One rod, one reel, two spools... Which lines?

[petyot]

Hi,

So I have a Switch 11'4 in 8wt, one reel (Danielsson 7twelve) with two spools. The rod will be used for salmons in Quebec rivers.

1. What kind of line would you put on each spool to cover as much situations as possible or to be as complementary as possible : a Skagit and a scandi? a floating and a sinking line? one for streamers and one for bombers? Other options?
2. Would you put 20 or 30lbs line for the backing?

Any help would be greatly appreciate!

Thanks

Pierre

 

[duker]

Hello Pierre:

Confession--I have never fished for Atlantic salmon, so take this for what it's worth.

1. I think going with a Skagit on one spool and a Scandi on the other is a good approach, at least at first until you find what works and what kind of flies you like to throw. I use two-handed rods for fishing steelhead in northern BC and have one rod and reel strung with a Skagit head and another strung with an Airflo Rage head (kind of between a Skagit and a Scandi; I love it). If the water's high and coloured I'll use the Skagit to throw heavy sink tips and big flies; if the water's low and clear I'll use the Rage and an intermediate/light sink tip and smaller more traditional flies. I've also used the Rage a bit with a floating polyleader to skate dries.

2. All of the reels I use for anadromous fish (salmon, steelhead), whether for a single- or two-handed rod, have between 100-150 yards of 30 lb dacron backing. I like 30 lb. just for peace of mind, and would rather have 100 yards of 30 lb backing than 200 yards of 20 lb backing. If a fish gets 100 yards away from you you've got way bigger problems than having enough backing. That said, you will undoubtedly hear from many others with vastly different opinions on backing.

Good luck.

Scott

 

[dillon]

A skagit and Scandi are probably the most common. The skagit for use with sink tips and the scandi for floating line application. Another option for dry line fishing is a long or mid belly line. That’s what I use.

 

[huronfly]

You only need one spool for swapping skagit and scandi heads! I'd use 30lb for sure, and use the other spool on a single hander or overhead casting line for the switch

 

[flav]

Skagit and scandi are both shooting heads, most folks I know use them on the same spool, just switch out the heads as needed. Now if you prefer different running lines for each, then I guess it makes sense to keep each on a different spool, but otherwise it kinda defeats one of the purposes of shooting heads.
I don't fish for Atlantic's either, but I have heard they're much spookier than steelhead, and Skagit heads make a lot of noise, so are not often a preferred option. I'd put a scandi head on one spool, a mid belly line on the other, and keep a Skagit head in your gear just in case you need to go deep.

 

[tcorfey]

I would agree with Huronfly and Flav, I would switch heads to switch between the Scandi and the Skagit line, for my second spool I would use a long belly line also. Just for an example my second spool on my heavier Salmon/Steelhead rig is a SA Mastery Series Steelhead line (I think they call it their Anadro now) and for my lighter trout rig my second spool has an Orvis Easy-mend line. I also have a third spool for my lighter rig and it has an intermediate line Cortland 444 Camo on it. With those line options a full leader wallet with different tips/polyleaders etc you are ready for anything.

 

[duker]

Just out of curiosity, would a long or mid belly line work on an 11' 4" switch rod? I've never fished a switch rod, but wouldn't those lines be too long?

Scott

 

[tcorfey]

Hi Scott, a switch rod is a hybrid tool it can be used for two handed Skagit/Scandi or single handed overhead casting. The long or mid-belly fly line would be used for mostly overhead casting.

In general the long belly fly lines are just normal 90-100' WF fly line with a longer belly and usually a longer rear taper. Where as normal WF lines have a 30-35' head and 65-70' of running line, a long belly line has a 45-50' heads and 50-60' of running line. Kind of a cross between a WF and a DT fly line.

 

[duker]

Thanks tcorfey. I've fished with 13"-ish spey rods for a while now, never a switch, and I'd always thought that the mid and long belly lines were best cast with the longer rods.

Scott

 

[petyot]

Spey and Switch world are not easy to get in because of that question of lines. Single handed rod appears much more accessible in comparison...

Thanks anyway for your help

 

[DJJJenkins]

I think all of the advice above is good! my $0.02 on backing is to always make sure it is stronger than my running line which is stronger (or of equivalent strength) than my head which is stronger than my leader/tippet

Enjoy the journey!