[Yinzer007]

Hello all,
I am new into the spey/switch game and purchased a 11'6" 8wt chromer. Its main purpose would be for Erie steelhead and Ontario salmon, but on occasion I would like to take it out to chase some larger trout. What would be a good head and leader setup? I was thinking of a floating head with a sinking versaleader. The water I would be fishing is riffles and runs that are anywhere from 2' to 5' deep. I would probably be throwing streamers in the 2" to 4" range with the occasional large nymph. I know what I have is a bit too much rod for trout, I was just hoping I could use it on occasion. Thank you very much for your input

Ed

 

[Casey]

Get a #8 Rio Scandi body with the 10ft tips (rio scandi short versitip). The Rio scandi body is a short scandi, 25ft. Being short, it allows you to skagit cast it while having scandi grace and finess. It's a super versatile system. There are tips that go from floating, int, s3, and s6. Think about it as being a graceful skagit set up that you can still fish in the fall, winter, and spring for steelhead and salmon. For leader, I usually run a 6" 25lb maxima butt section to 2-4' of 12-15lb maxima.

 

[ghostrider408]

If you want to try a shorter Skagit head I would suggest an appropriately weighted OPST Commando head or Airflo Scout head. A 425 grain Commando head would work pretty well on that rod. For the Scout I would go up to the 450 grain head. Just another option to consider. I run Rio Scandi Body heads on my 3 and 4 wt. trout speys in addition to Commandos and Scouts on the same rods. It's fun to experiment with different heads and different casting styles.

 

[GHalliday]

I second Ghostrider. Get a commando head and use whatever tip you think you will need. I use Commandos with poly leaders, floating tips, sink tips, MOW tips, whatever. Also maybe try a Tonic switch head. Very versatile, very under rated head for trout.