Guess Who Now Owns a Skagit setup

[Ard]

Every year I fish with people who have came here hoping for a shot at either Kings or Silvers on their Spey rods. And every single one brings with them rods rigged with Skagit heads. Sometimes there will be a question regarding casting and I have to take those rods and demonstrate either how to or where to...….. I'm an adaptable guy and have managed not to make a fool of myself with the short heads but have been thinking for a couple years that I needed to put a rig together so I could hone some Skagit cred for myself.

I went with the Rio Skagit Max which is the 28 foot head, it's a 550 grain and I keep an 11 foot tip made of Z-9 on it all the time. Combine that tip with a weighted fly and I can effectively dredge most of the channels I fish. I'll be taking it along today in about and hour or 2 because we've had some rain and I have no way to know what conditions will be like. Yes there is a USGS river gage but that gage is 60 miles upstream of where I'm headed. The average speed of current and I mean overall average is about 3.5 mph for those 60 miles so whatever the gage says I am dealing with the water where I'm at not where the gage is...…….. Just this past Tuesday I had been on the same river scouting those 60 miles for the third day. When I crawled into my tent Monday at dark I was aware that there was a snag on the opposite side of the river from my little camp. How was I aware of that snag? One of the last things I did Monday was to shoot a fly over there and become immediately caught on it. Due to lighting, my angle of view and the fact that it was hardly causing a stir on the surface I cast directly above it and behind toward the bank. Oops, the moral of the story is that when I came back out into the rather cold daylight the next day that snag was sticking nearly 4" out of the water.

By the time I had broke camp and used the motor in the Mokai to head downriver I caught up with the high water by 1 PM. That's the nature of the water levels at this time of year so having the Skagit along to throw long heavy tips will be a positive thing I think. Of course there is an official Skagit rod so I won't have to be swapping reels and lines. I can rig the long belly with my homemade intermediate leader system and have the deep set up also. I'm actually looking forward to being able to fish this way and will take some pictures while I'm out today.

 

[flav]

I'm like you, Ard, I stuck with long, and mid belly lines for years. I eventually gave Skagit a try, mainly because I really like swinging with tips. I did find Skagit very usefull in cold water when I wanted to get down or when I wanted to cast big flies. The unexpected advantage of Skagit heads is how well they punch into the teeth of a strong wind. Eventually my Skagit heads were relegated to my head wallet in favor of scandi heads, but I still keep them around for windy days. If you really want to get down and get a nice slow swing you should consider an intermediate or multi-density Skagit head, they're definitely worthwhile.

 

[flytie09]

A miracle has happened today folks. Ard has a Skagit setup now.

 

[Ard]

I used it today, it's on an LL Bean Stream Light 13' rod and works well. I didn't catch any fish with it though. I managed 2 trout with the Super Scandi with my weighted leader. I had a 4' piece of Z-12 in the leader and was using a dark brown hair wing tube fly. The trout were really healthy and fat, around 14 inch both I'd say. Almost all the silvers have died off now, I only saw 2 all afternoon. That will make finding a trout or steelhead even harder because when the salmon are spawning you can see them easily. Where you see a bunch of salmon there are generally trout just downstream of them. Now the best you can do is to fish below all the big gravel berms where the salon nests were / are.

Little by little the fish will drop down stream so even though I'll fish the same run, on any given day there can be new fish dropped into it. I'm also thinking of taking a trip north on Tuesday if we don't get a bunch more rain. There's a river about 75 miles north of me that should be fishing pretty well right about now. Days are getting short now but the fishing should pick up a little more before it gets too cold.

 

[ia_trouter]

I think you'll like it Ard. You can really chuck a bobber and a weighted nymph with a rig like that.

J/K you'll find a useful place for skagit in your arsenal.

 

[ddb]

Ard,

Do you or your customers fish skagit heads form your float boat or wading?

To me. chucking heavy heads, sink tips, and weighted flies from a moving boat while still in shake-down mode with the new system would require full NHL goalie protection.

ddb

 

[Ard]

No, the only time I've had anyone fish from the boat was just this past June. There were a group of kings traveling along a cut bank where it was way too deep to approach them so I took the boat up the opposite side of the river...……………….. crossed above them then drifted to the bank where I caught a good handful of vegetation and held us fast. The fisherman was using one of my rods and line / leader sets and cast off the back of the boat. The flies swung into the bank and he caught 2 that way. Once he was solidly hooked I just pushed off the bank - started the motor and chugged across the river to a small gravel beach where we were able to get out - reel the fish in and net them.

