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[roseph]

I might consider going for 2 pieces of t-11.  For my fishing style there are not many places to use t-14 on the vedder.  The places that you could use it is better fished with a float imho.

[HOOK]

thats a valid point Roseph but dont limit yourself to only fishing what is considered "good fly water"

take two sections of river both the same depth, lets say 4-5feet. Now make one run with that nice walking speed water and the other one with small riffles along the surface. T-11 should get you down perfectly in the first run (within 2feet of bottom) but you will most likely stay alot higher in the water column in the second run due to the faster surface speed, this will also make your fly travel faster which isnt ideal. Stick a T14 on which will sink through that surface tension quicker allowing you to slow your fly down getting it deeper and presenting it properly.

For me i rather tie all my flies the same so that im not dragging around buttloads of fly boxes. it only takes a minute to swap out tips and in that time allows the fish to "settle" giving you a better chance at them because they wont be as spooked if they have settled themselves back into a comfy holding spot.

If you tie all your flies unweighted you can buy these small lead BULLET weights and put them on your leader, tie your fly on and the weight will stay at your fly allowing it to sink you can even use several (if you can cast it). This is a technique explained on Skagitmaster 2 and was quite the controversy when the DVD first came out.


HOOK - fishes all sorts of water for steel not just the primo stuff. want a wicked battle ? hook one in shallow riffle water and HANG ON !!!

[Kype]

Also consider the Jim Teeny fly lines (http://www.jimteeny.com/indexMain.html?content=catalog&page=jtCatalog/catalog/catIntro.html).  Used them both here and Scotland/England - excellent lines.  On Vedder the T200 & T300 are more than enough - depending on water flow/height and what you are presenting (small fly or a large heavy Cone head tube, etc!).

Look em up - they cast like rockets too! 

[HOOK]

that website is kind of stupid because it didnt link directly to the line from your link. I just tested it thinking you linked wrongly but same result

what he is talking about is the T series of lines. I clicked Spey and a couple others before finding it

thanks, its great to have so many options


HOOK - one of these lines might match my switch rod nicely 

[Kype]

Yeah - not the greatest of websites to navigate  ..... but their T-Lines are very good and for me tried and tested.

PS.  Lead grained sink tips will never be classed as Spey lines no matter how daft the website!

[roseph]

take two sections of river both the same depth, lets say 4-5feet. Now make one run with that nice walking speed water and the other one with small riffles along the surface. T-11 should get you down perfectly in the first run (within 2feet of bottom) but you will most likely stay alot higher in the water column in the second run due to the faster surface speed, this will also make your fly travel faster which isnt ideal. Stick a T14 on which will sink through that surface tension quicker allowing you to slow your fly down getting it deeper and presenting it properly.

Interesting stuff HOOK.  I actually fish more atypical water than typical fly water on the Vedder, as I think most good anglers do to find fish on this system.  On friday I think I lost 6 flies trying to fish a side channel with a 13' rod.  Not much fun but I find it hard to ignore any water that has even a slight chance of holding a fish.

But when it comes to faster, riffley water I admit I normally switch to a type 6 or even type 3 in some cases, usually with a fly that sinks pretty fast on it's own.  Mind you, not much of the riffley water I'm fishing is 4ft deep.  I'm talking more like 2-3 feet deep with a some rocks sticking out above the surface.  I'll give your t-14 in the faster stuff a try this week as I am not hooking up anyway (haven't even seen a fish hooked yet) lol. 

[HOOK]

I wouldnt try using T14 in 2-3feet of water  thats just crazy talk LoL
i leave the really shallow water fishing for around March when the fish get fiesty, swinging flies over the heads and having them go airborne as they attempt grabbing the fly is a panic. I have yet to even hook one in water under 3feet deep because they always miss it. I might even try skating big dries over this type of water this spring 

another thing i cant remember if i had mentioned is to buy an Intermediate Shooting head, SA makes a really good one (i own one) and use this is slightly faster or riffley surface water because it sinks only a few inches under the surface breaking the tension of the faster current at the waters surface and aids in helping you slow the drift. Now on a side note i have tried this line in slower water and while it works great i find it slows it down enough that you end up changing tips up alot more as the run shallows and deepens along its length towards the tailout.


Roseph - your doing exactly what a good steelie fisherman should do regardless of having the spey rod. I can sometimes been seen flipping just my sink tip into small seams and basically drift fishing the fly. only downside to doing this is the crappy grab the fish give you instead of the heart pounding pulse intensifying reel screaming grab they give when fishing a swung fly 

good luck out there boys !!

[rhino]

once again great info on this thread. I have had good success swinging flies for bull tout. I have only tried 2x for steelhead and this past sunday being one of them. when i was swinging for bull trout a at the very end of the swing i would start to strip slowly and almost always that is when the strike would take place. is it he same with steelhead? i have never hooked one on the fly. or is the mid swing the main strike time?what part of the swing do strikes typically happen?
thanks.
 

[Burkie]

It can happen anywhere during the swing with steelhead..I personally find with summer runs I let the fly swim right to shore as they will chase down a fly not that a winter steelhead won't but more often with summers. At the end of the swing I always give a couple slow rod lifts ..guess that's sort of a line strip. I do say for me most takes have been that magical 45 degree angle of the swing

[Popper]

10' of T14 most of the time.... Or for my switch custom cut type 6 + 8

I don't fish super heavy flies, so sink the tip more...

Jon

[Stickleback]

9-10ft of T-11 is all you need.  12ft is a little long in some of the more bouldery runs.
I really like the 7.5ft T-11 and 2.5ft float Rio MOW tip...
You don't need T-14, although it works. T-11 has a similar sink rate.
Here is a great video that de-bunks all the myths and BUll**** behind tips on the end of skagit lines:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0xSHvAJKqg

Bottom line, you can get away with all sorts of wacky tips on the end of a skagit head....
Just pick a tip that casts well for you and gets you down without hanging up.
The steelhead are looking up! Better be too light than too heavy.


Cheers,
Max.

[Stickleback]

once again great info on this thread. I have had good success swinging flies for bull tout. I have only tried 2x for steelhead and this past sunday being one of them. when i was swinging for bull trout a at the very end of the swing i would start to strip slowly and almost always that is when the strike would take place. is it he same with steelhead? i have never hooked one on the fly. or is the mid swing the main strike time?what part of the swing do strikes typically happen?
thanks.
 

Every fish is soo different!! Some take like bulltrout on the dingle dangle, some hit the fly like a freight train almost as soon as it sets into the swing, and pretty much everywhere in between.  Its pretty typical with winter runs for the line just to slowly come tight, or start tracking back out into the river.
I do know what you mean about the bulls hitting it on the strip.  Most of my bulltrout by catch when swinging for steelhead happens on the dingle.  But even bull trout can surprise you.  Hope I could help.