Rio Skagit Short

[Terry Thomas]

Fished the Rio Skagit Short this past weekend on the Applegate. The 425 gr was a good match for the Sage 8110. Fished 8-10 ft. of T-14 with no problems to get down into some slots. For fishing some of the big heavy stuff on a switch rod, this is a line to check out.
T.

[SFMike]

Hi Terry,
Let us know if Rio is planning on putting out the skagit short in a head only version (and if you get them at the shop). I'd like to try it, but I'm all set up with looped running lines for interchanging heads. Hopefully that's coming sometime soon,
mike

[Terry Thomas]

Mike,
I called Rio this morning and found out that the Rio Skagit Short will not be available until September when they release it at the Tackle Retailer's Show in Denver. At least we have a time line; better late than never.
Terry

[Don Powell]

Reading this exchange of information/data, I can't help but contribute...

In my experience, a Sage 8110 is best loaded with ~550/22' for flinging up to 12.5' T-14. I use a 400 gr/23' head for a 78 gr/12' floating tip.

I have had great success with 400-450 gr heads loading 6 wt switch rods with T-11 and up to 10' T-14. For floating work, I pick up a single hand rod.

Have you heard about the Airflo Compact Skagit 420/23' ? Who needs to wait? March right down to your local flyshop and purchase one.

On the other hand, if you are a dedicated Rio consumer, you should probably wait...

Every rod, reel, line, tippet and fly deserves a chance...

I try as many as I can afford and make the final judgement based on "what works!"

[norcal tom]

Are you cutting a rio 650 skagit down to 22 feet for a weight 550 for your sage 811 ? Thanks Tom

[Rick J]

I recently cut a 650 down to 23.5 feet at 582 grains and it rocks on the Scott 1287

[Don Powell]

That's exactly what I did...Scott O' Donnell showed me the trick two years ago. If you don't want to chop a head, the Airflo Compact Skagit 540/24 out of the box should work just as well.

Short bellies for big tips really can get us in the game for deep slots and holes when backcast room is limited!

Don

[Terry Thomas]

Looks like this post has been "redirected?" My point was that the Rio Skagit Short is a line worth trying and you don't have to do any cutting. Select the proper line weight and you are fishing. Some people prefer heads, they will be coming later.

[norcal tom]

did not mean to redirected your thread i was just curious if that was what don was doing i to would like to try the rio short 475 on my 8wt switch just cant afford to drop that much $$$ on line plus i love the monic .24 shoots like mad. thanks Norcal Tom

[Terry Thomas]

Tom,
No problem. When possible, we all want to save $$$. I know a lot of people have not been happy with the Rio running line that they have used on their full lines. It seems that they have gotten the word and have made a change. The running line on the new Rio Skagit Short shoots great. We will see if all of their lines will be coming out with that same running section.
Terry

[speyfool]

Out of curiosity. Do the new RIO skagit shorts have the same running line as the AFS Outbounds (w/ integrated runnin lines)?

[Rick J]

I wonder why some line companies such as AIRFLO make their heavier lines longer? The compacts in heavier weights are really similar to the RIO skagits in length. If I want a short line, I want a short line and would prefer them to be the same length so no matter which rod/line combo I am using, I can use a similar stroke. I suppose that when you get into the heavier wt rods there may be a tendency to be longer than the lighter wt rods? But the heavier wts seem to be a bit long for shorter switches.

But I still like RIO's concept of keeping the line lengths the same. If going for the heaviest grains/foot to help with heavy tips and big flies it still sometimes make sense to cut back the longer standard skagit lines. I looked at the short skagits available before I cut back the 650 and still opted for the cut back 650 but the short skagits are sure a great concept.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Speyfool,

The running line is probably very similar.

[Terry Thomas]

S.F.
They are different running lines. The AFS integrated has a Powerflex running line with a mono core and the Skagit Short has a dacron core. They are using a smaller diameter now on the Skagits and the XS coating on the Short to make it shoot better.
Terry

[speyfool]

Thanks for the running line clarification...

Are you guys going to have some sort of line trial day in the near future? It would be sweet to try out a few different lines on my rod to figure out what would work best for my rods. I want to get a new skagit short from either Airflo or Rio, but I don't know exactly what weight I want or which of those two manufacturers.