There's nowhere I fish that you can cast from a boat. The water requires more than a one cast approach from a drifting boat. The only time I ever put down the anchor and tried myself I hooked a big salmon who quickly swam across the bow then turned upstream. He then changed and went back to the other side of the bow. Of course that took the line under the anchor line then up over top and you can guess how that worked out. I always park and wade, the boay is the means to get there, wading is the way to fly fish

 

[castoff]

Ard. I am using a Redington Chromer 11.6, 7 Wt throwing a Switch Chucker Skagit line and your leader formula with great success

 

[Unknownflyman]

Well it’s about time:wavetowel:

One thing I’ve learned is that it’s just another tool in the tool box, no better or worse than anything else.

That being said In learning every thing two hand related ive been refining my line rigs to lighter and easier to cast and work with.

After fishing hard for a week, feeling like I went 10 rounds every day with a MMA fighter is much less enjoyable season after season spring to fall.

Swinging tubes and classics I’ve found I can use lighter sink tips and skagit heads as well making casting much less clunky, fatiguing and enjoyable.

My early days, you would have thought I was deep sea fishing for sharks, and I was so beat up after miles and miles of swinging.


Between skagit, scandi, and traditional I’ve found the skunk rate stays about the same. LoL

 

[LukeNZ]

OK I’ll have a guess at it,

....my guess is president Trump?

 

[ia_trouter]

OK I’ll have a guess at it,

....my guess is president Trump?

Why don't you just go dump a drum of hazardous waste in his favorite stream while you're here? The furiners are always causin trouble LMAO.

On a more serious note have you had the opportunity to toss the skagit much Ard? Or is this more of a Mokai adventure rod on the smaller water so far?

 

[LukeNZ]

Sorry Luke, we do not do politics here not at all as in never.

 

[mcnerney]

What? Ard got a Skagit setup, I don't know what this world is coming to. Next he will be telling us he sold his boat and is taking up golf. LOL!

 

[Ard]

Last fall Larry,

Then tried to sell the complete setup at a bargain price but had no bites...….

I didn't like the loop to loop running line thing. The line is a RIO Skagit Max with the RIO runner. That loop was a distraction for me so... I got hold of my pal Steve down in Oregon and he made me a pair of 31 foot lines that have a welded running line right on the back end and they are way better.

The lines are 540 grain and fit the Sage X 14 foot #8 rods. What they are essentially are the exact same line as a Ballistic Launch 540 without the 15 foot floating tip. When faced with truly high and swift water I use a 10 foot sink tip made with Z-12 and they cast fairly well considering the tip.

Since I travel by boat I just carry a spar spool for the Sage Spectrum Max and can do a line change if I feel I must. So far this year I have not had the need but I do have one if needed

 

[Ard]

Ard. I am using a Redington Chromer 11.6, 7 Wt throwing a Switch Chucker Skagit line and your leader formula with great success

And there you have it!

All it takes is some practice and it's fish on!

 

[LukeNZ]

Sorry Luke, we do not do politics here not at all as in never.

OK - no problem.

Can I have another guess then..?

 

[Ard]

Of course you can guess as much as you want

We just don't talk politics in any form, we also don't have all the arguing and animosity that conjoins so often between people when they enter such discussions.

There have been a very few instances where fishing related discussions have become heated and I myself was in the fray on a couple occasions. I learned what topics to leave alone and ever since, there has been peace in the valley.

 

[LukeNZ]

Interesting Ard, that you are now grooving out on your new Skagit set-up (yes, I guessed it was you and not really big D..!).

And also, that in a parallel universe, I recently discovered Scientific Anglers Integrated Spey-Lite Scandi lines and am in awe of them, so kind of in reverse to you at the moment - me being an OPST Commando junkie... since forever!

For trout, a 330gn. Scandi on a 5wt. Trout-Spey will throw anything I would fish for trout with - which can be rather large, or heavy on the odd occasion.

Mostly, using now 270-300gn. Scandi-Lite on 3wt. and 4wt. troutspeys respectively, which covers pretty much everything in kiwi trout land. Though a 5wt. troutspey can get a fair bit of play time too.

Didn’t think it would ever get any better than troutspey on OPST Commando smooth Skagit lines - so there ya go!

Cheers and Friday night beers,
Luke.

 

[Ard]

You misunderstand Luke, I'm not using it, I only own them so that if I were to need them I have them.

I use full Spey lines with integrated running lines and make my own sinking leaders. If you look to our Spey forums there are sticky posts on top the sub forums that detail the leader systems, there's even a video there. Just click the 'Forum' tab near the top of any page and scroll down to find Spey Forums.

 

[duker]

One of us. . .one of us. . .one of us.

Seriously though, Ard, as others have said it's just another tool in the box. Like many, I started out with a Skagit head and still use one for heavy tips and flies. If you need to dredge, or toss a chicken-sized fly, there's nothing better. And a good intro for guests who've never cast a two-handed rod before but want or need to use one.

Scott