Fishing Report - April 10th, 2014

I swamped out my drift boat and fished the Lower Yuba the other day with my fishing buddy, Frank Rinella, and we had a pretty decent day. The river was running about 650 cfs. and was murky, green. The visibility was about 2 1/2 feet. I'm thinking that Englebright is all mucked up and releasing all this off colored water. With the weather we've been having lately the visibility should be better. The weather was clear and we had a slight breeze throughout the day.

 Lately I have been teaching a group of spey casters the "how to's" of spey casting and haven't been able to get out much to fish, so this was an opportunity I was exited about. I'll tell you that once you're a captain of a your drift boat, you row and get your kicks that way, at least I do anyway. So, although I was behind the oars about 90 percent of the time I still managed a few fish myself when we anchored up or when I took a turn up front. I was good with that, usually I catch one fish say, "OK, I'm good" and hop back in my rowers seat. Such is the life of many guides.

We caught fish in the 15" to 17" range, all using tight line nymphing techniques running flies right on,or near the bottom. The fish we managed to hook up were located in the middle to lower ends of the runs in medium to walking speed water. The fish took;

• Sucker Spawn - Oregon Cheese
• Maroon Spitfire
• Red Copper John
• March Brown Soft Hackle
• March Brown Nymph
• Tan Caddis Nymph

All of the fish were very colored up, which I take as being "Pre-Spawning" Their colors were much darker and had pink on their fins. We carefully scouted the areas where we have seen our resident rainbows spawn in past years and did not see any fish on redds or podding up in or near the spawning areas. My guess is that it is probably a week or two away. 

With that thought in mind, it's my personal opinion that once these fish are on their redds we should let them be. I know it's hard to pass up fish when they are all podded up, but this is their time to repopulate the river with their offspring and we really should let them do their thing. If you can't help yourself then fish a dry with a short dropper and at least make them come up to take it instead of dredging nymphs right on the bottom through the spawning fish. Enough said, I'll get off the soapbox.

I did a seining of the surface film when we saw a few fish rising at about 1:00 and did not come up with much except an few Pale Morning Duns that were about size 18. We didn't spend much time using dries although we had one nice fish take a March Brown Soft Hackle that was trailing off a Skwala Dry. 

We did not encounter anything that you could really call a hatch until about 3:00. There were swallows buzzing the water and taking bugs off the film and in the air. They were very small and I could not identify what they were. We were floating through some walk and wade anglers so I didn't stop and seine the water to do a positive identification. I believe that fishing dries or dry droppers would have been successful though.. Unfortunately I had to get off the river and could not find out.

I'll get back out soon and have an update.

Spey and Switch Rod Casting Primer - Getting Started

When you first start to get ready to start spey casting you need to have some "Practice Casts" at your disposal. These are straight line casts.

To get you prepared  I'm putting together a series of articles to create a "Spey and Switch Rod Casting Primer". The Primer will cover the basic principals of spey casting and the execution of practice casts like the;

• "Roll Cast" and the 
• "Switch Cast". 

It will also cover the basic spey casts like the;

• "Single Spey"
• "Double Spey"
• "Perry Poke"
• "Snap T".
• "Snake Roll"
• "Circle Cast"

 I'll publish this primer on the Fly Fishing Traditions Blog as well as eventually on the Fly Fishing Traditions website.

This Part I will cover the Basics to get started with spey casting.

Starting Off

When you arrive at the river to practice there are some things you should do to prepare for your day.

• It’s a good idea to tape the joints of your switch or spey rod with electrical tape. Spey casting creates a lot of torque and twisting and if section of the rod comes almost undone it can break your rod.Set your rod section moderately tight and then tape them.

• You can use the same tape about 8 or 10 times. Simply unwrap from one piece and re-wrap in on the other until the next time you use it.

• Most of you fly fishers out there already know that hen threading your fly line through the guides, thread the end of the fly line or the fly line doubled up on itself instead of threading the leader. It's a lot easier than threading your tippet through the guides.

• When rigged up and walking through brush and weeds wrap the line a few times around the rod, face the rod behind you and walk through instead of having the rod facing forward. The rod will follow your path through.

• Remember for safety always wear a hat and glasses. Protect your head and your eyes.

Fundamentals – The Grip

Find the balance point of your rod with your top hand. Where the rod balances level is the approximate location of your top hand. Find the balance point and close your hand on the rod. This will be your top hand position. Grab the bottom of the rod with your other hand.

