Hey folks,
Curious about thoughts on approaching summer steelhead with skagit gear. Instead of switching to scandi lines and all sorts of leader variations as a lot of guys like to do during the spring/summer/fall, I'm wanting to stick to my skagit setup that I feel is pretty dialed in and I'm happy with. I want to do this mostly for the sake of simplicity. With that being said, I'd love to know some thoughts on leaders if I were to use, for example, a 5/5 MOW, a 7.5/2.5 MOW, or a full floating MOW, with a smaller summer pattern. In the winter I throw on about 4ft of 12lb and don't overthink it too much. With that short leader and a heavier/bulkier fly it's pretty easy to understand where and how my fly is fishing. Given the summer conditions I would naturally think to lengthen and lighten that leader. My concern is, that as that leader gets longer the connection you have to the fly would become harder to manage and eventually you wouldn't really be fishing any more. Do some find that's where scandi heads and polyleader setups excel? Effectively fishing small flies and long leaders? Or am I overthinking it, and just throw on 6ft of 10lb flouro with a muddler and go fishing?
Would love to hear opinions! Thanks.
Curious about thoughts on approaching summer steelhead with skagit gear. Instead of switching to scandi lines and all sorts of leader variations as a lot of guys like to do during the spring/summer/fall, I'm wanting to stick to my skagit setup that I feel is pretty dialed in and I'm happy with. I want to do this mostly for the sake of simplicity. With that being said, I'd love to know some thoughts on leaders if I were to use, for example, a 5/5 MOW, a 7.5/2.5 MOW, or a full floating MOW, with a smaller summer pattern. In the winter I throw on about 4ft of 12lb and don't overthink it too much. With that short leader and a heavier/bulkier fly it's pretty easy to understand where and how my fly is fishing. Given the summer conditions I would naturally think to lengthen and lighten that leader. My concern is, that as that leader gets longer the connection you have to the fly would become harder to manage and eventually you wouldn't really be fishing any more. Do some find that's where scandi heads and polyleader setups excel? Effectively fishing small flies and long leaders? Or am I overthinking it, and just throw on 6ft of 10lb flouro with a muddler and go fishing?
Would love to hear opinions! Thanks.
