crunch Posted November 8, 2008 Report Share Posted November 8, 2008 I have fished few times in surf with 15' #10 TH rod. Started using OH casts but lately mostly Spey casting short belly ~60' floating line and some sinking shooting heads as short as 35'. With them it is easy to cover 90 to 100' water using smallish ~4'' streamers but it is possible to OH cast up to 120' without overloading rod. These lines have long front tapers which limit fly size more than I would like to use. 6'' streamer is largest they deliver without collapsing and distance drops already. Another factor which makes casting challenging is anghoring in the surf. I do not have much experience but it helps when I time my casts so that waves break at same "phase" so anchor becomes more constant. There are a lot of Skagit videos in YouTube and elsewhere. It seems like surf could have less effect to Skagit gear because line head is significantly heavier. Also because of head weight it should be possible to use really large flyes. Are there anyone among us who use Skagit? Possibly in surf? dkanoafry 1 "Game fish are too valuable to be caught only once" 1939 Lee Wulff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfbasser Posted November 8, 2008 Report Share Posted November 8, 2008 I use Skagit Gear in the salt for Stripers in breachways and canals with at least a 2 knot current flow. If you play with the T-14 length after the Skagit head enough you will end up with an outfit that can fish large flies in a rip without requiring any backcast room. I use an 11 foot rod to not give the fish much leverage in the current and have some ability to control the landing of the fish. I still fish the surf with my single handers because I fish close-in and I feel that they are better suited to that task than any two-handed technique. If I use real large flies I upsize my line. Canal FlyRodder & Member SG3CFCI dunk my VS because I carry a self repair kit at all timesLove those La y, Ha y, Day of Summer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianBM Posted November 9, 2008 Report Share Posted November 9, 2008 jfbasser, some elaboration on how Skagit tackle differs from any other two-handed fly tackle, please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunch Posted November 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2008 Main difference is short (25'...) and heavy floating head section and short, usually 5' to 10' tips with wanted sink rate which form a head 3 to 3.5 times rod lenght. Usually rods are slover and bend all the way but some like fast rods. Spey and Scandi rods as well as lighter Switch rods all work fine because... ...Timing on Skagit casts is not critical. There are many named casts but generally they just position line close to you. Sinking leader and fly may and need to sink which makes water anghor for a cast and then you do continuous cast, back and forward, which launches head, which pulls tip, leader and fly. If you search "perry poke" in YouTube there is short example how easy Skagit basically is but there are a lot more. And it is born in America if it has something to do. "Game fish are too valuable to be caught only once" 1939 Lee Wulff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfbasser Posted November 9, 2008 Report Share Posted November 9, 2008 Crunch has it down...One other difference about Skagit vs. Spey is that typically you shoot line into a Skagit cast and then you have the ability to retrieve and fish back quite a bit of line rather than just swing the fly. Also, the Sakgit D-loop is much smaller so flies do not get caught on rocks behind you along the jetty as easily as the Spey style with very long heads. Canal FlyRodder & Member SG3CFCI dunk my VS because I carry a self repair kit at all timesLove those La y, Ha y, Day of Summer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianBM Posted November 10, 2008 Report Share Posted November 10, 2008 Hmmm. I'll have to look this up. Gentlemen, thank you both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishHawk II Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 I use my two handed rod and over hand cast with it . Works like a charm. I can out cast some of the so called hot shots with my two hander. I have also used the skagit line and it's not that difficult to cast with but I perfer the overhanded method. FishHawk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunch Posted February 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 Here is a link to a video of one Skagit cast. It is done cackhanded which is a teghnigue used those who do not like to cast from weak side. But it shows the basig principle and purpose of anghor. http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...t=DSCN2738.flv "Game fish are too valuable to be caught only once" 1939 Lee Wulff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunch Posted March 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 In this video on the left is nice Skagit casting with 12.5ft TH rod using 600gr floating head and sinking tip. Spraying water is called "the mouse" which can be seen clearly if you select full screen mode. " target="_blank"> Caster on right is practising SH spey casts using also "other" hand. It looks good but loops open wide because forward stop goes far too low. "Game fish are too valuable to be caught only once" 1939 Lee Wulff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canyondiver Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 In this video on the left is nice Skagit casting with 12.5ft TH rod using 600gr floating head and sinking tip. Spraying water is called "the mouse" which can be seen clearly if you select full screen mode. " target="_blank"> Caster on right is practising SH spey casts using also "other" hand. It looks good but loops open wide because forward stop goes far too low. That is fun to watch... Thanks! Proud to be a NERB and I have the shirts to prove it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianBM Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 I am bumping this thread for a reason. I worked today and am too damn grumpy to pay useful attention to these Utube video links. Tomorrow I hope I am not so damn grumpy, and can enjoy fishing fantasies without difficulty. Now I am just damn grumpy. If the cat comes near I may kick her. Or squirt her with the water bottle. Or sumpin'. Damn cat. Damn wretched self-indulgent tempermental egotistic judge. I hate working on Sundays. Anyway, tomorrow I follow up on these links. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunch Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Last week I was able to practice Skagit teghnigue in windy surf. It was not so easy as I was hoping but I do not give up yet although I like and know Underhand better. What intrests me in Skagit is heavy and large flys they use fishing Steelhead. Long Zonkers with weighted eyes are difficult to cast but they say Skagit performs great. These examples are running water fishing but that Snap-C cast that left caster mostly uses can be done in still water too. Perhaps Perry Poke is more efficient when casting straight forward which is more usual in Salt. I used T-14 sinking tip and Intermediate which was easier to launch. It is important that the tip sinks so that anghor does not slip but when that T-14 got too deep it ruined the cast which is obvious. And timing a cast in surf was challenging but when it was right it flew far. But caster does not have to turn his head to see if there is anyone behind him which is nice and there is no need to have much back cast room. Do you know if there are suitable locations in Cape Cod Canal for Skagit fisherman? "Game fish are too valuable to be caught only once" 1939 Lee Wulff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfbasser Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Do you know if there are suitable locations in Cape Cod Canal for Skagit fisherman? There are a few and we have small get togethers about 3 times per year. We try not to disturb the surf rod folks, so we pick our spots and our tides. Send me a PM with potential number of attendees. Canal FlyRodder & Member SG3CFCI dunk my VS because I carry a self repair kit at all timesLove those La y, Ha y, Day of Summer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 "Grains is good!" The "Psycho Flyfisherman" on the block (so says Stewie)" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfbasser Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 "Grains is good!" We still need to find the right rod length for that place, in case we hook a big boy again. We also want to limit the amount of bruises on Sean's tummy. BTw Sean is a go via PM. Canal FlyRodder & Member SG3CFCI dunk my VS because I carry a self repair kit at all timesLove those La y, Ha y, Day of Summer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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