[link]

I've been reading all the threads I can find about the Skagit Tecnique and it's time to try it. I found a S.A. spey short head line two sizes up from my rod's wt. and am considering cutting it back to @ 3xs my rod length. Am I on the right track? I saw Ed, Scott and Mike at the clave and trying to remember their presentations. Better get an extra large Tilly hat, eh.

Also, a buddy asked me, can you use a floating line and long leader? I assumed this is a tecnique just for tips.

Thanks in advance.

link

 

[JDJones]

Attempting Skagit Cast

Let me emphasize attempting the Skagit cast. I have only been playing with this technique since just before the Sandy Clave myself.
I am not sure if it will work as a full floater with a long leader as the system relies heavily on line stick. Ed does sometimes use only a five foot sink tip and, of course, a relativly short leader of four or five foot length. Just keep in mind that

1. 1. all sink tips should be equal length. Like 5' sink+10' floating.,,,10' sink+5' floating,,,15' sink.
2. 2. all of the "tip" plus the leader & fly should be on the water when you make the cast.

The stroke itself is very short & fast, ending with a positive stop at the ten (two) o'clock position. Hate that termonology but don't know how else to describe it. Ed only uses two casts, the Double Spey, and the Perry Poke. And since the stroke is so short, they can be done across the body, or reverse style, if the wind dictates.

I have found the timing to be somewhat different than what I was used to as a long line caster. But when I hit it right, I can fire a big dumbell weighted bunny strip fly and fifteen feet of T-14 a whole lot easier than with a long line.

 

[MJC]

Hey Link...

You've got mail from Poppy.

 

[kush]

JD,

Actually Ed's casting stroke is quite a long stroke - especially for a short head cast. The reason he doesn't rip the whole anchor out of the water is the large amount of line that is used for the water load. With the long stroke Ed can really crank the load on the rod, which is what generates the tremendous line speed of the Skagit cast.

This long casting stroke was one of the "saving graces" that greatly shortened my learning curve with the Skagit cast. Since I learned to cast with extreme long belly lines, my default casting stroke was very long, this killed my attempts with any short head set-ups I tried. It wasn't until Ed got me to "see the light" as far as the sustained load of the Skagit cast was concerned. The heavy fly, short dense tip and length of line involved with the sustained anchor fit beautifully with my "long-belly" casting stroke.

While I still love to cast my long belly lines, the down and dirty fishing casts of my winter and spring steelheading will be Skagit Casts a la Ed.