Fall/Winter Steelhead --- Best Skagit Head

[Idadon]

In other words, me, trying to develop a good Skagit technique with an OPST Cammando might be like putting a student pilot in a F-18 and sending him out to a Dogfight? Probably right. I think a nice tame Airflo Skagit Compact might be the way to go. The length seems good and they get good reviews. One of the earlier posts expressed the opinion that an intermediate head is better, something like a Rio Iflight. Anymore opinions on that point?

[Rick J]

The I lines are great but if I only had one line I would go with a floater as you can do more things with the floater including skate dries!

[troutless]

In other words, me, trying to develop a good Skagit technique with an OPST Cammando might be like putting a student pilot in a F-18 and sending him out to a Dogfight?

That might be a bit extreme of an analogy. Maybe like a DC-3. A 15' 12-wt and 72' competition head, that would be like an F-18.

I think a nice tame Airflo Skagit Compact might be the way to go. The length seems good and they get good reviews. One of the earlier posts expressed the opinion that an intermediate head is better, something like a Rio Iflight. Anymore opinions on that point?

Again, it depends on the definition of 'better'. Both floating skagit heads, full intermediates, as well as the ones with floating back section and intermediate front, all have their sweet spots and are not fully interchangeable. Intermediates will sink under surface currents and generally get pushed around less, thus slowing the swing. But once sunk they are also more difficult to control, may add more depth than you want, in places where you don't want if you don't have a nice long even run. I often carry both a floater and an intermediate. Though I tend to fish the intermediates more, I too would take a floater if I had only one line.

My personal preference also leans to the Airflo lines. But really the space for design innovation in such a short head is somewhat limited. It is not like long bellies where small differences in design can separate a turkey from an arrow.

[speyfool]

One of the earlier posts expressed the opinion that an intermediate head is better, something like a Rio Iflight. Anymore opinions on that point?

The reason I brought up the int skagit is that it sounded like you wanted to sink flies with various tips. If you only want one line to fish the whole water column all year round, including skating flies. It isn't going to fly. Personally I have a half dozen lines for my primary rod, but only fish two anymore. One is the int compact (airflo) skagit and a Rage line for surface or near surface work in the summer. Pretty much everything is covered imo. From heavily weighted 6 inch flies w/ T14 tips (btw- the reason I use an int skagit is that I can have lighter tips to get to the same depth) to skating on that Rage. Sure you can skate a fly with a floating skagit, but personally, I prefer a more delicate experience in summer.

[Idadon]

Good info, all! I'm trying really hard to resist the temptation of several new heads. I already have a Switch and that covers the Nymphing techniques as long as I don't try to use anything bigger then microscopic splitshot with a #8 fly. In fact that Switch line will likely work to skate a fly and it definetly works for swinging small stuff for half pounders. Just a side note here; in 50+ years of steelheading I've only caught 4 fish skating a fly and 3 of those could be classified as accidental. You know, the fly breaks the surface at the end of the swing and BOOM! One fish on the Deschutes on a Waller Waker was planned that way. So waking is not necessarily a reason for me to purchase a separate line.

As to the choice between a floating vs. an intermediate Skagit. I think a floating suits me better. Airflo makes some 10' tips that have a short section (2.5') of intermediate on the back that sounds good to me. A medium sink tip and a dredger like a t-14 should cover most everything I'm likely to get into. Having said that I'll likely have to try one of those "Do Everything" OPST Commando heads eventually

Let me add that I think this forum is GREAT! Lots of really smart guys that have obviously put a lot of thought and research into their equipment. it's comforting to know that there's a Deep Pool of information that's accessible. Thanks everyone!