Slicing and Dicing

Wow. This had to set the record for my longest blog post in the making. I set out to write this months ago, but one thing led to another and it just didn't get done. Until now! Yay!

If you've spent any time with two-handers, you'll quickly see that there is a large contingent of people out there that like to slice and dice lines. Trying to come up with that perfect setup- to improve their casting. From the outside, it seems like a fun thing to do. However, the last thing I need is another hobby to take up more time that I don't have. So, for now, I'll live vicariously through the people that do. And any knowledge they share, I can use when picking off-the-shelf lines.

The problem with off-the-shelf lines are that you pretty much pick a line type (i.e. skagit, scandi, etc) and then a grain weight to match your rod. That is about as customizable as it gets. Well, at least that is what I thought. Keep reading to see how I was wrong with that conclusion.


Back to people cutting up their lines. While perusing Speypages, I eventually came across Steve Godshall's name. People seemed to invoke his name whenever an expert opinion was needed on lines. So when I was browsing Meiser's website and saw that Steve builds a Scandi line for Bob, and not much longer, learned that my friend was using one (and got a chance to cast it)- I became curious to know more.

Steve lives up in the Rogue Valley and has been fly fishing for more than a decade. As a rod builder he had a chance to learn a lot about rods and how unique each one is. In fact, he came up with something he calls "blue printing". It is a system to quantify rod casting quality. This has become part of the prototype process for new rod designs from Gary Anderson, Bob Meiser, and of course Steve himself.

At this point, Steve realized that the rod is only part of the equation. So, he turned his focus to lines.

A couple of years ago, Gary Anderson started including a line with every spey rod he built and sold. Because clients were making poor line choices, he wanted to get them off to a great start. Steve was asked to develop a Scandi head to fit a couple dozen of his rod models. Also working with Bob Meiser, Steve further developed a base Scandi head to something that he could offer to his clients as well. (Meiser sells them as "SGS" and Anderson as "Steel Heads".)

Here's how it works. And this is the cool part. From 9 base line sizes, Steve can produce 100 lines for 100 different rods. And to get even more of what you are looking for, if Steve is available and if you are in the neighborhood anyway, maybe you can go to the river and cast a handful of lines. From that, Steve will write you a custom line prescription. Just like a doctor. But less painful.

Besides the Scandi lines, Steve also has a Skagit. Although, according to Steve, he looks at casting styles as the difference between skagit and scandi. Not so much the line themselves, because both are basically shooting head systems. As someone who casts both lighter scandi and heavier skagit lines with the same sustained anchor casting, I'd go along with that.

I know what you're thinking. What's up with the advertisement? Just to be upfront, I'm not getting paid for this or getting any freebies. I just think what Steve is doing is pretty slick. I mean, you aren't going to find this sort of custom stuff from the big manufacturers. Don't know about you, but I haven't the time to figure all this out on my own.

The whole reason for writing this to begin with is really because of his "Skandit" lines Steve builds for Meiser. This is what got me excited about what he is doing. The Skandit system is a multi tip short shooting head with a floater and 4 sinking "zink" tips. He doesn't stock the system on a shelf. It is built for each caster because, as Steve says, “the magic is in the match”. The idea is, put on the floater and you have yourself a power Scandi line. Put on the zink tips, and you have yourself a light Skagit. Nifty.

Maybe sometime in the near future I'll pick up one of his lines and report back to you on my feelings and how it compares to my current skandi and skagit lines.

Lining Rods

Spent a couple of hours at the casting pools to try and dial in some new lines on a couple of rods. First off, I've had much too light of a line on my main weapon of choice. While I could overhand it nicely, it just wasn't heavy enough to pound out some longer casts with a some sort of water borne anchor cast. I felt that 65-70 was pretty much maxing it out. With my skill level anyway.

Today, with a heavier line, I could get out further. 70-75 feet wasn't a problem, even though I wasn't standing in the water (an important note considering these are spey casts afterall) .

Now, when I tried a few lines on a longer 12'6" rod, ziiing. I was hitting 90feet without much difficulty. Again, standing out of the water. When the temps warm up later this week, I'll get my feet wet and see what happens. In that scenario, I'm hopeful that I can hit 100 feet.

Ninety Nine percent of the time, I don't need to cast anywhere near that distance. However, on those occasions that I do, it is nice to be prepared. This fall, I'll be up in Washington for a steelhead trip. I want to be comfortable bombing out 80-100 foot casts if possible.

Rod and line testing results

It was nice to get on the water again, even if it was only for a couple of hours. The nearby lake is stocked full of trout, but the real reason for visiting was to try out the switch rod and AFS spey line.

The RIO AFS Outbound has a 37' head with the real loading at the back of the section. The long taper to the front is a lengthy 29'. At the point where the running line starts, the line turns from green to black. A nice easy way to see where the loading point is for the line when spey casting.

The combination worked well. Even if I think the rod could of used a slightly heavier line. This particular AFS was 300 grains. I think something closer to 400 would of done the trick. However, with this weight, I could easily 1-hand overhead cast without any fatigue. This is perfect. One could continue to overhead when they have the room, or zip out line in a spey cast when tight conditions persist or take advantage of what makes this type of casting so special. Less time false casting, and more time fishing.

I was able to easily overhead with 10-20 feet of line out of the rod, the whole head, or anywhere in between. No problem. Shooting line was a breeze and if the head was nearly or completely out of the rod, line would rocket off the tip. The only thing to be aware of, is that you have to slow down a little bit if you are used to 8 or 9 foot rods. This almost 11 footer needs a little extra time.

Spey casting was easy too. It took me a little playing around to figure out where to place my D-loop anchor. However, after experimentation, I could spey cast 70 feet without much difficulty. After a little more time with this combination, I'm sure I could hit 100 feet without problem. The head also allows me to spey short distances too. Something I was a little curious about because of the long taper this line has. In fact, with that 10' RIO versileader on the front, I could cast just the leader and a short bit of line no problem.

Next week will be a trip to the American for some Shad fishing. Hopefully I'll catch some fish and can report on how it performed in that area.

Finally, a morning on the water

Work has been really busy. I haven't had a chance to go fishing in quite a while. Tomorrow morning, I'll have an opportunity to sneak out for a few hours to a nearby lake.

The real reason to go is not even to catch fish (although that would be nice), but to finally try out that switch rod with the proper line on it. A fresh AFS Outbound and some RIO 10' versileaders await. I'll report back on how the rod/line combination performed.

If everything checks out okay, I'll be slipping away next week for some Shad on the American.