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Thread: Scandi/versileader question

  1. #11
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    Dec 2010
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jcolin View Post
    Great thanks Tahoe Joe. I am new to snake rolls and single speys, really only do snap ts and double speys for my winter fishIng, so expecting to have some trouble getting the hang of it. Will be practicing here on the russian once the summer crowds start to wind down.
    Do practice the touch and go casts, if for no other reason than the fact they are fun. They are also a bit more quiet and stealthy, especially where the fish may be holding close (assuming that the casts are going smoothly, of course). However, you certainly don’t need to use TnG casts ... Snap Ts and Doubles and Pokes will all work just fine too. Tahoe Joe does make a good point about there being a bit of adjusting when first using TnG casts, and/or casting with just a mono leader. It isn’t a hard adjustment, but some practice time with the set ups you wish to use beforehand will make it a lot less frustrating.
    Cheers,
    JB
    "Lord help me to be the person my dog thinks I am"
    - unknown

  2. #12
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    Nov 2017
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    Carpinteria
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    I have used the steelhead and trout versileaders on my 5wt dually with a 4wt switch chucker and it works but it doesn't punch into any wind like a light mow/imow tip does. I have an intouch switch line for that rod too that really casts the versileader setup well as two handed overhead setup, better than the mow/imow tips.

    On my 7wt switch the Scandi versitip with no tip works well on tight streams. I spend the summer in northwoods of Wisconsin (Ojai, CA the rest of the year) and it is really tight on the local river so I am running no tip with 25# chameleon and some flouro to get traditional spey flies to turn over for cohos, they seem to like to look up in the shallower runs. Lake run browns moved through a week ago and I was using a skagit line with medium tips to get down for the brown.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Location
    Guerneville
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    Thanks mannamedstan, ordered some spey versilraders from rio for my summer run setup and hoping they give me so more punch and are easier to turn over

  4. #14
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    Nov 2017
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    Carpinteria
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    I bet you’ll be happy with the purchase. I’m learning that every run has a setup that works best and a bunch of other ways to make it work.

    No grabs today. First no grab morning in 3 weeks fishing almost everyday. Gahhh

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    Redwood City
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    17

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    If things are slow you might consider using a faster sinking poly leader or even 10' of T8, they aren't always looking up!

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Location
    Guerneville
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    Thanks RickH and everyone else for the responses. Got my polymer coated spey versileaders, a floating, 3 ips and a 5 ips, last thing im wondering is about leader for skating dries on the floating versileader. Tried looking it up on here and speypages and found conflicting ideas and am curious what you guys think. Should it be a 9’+ tapered leader like id use for fishing dries on a singlehand or could i get away with a straight 6’ piece of maxima? Not trying to obsess over it, but if tapered leaders are crucial for better casting/not spooking fish ill be sure to pick some up before i take off in october. Never hooked a steelhead on top before and if i get even a 1/2 lber skating id be stoked.

  7. #17
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    Aug 2012
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    Grass Valley
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    As you've seen, there are different opinions. I've used both. A 10' floating clear polyleader with a few feet of added Maxima tippet (usually 12# but sometime 8# or even 6#). Or, 12' of tapered nylon, SA makes a 12' Salmon leader that I've used, Rio probably has something similar. I guess that the nylon is a little more stealthy and it picks up easier with less spray. The polyleader gives a bit more stick in the anchor. Both work.

    I've heard that a hover or intermediate polyleader is even more stealthy and casts the best when it's windy but I haven't tried that yet. A high floating, foam skating fly is definitely called for in this case. Maybe I'll try that this year.

  8. #18
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    I think Tahoe Jeff said it pretty well. I’ve had similar experiences with both a floating polyleader with a few feet of tippet added, and with longer tapered leaders. I used to find that the floating polyleader was easier for me to cast, had better turnover, etc. I kind of drifted away from using it once I started tying up my own leaders. A good stiff butt section helps a lot, and I usually use a 12’-16’ leader (depending on the rod, and the wind). I generally won’t go less than 10# on the tippet, just because I’ve had to many break offs on 6-8# tippet.

    If you want to keep it simple, the floating polyleader does take some of the guess work out of things. If you want to tinker with things, or prefer to go cheaper, tapered leaders get it done just fine too, but they might take you a bit more to fine tune them to get them to perform how you like.
    "Lord help me to be the person my dog thinks I am"
    - unknown

  9. #19
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    Aug 2019
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    Guerneville
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    Thanks guys. I was expecting the floating versileader to be clear and just having to add a few feet pf tippet, but its yellow and looks like a sink tip, mostly my concern is being able to cast it with another 10’ leader. Going to have to go out and experiment a bit.

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
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    Sacramento, Driggs
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jcolin View Post
    Thanks guys. I was expecting the floating versileader to be clear and just having to add a few feet pf tippet, but its yellow and looks like a sink tip, mostly my concern is being able to cast it with another 10’ leader. Going to have to go out and experiment a bit.
    I would not do a 10' floating VL + 10' of leader, that will be a nightmare (at least for me, I am a sh*tty caster). 10' floating VL + 3-6' of tippet is the way to go or just use a 10' leader with 3-4' tippet...

    Some floating VL's are colored and some are clear. I have a white floating VL, I think it's either Rio or OPST. Personally, I like the Airflo Polyleaders (same as Rio VL's basically). In the Airflos, the floating, hover, and intermediate are all actually "clear".

    Remember the fish will be watching the fly not the leader. So fish a fly you are confident in and worry less about the VL, but if you are fishing a non-transparent floating VL in flat water, err on the side of a longer tippet.

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