• The grip is important for casting efficiency and for comfort.

• Hold the rod loosely, not tightly.

• The top hand is your fulcrum point which makes the spey rod an effective lever.

• You can adjust the balance point by adding weight to your reel or using a larger or smaller one.

Fundamentals – The Stance

• Stand comfortably and safely in an athletic posture

• You want a stance that will help your cast.

• Think about casting as an athletic endeavor, like throwing a baseball, football or hitting a golf shot, there is balance and shift of balance.

• Casting is another athletic movement where you move from your ankles and your hips and lean into the forward cast.

• You want a stance that will allow body rotation and changing of weight and balance.

• For a right hand cast you want an open stance with the left foot forward. This will allow you to rotate through your hips to set up your backcast and the rotate forward for the delivery cast.

• An open stance allows you to lean into your cast.

• If you want to try standing with your right foot forward and your right hand high on the rod and your left hand low, you will find that the stance will block your ability to rotate and set up your back cast properly.

• If you were to cast from the back side, with you left hand high on the rod, and your right hand low, you would open up your stance with your right foot forward. The total opposite.

Basic Principles of Spey Casting

There are three basic principles that apply to all of the spey casts that you will employ. These first two principals are “Set Up” principals

The “D Loop

The first principal, which is a “Set Up” principal and probably the most important principal, is the loading of the rod. The “D Loop”. This is the curve behind the rod. This is the weight that loads the rod and makes the rod cast easily. The bigger the “D Loop” the more the rod loads and the easier the cast will go out.

"Line Stick"

The second principal, which is also a “Set Up” principal is equally important,. It is called “Line Stick”. “Line Stick” refers to the amount of line that is lying on the water as you start the forward cast. This is the critical point, the line is like tacky glue, the more line that is in contact with the water at the start of the cast, the more energy is lost when trying to rip the line off the surface film. If you have too much “Line Stick” your cast sort of dies and fails.

A good spey cast will have a little line on the water, just the tip of the fly line, with a small amount of “Line Stick” on the water. When you start your forward cast, it will come cleanly out of the water with little problem.

“180 Degree Principal”

The third principal the “180 Degree Principal” which makes a spey cast fire to your target properly. This principal is very simple, the forward cast is opposite of the back cast.

When you pick a target on the opposite bank for your forward cast, your back cast must be set up 180 degrees behind you, or opposite of the target.

To visualize this effect, string up the top section of your rod with yarn and pull back on it like a bow and arrow. When you let go, the yarn flies straight forward, 180 degrees, from the starting point, or opposite of the starting point.

To make your cast fire properly to your target you must get this right. Practice makes perfect.


Putting These Basic Principles to Use on the Water

The first principal we identified is the “D Loop”, which is the action that loads the rod for the forward cast.

Putting the "D Loop" to Use

• The smaller the “D Loop” the less the rod will flex against it and the more you’ll have to “whack it” or “muscle it”.

• If you have more room you want to set up or “throw” a bigger “D Loop”. This will give you more weight of line on the water to load the rod. This will load the rod more naturally, cleanly, efficiently and allow you to launch a forward cast with much less energy

• The “D Loop” is controlled by the amount of energy that you use to throw the cast behind you.

• A good analogy from Simon Gawesworth is throwing a Frisbee. If you were going to throw a Frisbee a short distance behind you, say 5 feet, you would use a short soft floater for your throw. If you use a short soft throw back with your rod setting up a “D Loop” you will have a small “D Loop”.

• If you were going to throw the Frisbee 20 feet behind you, you would use more of an effort to get it there. You must use more energy throwing your line behind you to form a larger “D Loop”

• The slower you come back to form a “D Loop” the smaller the “D Loop”.

• The faster you come back, the larger the “D Loop” will be. You need extra speed to create a larger more efficient “D Loop”.

• Ideally you would like a larger, more efficient “D Loop” but sometimes you are restricted on your back cast by tree, bushes or other obstacles. This is where you want to make a small “D Loop” Use a slower motion to set it up, a small toss backwards.

Practice both types of “D Loops”. Practice casting making small and large “D Loops”. You’ll need this in your bag of tricks when you are out on the stream.

