can you recommend a line for my rod?

[wabi]

I recently purchased an 11' Wright McGill two hand rod. Even though it was marked 5wt it is not even close to a 5wt.

After talking to Steve Godshall and measuring the ERN using the "common cents" method Steve recommended a 525gr Skagit short head. The head loads the rod well, but I feel like a longer head might work better for me. The RIO head, tip, and leader (6') only give me about 36' of line out when I start the spey cast.

I also tried an 11wt Scientific Anglers Sharkskin (saltwater taper) line on the rod for overhead casting and it works very well for me.

I'd like to try something closer to 44' (4:1 ratio).
The S/A Atlantic Salmon head in 8/9 size (520gr) is 38' which would be close to 54' total using a 10' tip & 6' leader.
S/A also lists a "shooting taper", but I can't find any specs on it that tell me much. All their site says is ST-6-10-F is a total of 30' (very close to what I'd like to try) but it gives no weights. Would they be rated for single hand or spey (would I need 8wt or 11?) Would this be a possibility?

BTW - I'm not a big fan of Rio lines.

 

[MoscaPescador]

I'm not going to get into rod to head length ratios since I don't follow them.

Be very careful going to longer heads on switch rods. They just don't cast well. Your d-loops will get so big, that you will have a difficult time handling them. Think about it this way: shorter heads for shorter rods and longer heads for longer rods.

Dennis

 

[wt bash]

Try a DT 7 off it, you just have to figure out how much line to have outside the tip. I tried a DT10 off my TFO DC and loved it but it takes up some room to form a D-loop. Plus side to a DT line if you ever make it up this way to swing for lake runs in winter a DT line doesn't have to be stripped in every cast so it cuts down on the icy guides. It just takes some getting used to and a bit more room than the short shooting heads. The shorter shooting heads do work well off switch rods but I like the way the DT lays out a nice smooth cast, good for low water spooky fish.

 

[wabi]

Try a DT 7 off it, you just have to figure out how much line to have outside the tip. I tried a DT10 off my TFO DC and loved it but it takes up some room to form a D-loop. Plus side to a DT line if you ever make it up this way to swing for lake runs in winter a DT line doesn't have to be stripped in every cast so it cuts down on the icy guides. It just takes some getting used to and a bit more room than the short shooting heads. The shorter shooting heads do work well off switch rods but I like the way the DT lays out a nice smooth cast, good for low water spooky fish.

DT 7?????
This rod is more like an 11wt single hand rod in an accurate size rating.

(I'm just guessing, but I figure the person that rated it was confused and subtracted 3 line weights instead of adding them to convert 8wt spey to get a single hand rating.)

 

[wt bash]

My bad, I got stuck on the 5wt part. Checkout Airflo's Tactical Steelhead, the 7wt weighs 520grns at 39'. Skagit style casts require a shorter stroke than most people are used to at first so I would try tightening up and staying "inside the box" as Ed Ward goes on about in the original Skagitmaster before buying anymore lines. I've fished skagit, scandi and double tapers off my switch rod and in my experiance the longer the head length, lighter is better as the surface tension will do alot of the loading. The same style of cast isn't going to work for all the different lines each one requires a different discipline.

 

[BigCliff]

A "5wt" that needs a 500+ grain line?

Jeebus. Wright McGill done goofed!

 

[wabi]

Skagit style casts require a shorter stroke than most people are used to at first so I would try tightening up and staying "inside the box" as Ed Ward goes on about in the original Skagitmaster before buying anymore lines.

Now you have my attention. I suspect that may be a lot of my problem after thinking about my casting attempts with the short Skagit head.

A "5wt" that needs a 500+ grain line?

Jeebus. Wright McGill done goofed!

They sure did, and by more than a little bit.
All I can think of to explain it is someone tried to convert spey weight to single hand for a "switch" rating and subtracted instead of adding. 3 line weights x 2 = 6 line weights off the mark.

 

[wt bash]

I've got a copy of the original Skagit Master DVD somewhere around here if you want it. For all intents and purposes it is a great instructional dvd and it'll have you casting finest kind by the end of it.