Scandi vs Skagit

Common thought is that Skagit lines are what you should use when flinging sink tips and heavy flies. Unfortunately, over a typical day, I switch back and forth between fly sizes and tips so often, that going between a skagit and scandi is too much of a headache. (Yeah, I know, you can use a skagit line with a floating tip and small flies, but I prefer a more delicate presentation.) So, for those seasons that are not Winter, I'll probably be sticking with my compact scandi now.

Reason is, I performed a little test yesterday. I took a 120 grain versileader and put it on my 420 grain compact scandi. To the end of the tippet, I attached a 3" barbell intruder. On the first cast, I was ready for the fly to go absolutely no where. To my surprise it casted very nicely. The line laid over straight and I was able to hit 70-80 feet with no problems shortly thereafter.

Now I'm wondering what the max tip grain weight is that I can put at the end of that setup. We'll have to find out the answer another day. For now, I'm happy with these results. Now I know I can put on a heavy fly and decent sized sink tip on the scandi and expect it to work.

I won't be giving up on the skagit. For those days that I know I'll be using nothing but heavy tips, I'll put the skagit on and leave it on.