Putting the Principal of "Line Stick" to Use

The second principal, “Line Stick”, “Grip” or the “Anchor Point” all refer to amount of fly line on the water prior to starting your forward cast, after you have formed your “D Loop”

Ideally you want to strive for minimal line stick. Let’s talk about why.

• A bad combination is a small “D Loop” and a lot of line stick. When you start your forward stroke you have to rip all the line “Sticking” on the water to make the forward cast.

• Half the energy of the cast is used just to rip the line off the water.

• The ideal cast is to form a large “D Loop” and only have the leader and maybe your nail knot in contact with the water.

• Strive for “Minimal Line Stick” - This generates the most power with minimal effort.

Putting the "180 Degree" Principal to Use

The third principal, the 180 Degree Principal, is the most difficult. Spey casting is about changing direction, then casting up and down the river. You need to add “Rotation” to your casting stroke.

• The 180 degree Principal is accomplished with “Body Rotation”.

• Most spey casts are started with the line below you and roughly parallel to the bank and you want to recast across the river or stream on a roughly perpendicular line.

• You cannot load the rod properly with an upstream “D Loop” when you are targeting across stream. This cast will fail. You have violated the 180 degree principal.

• When establishing the position of the “D Loop” you must rotate your hips and bring the “D Loop to the position “180 Degrees” or “Opposite” of your target.

• When practicing turn your head and see where your anchor point is set. Work on getting it “Opposite or “180 degrees” from your target.

Summary

When casting, and especially when practicing, remember these three principles, which are the basis of all spey casting.

(1) Form your “D Loop” correctly.

(2) Strive for minimal “Line Stick”

(3) Remember the “180 Degree Principal” and rotate your hips and body to set your “D Loop “Opposite” or “180 Degrees” from your target.

Skagit Heads versus Scandi Heads

This article has been updated from when it was originally published on October 22nd, 2001 

Note:"This article pertains to "Shooting Heads" that are attached to a "Running Line" not "Integrated, full length lines.

When the subject of Spey or Switch Rods comes up  the conversation often turns to whether to what the heck is the difference between a Skagit and a Scandi head. I think it would be good to clear up some of this confusion and go through when, why and where you would choose a "Skagit Head" or a "Scandi Head". These two lines are "Shooting Heads".

Running Lines and Rigging 

These "Shooting Heads" are typically short heads that are added to a "Running Line" with loop to loop connections. A "Running Line" is a level (all the same diameter) thin diameter line that is attached to the backing on your reel. You cannot cast a "Running Line". The business end has a loop on it to connect a shorter "Shooting Head". 

So the rigging goes like this.
(1) "Backing" on the reel, about 125 to 150 yards
(2) "Running Line" about 100 to 120 feet long.
(3) Either a (a) "Skagit Head" about 18' to 24' long or (b) a "Scandi Head" about 24' to 28' long

Note: The length of the "Skagit Head" or the "Scandi Head" will change based upon the grain weight that matches a given rod or by the specifications of the line manufacturer.

Skagit Heads

Let’s start with the "Skagit Heads". "Skagit Heads" were developed while fishing on the Skagit River by a dedicated group of Spey Fishermen like Ed Ward, Mike McCune, Mike Kinney, and Scott O’Donnell. These lines were developed to fish large flies on heavy sink tips to be casted at medium to long distances. These lines were made from cutting up Windcutter lines. They would add sink tips to create heads that were about 23’ to 28’ long. The Snap T, the Snap Z and the Perry Poke casts were developed to cast these new heads.

These "Skagit Heads" are designed to throw big flies and sink tips with little or no room behind you. There are many occasions when fishing steelhead waters like the Trinity or the Klamath here in Northern California where you can only wade out a short distance from the bank. If you take one step more you may be taking a swim. Many times distance isn't the real goal it’s just to get the fly or flies out there far enough to “swing it” into a bucket or slot. Trying to do this with a longer "Shooting Head" is just plain hard. This is especially true if you intend to throw large flies of 4 inches or more. Steelhead sometime like to go for these larger flies. It may be territorial or it may be that it looks like a big meal but many die hard steelhead anglers use these large flies. So the "Skagit Heads" were designed for this job. This is a heavy handed way of delivering flies but it gets the job done.

