As Iain says in a previous comment ... 'T' = how much 't'ungsten is integrated into each foot of the tip ... with the approx. sink rate per second following. Ex. T-8 = Tungsten sink tip that sinks at between 6-8 inches per second. Typically these weights integrate with your rod length and rod weight to make a balanced setup - the weights of the tips (either T-Tips, Floating, Intermediate or 'Type' tips etc.) vary depending on the speed of the water, depth one would want to reach and also how you personally fish your setup. A balanced setup makes the casting stroke more fluent, efficient, easier and overall more enjoyable. Forcing your casting stroke or using an unbalanced setup makes for a rugged day on the H20 when Spey casting. These basics go for both Scandi and Skagit setups with your Spey rod of choice.
Thank you Dick! We planed these films very careful not to step on any toes and also try our best to translate the style so that everyone can enjoy it`s benefits. Thank you for watching Best regard`s Johan Ruhe Producer
I think that the videos you produce are outstanding! I was thrilled by all the different areas and species that you pursue!Your programs make me smile every time I watch them.The hosts and personalities of the people are very enjoyable!I would love to have these programs on DVD’s if possible!Keep up the great work! Tight lines🎣🎣🎣🎣
I had the chance of trying spey fishing early this year and I liked it. I don't have the equipment yet and I hope I'll get it soon so I can practice. Thank you for all the explanation about skagit and I hope to see more of your videos.
I dig your video just one thing ... T = Tungsten. Over here in the states the tips come in T-8, T-11, T-14, T-17, and T-20 ... The numbering scheme shows the number of "grains" per foot of line. Grains are our measurement for grams and rio has a conversion chart someplace Online but I guess that doesn't matter since you guys buy them in grams over there anyhow :). anyway keep up the good work with the videos!
Also, I fish saltwater 99% of the time on the West Coast of California ... I've been single hand fishing for years but problems always arise when the surf is high because you need 9 or 10 wt rods to have enough line weight to stay on the bottom where the fish are. In the winter using a rod of that size stinks because we only have surf perch in the surf zone that time of year and they max out at 15 inches ... Using a 10wt is like a broom stick with these fish. With a Spey rod it solves the line weight problem and still allows you to have fun fighting smaller fish plus you can cover way more water with less effort. The only time I even use my single hand rods anymore is when I'm sight fishing in shallow water or fishing from my kayak, other than that I'm totally sold on skagit heads and spey style fishing!
Hey Im using my 6 wt. on the beach for Corbina (Beans) .....but they are right on shore in 3 " to 12 " of water so Im sight fishing them , thats the only time i hit the beach .....Now also Im using the 6 wt. in the local river outlets and lagoons in San Diego county as well and getting Spotties, corvina , calico bass , and halibut ......I just picked up a 10 wt. / 10' 6" rod , double hander .....so now I have to learn how to use it.... (ha)! not sure what it is ...kinda short for a spey rod ....maybe a mini switch rod ......dont know but Im going to practice 2 handed casting techniques with it .....have to find out what line will work best for it too .....any suggestions ? ok off to fish now !
lately the only time I pick up my single handers are for sighting corbina or fishing the bays in my tube (I also us a single hand 6wt for those applications) otherwise I've been using switch or spey rods. With that said sighting beans gets my blood pumping. I was just out yesterday for my first bean stalking venture of the season ... didn't see anything good though... too much surf churning things up. When fishing two handers I use mostly skagit heads because 90% of the time I'm using heavily weighted flies in the surf and bays and a skagit head turns them over well. lining a switch or spey rod can be a challenge ... lets put it this way, I have a whole collection of heads and only 3 two handers ... many of the heads are just sitting there waiting for a day when I get another two hander that they might work with LOL. It's not easy to find perfection without spending some cash in the process. a good reference point is the Rio spey line recommendation chart .... they have a current one and one for discontinued rods as well, see if your stick is on the list and it's a good starting reference point. I dig the rio skagit max floating heads and the rio skagit iflight head which has a short floating back section with the 15 feet or so being intermediate. Regarding my original comment I was more speaking about fishing California's Central Coast for Stripers and such where you need heavy grain weights to battle strong currents and large surf and you need the backbone of a spey rod to cast 7" or bigger flies to stripers. I live in San Diego but recently over the last year or so have started to travel North to the SF Bay Area to chase stripers in the spring and summer. for down here in San Diego I'm using an 11'7 RB Meiser 