tips are ideal on Skagit lines of 675 grains and more.
The Heavy MOW Tips feature T-14, with a sink rate of 9″ per second, for the sinking material. Each of these tips has either a light blue floating section, or if full sinking are a dark blue colour, for easy identification. The Heavy MOW Tips are designed for the large flies and are ideal for Skagit lines of 575 grains and more. There are six unique tips that make up the series.
The Medium MOW Tips feature T-11, with a sink rate of 8″ per second, for the sinking material. Each of these tips has either a light green floating section, or if full sinking are a dark green colour, for easy identification. The Medium MOW Tips are designed for heavily weighted flies and are ideal for Skagit lines between 475 and 575 grains. There are six unique tips that make up the series.
Grain, Grams, Line weights and rating explained
It can be so confusing when talking about line ratings, grains, grams, Line weights, head lights, sink rates…lets try and simplify this.
Fly lines are usually rated by weight rather than breaking strength.
How is a fly line rated? The first 30-feet of a fly line is weighed in grains (minus the short level tip section). Lines are assigned a numbered “weight” rating based on this measurement. And sinking lines the measured section can vary depending on head length.
As an example, a floating line weighing between 134-146 grains in its first 30-feet would be classified a 5-weight line. As a general rule this chart may help.

It’s good to understand that this rule of thumb, laid down by the American Fly Fishing Trade Association (AFFTA) is not always followed. Some fly lines actually weigh more than their corresponding weight range indicates.
The first 30-feet of a certain 6-weight line may weigh 180-grains which would seemingly classify it as a 7-weight line! Many modern fly rods being faster in action, a heavier line can be a good match for these stiffer high-performance fly rods.
Generally as a rule of thumb, line manufacturers will advise as to what type of rod rating a certain lines works best with. Then of course there is always trial and error.