Can I cast Skagit Spey line on my 8wt single hander.
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It will work but you need to cut the head back and adjust your grains to find out what works best. I would think you would want to be under 350 grains for it to work properly.
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4,113 Posts
I'm kinda confused by the question. Are you asking if your skagit line will fit on you reel, or if you can skagit cast with a single hander? I don't know what reel you have, but if it has the capacity, sure. Yes, you can spey cast with a single hander using a skagit head-- the more compct the easier. Are you wanting to false cast and shoot or anchor and go?
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No way. Reading between the sarcasm of the other posts, the reason is that spey and single hand line weights are rated differently. If I recall correctly, an 8wt spey line is roughly equivalent to a 10wt single hand line. That will overload your 8wt single hand rod too severely. If you try to adjust that weight by trimming the line, now you'll be playing fly line designer and will likely wind up with a screwed up taper.
If I were you, I'd sell your intact skagit line and buy a normal single hand 8wt line.
If I were you, I'd sell your intact skagit line and buy a normal single hand 8wt line.
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Lugan, where's is the sarcasm? All the posts, including yours, offer good advice. I have a skagit head for my streamer rod, but the grain weight matches the rod- 9.5 ft 7wt. Lugan is correct; if the grain weight of the line you have does not match the rod, get rid of it, trade it in, or get a rod to match the line.
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Kyle,
I doubt it. I couldn't. An 8 wt line weighs 210 grains. A 500 grn Skagit head is more than twice as heavy as the line your 8 wt single hand rod is rated for. Give it a try. I think you'll conclude the same as I do that it ain't gonna' be a happenin' thing.
Sg
I doubt it. I couldn't. An 8 wt line weighs 210 grains. A 500 grn Skagit head is more than twice as heavy as the line your 8 wt single hand rod is rated for. Give it a try. I think you'll conclude the same as I do that it ain't gonna' be a happenin' thing.
Sg
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60 Posts
Heavy Heads for Single Hand rods:
Heavy heads have been used for a number of years to accommodate mini double Spey, Snap-T, and roll cast and shoot type of casts. These lines were originally designed to do a change of direction roll cast and then pick up and shoot. I am not sure that certain people would consider them to be true Skagit lines or not but then I am not sure whether you would be able to get only one definition of what Skagit means to every person.
Here are some considerations for coming up with a line that will work for some close in sustained anchor types of casts as well as roll cast pick up and shoot types:
1 In order to get the unstuck from the water enough to be able to shoot on the forward cast the total head length needs to be really short (about three times the rod length including the sink-tip if one is being used)
2 Longer rods help keep the line moving better than Short (When using my Deer Creek sink-tips with clients over the years Through trial and error I found that a minimum of 9 1/2 feet was needed and ten feet was better)
3 Since you can’t utilize the leverage of a two handed grip the rod must load and flex to the butt relatively easy, otherwise the strain of the cast is transferred to your casting arm.
4 Over loading tip taper type rods (ones that only flex at the tip) often results in breakage do to putting all of the strain on a small section of rod
5 It will be difficult to use really heavy sink tips like T-14 and still get smooth clean turn over. Usually factory sink-tips like type 6 or type 8 are about as heavy as you can balance with a belly that balances for single handed rods.
6 When designing the original Deer Creek sink-tips I had not thought of using Grain scales. Instead I used trial and error to come up with a belly that would turn over a sink-tip cleanly without a bad hinge. So I used line weights instead of scale measurements and the original formula was to use a single handed shooting head that was two times the line weight designation of the rod and a sink-tip that was one line weight above the rods designation. So for an eight weight rod a floating belly of ten weight and a sink-tip of nine weight. Today I might go a little heavier than the original belly weights with a grain scale but not much.
7 Also I would mention that a good solid foundation on what it takes to cast single and two handed rods is needed to be able to do these casts without hurting yourself or coming away with “Popeye” arms.
An easy way to come up with this line configuration is to use an Airflow 40 Plus line two line weights up from the rod designation cut the belly 15 ft from the running line and loop it there. Then use eight or nine weight tips or the floating tip that came with the Forty Plus. There are also other lines on the market today that fit this scenario but I do not have enough experience to recommend the correct line weights.
If you are wanting to learn the ins and outs of casting these lines I am ready and willing to take you out for a day of guiding and instruction. MK
Heavy heads have been used for a number of years to accommodate mini double Spey, Snap-T, and roll cast and shoot type of casts. These lines were originally designed to do a change of direction roll cast and then pick up and shoot. I am not sure that certain people would consider them to be true Skagit lines or not but then I am not sure whether you would be able to get only one definition of what Skagit means to every person.
Here are some considerations for coming up with a line that will work for some close in sustained anchor types of casts as well as roll cast pick up and shoot types:
1 In order to get the unstuck from the water enough to be able to shoot on the forward cast the total head length needs to be really short (about three times the rod length including the sink-tip if one is being used)
2 Longer rods help keep the line moving better than Short (When using my Deer Creek sink-tips with clients over the years Through trial and error I found that a minimum of 9 1/2 feet was needed and ten feet was better)
3 Since you can’t utilize the leverage of a two handed grip the rod must load and flex to the butt relatively easy, otherwise the strain of the cast is transferred to your casting arm.
4 Over loading tip taper type rods (ones that only flex at the tip) often results in breakage do to putting all of the strain on a small section of rod
5 It will be difficult to use really heavy sink tips like T-14 and still get smooth clean turn over. Usually factory sink-tips like type 6 or type 8 are about as heavy as you can balance with a belly that balances for single handed rods.
6 When designing the original Deer Creek sink-tips I had not thought of using Grain scales. Instead I used trial and error to come up with a belly that would turn over a sink-tip cleanly without a bad hinge. So I used line weights instead of scale measurements and the original formula was to use a single handed shooting head that was two times the line weight designation of the rod and a sink-tip that was one line weight above the rods designation. So for an eight weight rod a floating belly of ten weight and a sink-tip of nine weight. Today I might go a little heavier than the original belly weights with a grain scale but not much.
7 Also I would mention that a good solid foundation on what it takes to cast single and two handed rods is needed to be able to do these casts without hurting yourself or coming away with “Popeye” arms.
An easy way to come up with this line configuration is to use an Airflow 40 Plus line two line weights up from the rod designation cut the belly 15 ft from the running line and loop it there. Then use eight or nine weight tips or the floating tip that came with the Forty Plus. There are also other lines on the market today that fit this scenario but I do not have enough experience to recommend the correct line weights.
If you are wanting to learn the ins and outs of casting these lines I am ready and willing to take you out for a day of guiding and instruction. MK
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