5/6 Highlander Switch ... I use a 475 grain rio skagit max head with 10 foot intermediate (imow) tip and 10-12 feet of 6-12lb flourocarbon tippet for places like mission bay (from shore) or rio level T heads and an intermediate running line when casting in the surf. I love being able to fish the bay even when it's crowded on the beach because I can do water born casts with the switch rod with no back casting and no worries of hooking someone behind me. For Stripers I'm using an RB Meiser 13'6 Highlander CX 7/8/9 and a TFO Deer Creek 13'6 8/9 as a backup. If you are really interested in two handers I highly recommend rods from Bob Meiser ... you call him on the phone and tell him what you want to do and he will work out whats best for your applications over the phone then he makes your rod to order and the price is insanely good for the high quality and performance you get. Your 10'6 would be more of a Switch rod but you can still do spey casts with it ... you could technically use spey casting techniques with a single hander as well. 10'6 is just part of the new trend for spey rods to be shorter and a lot of 2 handed beach rods seems to come in sizes between 9'9 and 11'0. with your rod being a 10wt I would say that's probably overkill for everything but leopard sharks down here but if you traveled north of point conception you'd want that 10 wt to deal with the currents and the big fish up there. As far as learning the two handed casting techniques I'd say the hardest thing to wrap your brain around is going to be using your bottom hand to apply load to the rod rather than the top hand ... too much top hand and things will come apart on you quick. check Ed Ward's video thats out there on youtube about skagit casting techniques or another good youtube series I learned a lot from watching is "spey casting with Jon" which is Ashland Fly Shops video series on spey casting and fishing and he's pretty good at laying out the steps to each type of cast and explaining in detail. 99% of the instruction you'll find is not going to focus on casting in the salt or still water, you'll need to take the river techniques and apply them to the salt environment the best you can... sounds like maybe you have freshwater experience ... I have absolutely no freshwater experience aside from sighting carp from time to time in urban rivers so it might be easier for you to adapt than it was for me at first. good luck.
Yea I love hucking Big bugs at em too ....I tie my own flies and some are over 6 inches ....Im getting halibut and Corvina on the bigger streamers ....Thanks for the rio reference ....I will look it up and try to find something for that 10 wt. I wish it was a 7/8 wt. but the price was right and I know I can use it another day some place else ....but the big deal is I want to learn how to cast double hand ......cover some water ....I did learn how to fly fish in the Sierras where i work in the winter at a ski resort from Mammoth to Tahoe and beyond ....but grew up at the beach in north county SD. and thought I would give it a go down here in the flats and lagoons with the fly rod ....and I have had a blast !! ok thanks again .....
Cool man good luck it just takes a little persistence and practice and you'll get the two handed casting down... most of the guys up north use a modified overhead cast using a snap T Or snake roll setup combined with a back cast and shoot... take a look at a video that's out on Vimeo and some other sites by Ken Hanley titled "western linesides" and you'll see how they cast in the surf in the SF Bay Area... I like using more traditional skagit casts in Stillwater though. About the 7/8 I think you'd really want a 5/6 down here which would cover most grain weights between 6wt and 8wt used on single handers and its just more fun to fight the smaller fish we have down here in the surf and bays. Keep in mind line ratings for Spey rods are a different beast than single handers .... single hand 6wt would max out at 235 grains or so but a 5/6wt Spey can cast between 400 and 600 grains depending on the taper. Anyway, nice chatting and good luck out there
I have a beautiful Loop LTS X2 14.6 #10 rod that I struggle a bit to find the right skagit line for, or rather, what weight to go for. I am primarily fishing from the coast, ie. largeish/heavyish flies in windy conditions and in deepish but rather still water, so I have landed at the Vision "Skagit hammer" intermediate/sink 3, but what weight....??? Also, Vision mention both the T-tip and the Hybrid tip as compatible with the "Skagit Hammer" shooting head, but the T-tip weigh between 10-17 grain, and the hybrid between 140-170 grain, so they MUST cast rather differently, I'll think....? -I know, they say that with skagit, You are not supposed to count in the weight of the tip, buuut, surely such a huge difference must affect the cast....???
Probably something around 750 grains. On my 9/10 I use 720. Keep in mind for T-tip it is measured in grains per foot. So 10 ft of T-14 will weight 140 grains. And no, there is a very small difference in casting.
No I dont. The core is made of powerflex. The coating has tungsten powder impregnated into it. The core is much like the core in a floating line. Cheers from the land of big rainbows,