What is the secret to this design; the "Skagit Heads" have a very short rear taper of about 5% of the total head length, followed by a level body of 80 % and then the front taper in the remaining 15 % of the head. When you add a sinking tip section in front of this powerful head the fly and the head has no choice but to straighten out. A "Skagit Head" can handle T-8, T-11, and T-14 heads with little problem. Of course the size of your rod will affect how heavy a tip you can throw. You can also add floating “Cheaters” to balance the transition between the "Skagit Head" and the tips. Rio has now come up with a "MOW Tip" system to make this transition much easier with tips that integrated a floating section with a sinking section.

So in summary the "Skagit Heads" are a working man’s pick out a big fly, get it out there, and get it down.

Scandi Lines and Heads

Now on to "Scand Heads". Scandi is short for “Scandinavian”, which describes a style of line and casting stroke. Scandinavian or "Scandi Lines" have evolved to be a slightly  longer "Shooting Head" with a long front taper to turn over longer leaders and small to medium sized flies with delicacy and precision.

Recently modern line manufactures are offering "Scandi Heads" as well as fully integrated Scandi full length integrated lines. The "Scandi Heads" vary in length from about 27 to 44 feet. A typical "Scandi Head" will have a short rear taper of roughly 5% of the total head length, followed by a flat section taking up 35% of the total head length and then the remaining 60% of the head going to the front taper. This design is radically different than a "Skagit Head".

These lines are designed to be used with longer leaders such as mono or poly/versileaders from 9 to 14 feet depending on the rod length. Airflo Polyleaders and Rio Versi Leaders have very little grain weight, which allows for quick touch and go anchors to achieve high line speeds and tight loops when casting these "Scandi Heads". This allows you to present small to medium sized flies with longer lighter leaders for delicate presentations for steelhead and trout. This line design doesn't have the power and mass to throw the larger flies that are over 4 inches long. They are designed for flies 2 inches and smaller.

Using a "Skagit Head" is like driving a big 4 wheel drive diesel truck and a "Scandi Head" is like driving a Porsche.

Skagit and Scandi Tactics

Now that we have an understanding of the design and theory of the "Skagit Heads" and Scandi Heads" , let’s talk about how you would choose to use one versus the other in actual fishing situations, when and how to use them.

While the "Skagit Heads" and "Scandi Heads" can be of similar length and both can be used year round in a variety of situations, they have their unique traits. In most cases they both can be used on most two handed rods, switch or spey. As a general rule the "Skagit Heads" are 20 to 25 percent heavier than "Scandi Heads". Either of the heads can be balanced with different grain weights to cast perfectly. For example if you were throwing a 450 grain "Skagit Head" you may be throwing a 390 Scandi head. This of course depends on the size of your rod. This difference in grain weight works because the tapers, tips and leaders vary in length to balance each rigg correctly. This takes some experimentation to get it balanced right and can also be affected by whether you like your rod to load deeper or less deep.

The "Skagit Heads" and "Scandi Heads" excel in different situations and selecting the right line can make a difference in you fishing success. Since the "Skagit Heads" are designed to turn over heavy sink tips and large flies, these lines excel when you are fishing heavy flows and dirty water and when you need to keep your flies down in the zone to get to the fish. "Scandi Heads" are often used in the summer and fall when you are using smaller to medium sized flies on floating leaders with clear and low water conditions. "Scandi Heads" excel with floating and poly/versi leaders. Both heads can handle can handle sub surface work when using sink tips or sinking poly/versi leaders but when you need to go deep the "Skagit Heads" are a better choice. When going deep with a "Skagit Head" it is just easier to cast and with less fatigue.

When casting a "Skagit Head" or "Scandi Head" there are a few points to remember. With a "Skagit Head" when casting sinking tips, using weighted tips like T-8, T-11, and T-14 will help you sustain your anchor and help you form a proper D-Loop. One the other hand when using a "Scandi Head" using mono leaders, poly/versi leaders will allow you to form a proper "touch and go" anchor and D-Loop. If you throw a "Skagit Head" with a mono poly/versi leader you will tend to pull your anchor and not form a good D-Loop. Conversely if you throw a "Scandi Head" with a T-14 tip your anchor will stick and be hard to pull off on your forward cast. It’s all about balancing your riggs and knowing how to get the job done.

Summary

Purchase a running line, a "Skagit Head", a "Scandi Head", some poly/versi leaders, some MOW Tips and some weighted heads for your favorite two handed rod and you can fish anywhere and in any condition. Balance your system properly and the casts will furl out beautifully and you’ll soon have a steelhead or large trout dancing on your line.