wading into the deep end of the pool here.. Scandi for trout, Skagit for bass correct

[City Rat]

If my general fly fishing rookie and complete spey rookie mind has this right you would use:
1) A scandi head to present flies on the surface and
2) A skagit head setup to swim wet flies, correct?

Assuming that's right I'm looking for recommendations for
3) scandi head setups for trout and
4) skagit head setups for bass.

I have read here that the skagit setup for bass is probably the same as the skagit setup for steelhead, which if correct would be great. I will be fishing the rest of this summer, before waterfowl and deer season begin, fishing the Potomac, Rappahanock and Shenandoah for bass, either wading or from shore. Rio Gripshooter has been recommended as the running line for my new G2 Platinum Beulah rod. Assuming that lives up to the reviews I would be swaping the scandi and skagit heads onto and off that. Thanks.

 

[huronfly]

There are no hard rules but I would use scandi lines to fish SMALL flies and a Skagit to fish LARGE flies. Some scandi style lines are designed to loop on a poly leader which will help achieve depth. If I was fishing a large surface fly I would opt for a Skagit style design... so you can see how things can vary...

That said I'm a big fan of OPST commando and Airflo spey lines, so I would lean towards something like an Airflo switch float for your general scandi/light line fishing and a Commando smooth for your big fly/tip fishing. Notice both are integrated lines, at least personally I have found stripping the head into the guides is just a PITA.

You mention using same setup for steelhead and bass, it is possible, but a steelhead rod will take the fun out of bass fishing IMO. I light to use a 7 switch/spey for steelhead and drop way down to essentially a 3 weight switch with OPST commando for bass. I've never had any trouble throwing bass flies and bringing bass in quickly with this setup either. Oh, and almost anyone I've talked to that's used grip shooter, like the thought of it but the grippy part seems to peel or delaminate from the mono core. Just a few thoughts!

 

[City Rat]

There are no hard rules but I would use scandi lines to fish SMALL flies and a Skagit to fish LARGE flies. Some scandi style lines are designed to loop on a poly leader which will help achieve depth. If I was fishing a large surface fly I would opt for a Skagit style design... so you can see how things can vary...

That said I'm a big fan of OPST commando and Airflo spey lines, so I would lean towards something like an Airflo switch float for your general scandi/light line fishing and a Commando smooth for your big fly/tip fishing. Notice both are integrated lines, at least personally I have found stripping the head into the guides is just a PITA.

You mention using same setup for steelhead and bass, it is possible, but a steelhead rod will take the fun out of bass fishing IMO. I light to use a 7 switch/spey for steelhead and drop way down to essentially a 3 weight switch with OPST commando for bass. I've never had any trouble throwing bass flies and bringing bass in quickly with this setup either. Oh, and almost anyone I've talked to that's used grip shooter, like the thought of it but the grippy part seems to peel or delaminate from the mono core. Just a few thoughts!

On Grip shooter, from the people who you have spoken to did you get a sense of how long it took for any delamination to occur, e.g. thee days of fishing versus three months, three years? On the issue of integrated lines versus non integrated, I take your point on stripping the head through the guides. That said, and just to flesh out the picture on the non integrated line side, does anyone have any thoughts on/ experience with Rio Scandi Short Shooting head (it seems to be designed for tight casting situation) and on the skagit side, Rio Skagit Max or the Rio Skagit Max Game Changer? Again these would marry up with the Grip shooter running line. Thanks.