Compact or single hand skagit heads?

[newsteelyman]

Anyone tried these on their light spey rods or switch rods yet? I can't wait to try one. Gotta get to the coast and do some shoppin' soon. There is a total lack of decent fly shops in my area, which makes it tough to try different lines etc, but I sure the wife/banker doesn't mind.:doh:
Later,
Brian

[phearless]

Hey Brian.
I have one in a box here but haven't finished the rod for it yet.
Gotta get my butt in gear.
Might try it out on my 8 or 9 wght. single hand.

[btree]

What are the specs for those short head skagits that you'd put on an 8wt single hander?

I'm looking at chopping a 8/9/10 windcutter to make a skagit-like line for my 8wt.

Right now it has already been chopped by it's previous owner, so it's 40' and 465grains (instead of 55' and 585grains). I figure it averages out to be just over 120grains every 10feet or so.

I figure the 3.5 x rod length ratio will not be quite right for a 9'6" single hander, and I'm looking at going to something more like a 3x or 2.75x ratio, so I'm looking at ~28.5 feet and likely ~350grains or ~26 feet and ~315grains...not totally sure on the grains, but I figure that between 300 and 360 grains will work well for a homemade skagit-like line. I'll likely cut it back to about 28 feet and see how that feels with 10' poly tips and go from there.

I cut back an 8wt floater to make a ~5wt skagit head, and I love it with my trout rod. It isnt really as heavy as a skagit would be for a 5 wt, but the extra grains certainly help with different switch/spey casts, and I can also load overhead casts with only one or two false casts. Shoots like a darn into my backing (though the line is less than 80' now that I cut the front dozen or so feet off)...punchy! Certainly not suitable for fishing mayflies, but great for streamers, big stoneflies and battling the wind up here on the peace river.

[newsteelyman]

Scientific Angler's makes an 8wt. sinlge hand skagit line which i think specs out at 23' long and 400 grains for the head. the 7wt. is 360 at 23', the 6 wt. is 320 at 22' and the 5wt. is 280 grain at 22'. I have an 11' switcher that I use a compact skagit which is 23' at 420 grains I think. with it I can do 2 handed style spey casts but single hand over-head feels 'clunky'.
hope this helps,
Brian

[btree]

Scientific Angler's makes an 8wt. sinlge hand skagit line which i think specs out at 23' long and 400 grains for the head. the 7wt. is 360 at 23', the 6 wt. is 320 at 22' and the 5wt. is 280 grain at 22'. I have an 11' switcher that I use a compact skagit which is 23' at 420 grains I think. with it I can do 2 handed style spey casts but single hand over-head feels 'clunky'.
hope this helps,
Brian

Wow - 400grains for an 8wt...okie dokie

I was just making a guess off the beulah switch rods to match my 8wt 9'6"

Their 7/8 10'6" takes this:
Spey casting-370-390 grains at 29-31 ft.

~Beulah Elixir 380 (Designed Specifically for our Switch 7/8)
~Rio windcutter 7/8/9 omit tip 2, Skagit 350

So I figured that a 9'6" 8 wt would take something in the same grains window and similar head length, or a bit shorter.

Since I'm basically scrapping that windcutter, I figure I'd experiment

[geoffvl]

If you could find a airflo compact 360 grain or 390 grain I bet that would work great. They're 23 feet long. Maybe you could test drive one somewhere.

[btree]

Sounds good to me.

I move down to the Island in about 2 weeks, so I'll run by this shop I tend to frequent when I'm down and see what's out there for me.

I think I'll be going to a shooting head system to save on the number of reels! I already have enough $$ tied up in gear, but a few more lines wouldn't hurt :doh:

[btree]

ok - I think I'm going to leave my single handed skagit experiment to my light rod and let my 8wt be for overhead casting. My wrist, elbow, shoulder and back do not like trying to single hand such a heavy line, and I only had about a 60 grain poly tip on the end, but it was not super fun.

I like the 8wt chopped line on my 5 wt, but a 10wt chopped section from that windcutter on my 8wt single hander is a workout, so I'll just get decently good at my two hander and leave it at that for a while till I have things figured.

Spey to Z shows single handed spey casting on a 7wt, but those guys are just a wee bit better at it than I am so it looks effortless...

So much to learn

[SalaR]

As with all things if you have the $$ it becomes easier..One of the biggest breakthroughs in the single hand fly fishing world was the introduction by Loop of the OptiStream line. Basically it is a short head,approx 30',shooting floating line.;I've been using them for about 7 years now...the down side is they can't manage large flies. Nice lines but limited to Dry Fly and small fly work! So along comes Beulah with their Switch rods and all hell breaks loose with finding Line Matches for these great little sticks(to me). So Beulah set out to match their rods with smooth shooting lines;the Elixir,that are designed for the additional Poly tips . From Floating to Fast Sink. But what really happened was the discovery of some very smooth and wonderful fly lines for even Single handed rods. For the past several years we have been using the Switch Elixir line 295 grains,for #7 and #8 single handers. Now we have a 245 grain for 6 weights as well...and they really work not only to fish but improve your casting. They also have the short Tonic heads,a design like a compact Skagit that works for larger flies. It is not about distance,it is about getting your presentation to the fish and having fun doing just that.
A friend was so set against Spey casting he blindly choose to be stubborn only to watch a yuo tube demo. on underhand casting with a single hand rod...he came to me with what he thought was an "ephiphany" only to realize this is what we have been . He tried every line on the market and came to the realization that the Elixir was in his words"the best line in the world!" Of course that is for his needs on the Kispiox where he spends September to October fishing for Steel. Last year he purposely became expert with this style and tells everyone that for 2 months he didn't make a single overhead back cast,landed more fish and didn't suffer the usual joint problems. But remember he doesn't fish tea towels!
So you don't have to really cut down lines and re-discover the wheel...
C

[btree]

I know I dont have to reinvent the wheel - but my local shop doesnt have any of these products you mention, and I'm impatient

I figured that I'd be tossing that old windcutter in the bin soon any way, so I cut it for the experiement.