Gorge Fly Shop Blog: BUYER'S GUIDE to MODERN SKAGIT HEADS:

Introduced in 2024, RIO'S Multi-Density Skagit Pickpocket. (photo by Callum Brock)

"Skagit lines were born out of necessity. In the late 90's, a few elite Northwest anglers realized the effectiveness or presenting very large flies on heavy sink tips for steelhead." - Tom Larimer, Hatch Magazines "Skagit Heads Explained" Jan 12th, 2015.

Reflecting on how far Skagit casting and the designs of Skagit lines has come, I immediately think of those who helped start it all. Skagit guru's such as: Ed Ward, Mike McCune, Scott O'Donnell, Scott Howell, Jerry French, George Cook, Tom Larimer, to name a few.

Through their innovative thinking, they've literally changed the way folks approach steelhead and salmon fly fishing today with a two handed rod. How popular has it become? So much so, that it dominates shop conversations with customers and it's the go to technique on the banks of favorite steelhead and salmon rivers everywhere. I can honestly say that I rarely have a conversation with a customer who is seeking single hand fly rod advice for steelhead or salmon anymore.

I also rarely ever see someone fishing a single handed fly rod for steelhead or salmon anymore with the exception of nymph fishing, particularly when wade fishing. Most folks fishing indicators and nymphs, especially from a boat, will fish the pocket water in-between the swing runs. Even in the trout fly fishing world we are seeing more and more folks fishing with two handed "Trout Spey" rods and for good reason. With this popularity, the demand for shorter compact Skagit heads has grown.

I also reflect to the first time I saw a fly fisherman fishing a two handed spey rod on my home river. He was waist deep in the run using a 15' 9 or10wt rod, beautifully and smoothly casting it across the entire run with little to no effort. He knew what he was doing. As I approached him in my drift boat, curiously, I asked what rod he was using. He was gracious enough to spend a short time giving me the low down, the rod and the technique even though I was interrupting his groove. It's been long enough that I don't remember the details of his rod and all, but I do remember the length of the rod and the line he was using. He even let me hold the rod for reference. It was long, heavy, and to me, awkward to say the least. I'd never held a two handed spey rod before.

Being honest, I thought he was out of his mind crazy for using such a massive, heavy rod for a mere 6 to 12 pound steelhead. To me it was way overkill and I thought to myself ..."you'll never catch me fishing with one of these for the average steelhead we catch around here." In addition to that, the length of rod and the line he was using, a long belly line, severely restricted the water he could fish. The amount of space he needed to create the "D" loop and cast that long rod with the long belly line was significant.

On the other hand, he was literally fishing the entire run and reaching water that a single hand fly rod fisherman simply couldn't reach. You would never use that rod in a tight quarters situation. Well, how the times have changed and here we are. Today, I can nearly fish anywhere with a two handed rod. Shorter lighter rods paired with shorter heads allow us to fish even the tightest of spots. Basically, it's the way I fish 99.9% of the time now for steelhead and more and more for trout with today's "Trout Spey" rods.

MODERN SKAGIT HEADS:

Modern Skagit heads of today are more specialized and versatile than ever. Like an assortment of golf clubs in your bag, so is the assortment of Skagit heads that I carry in my gear bag. Every Spey or Switch rod that I own, has it's own labeled gallon sized Ziploc bag or head wallet that will hold all the different heads for that particular rod. I will carry this Ziploc bag or wallet in the chest of my waders and this allows me to change heads in a few of minutes and be back to fishing. It's awesome! What's more awesome is that an assortment of Skagit heads for any given rod allows me to fish runs more effectively than ever before.

Full Length Floating Skagit Heads: SA Skagit, Airflo Driver,

RIO Elite Skagit Max Launch.

FULL LENGTH FULL FLOATERS:

Back when Skagit heads were being introduced , traditionally they were about 22' to 26' depending on their grain weight. Today they have become a bit shorter and now average 23' to 25' in length.

Links to the most popular full length Skagit Floating heads (not necessarily in order):

Airflo Skagit Driver: Airflo-Skagit-Driver
RIO Elite Skagit Max Launch: RIO-Elite-Skagit-Max-Launch
Scientific Anglers Skagit Floating: Scientific-Anglers-Skagit

Shop All Skagit Heads

Short Floating Skagit Heads: Airflo Skagit Scout, RIO Elite Skagit Max Power,

SA Skagit Short, OPST Commando

SHORT FULL FLOATERS:

With the development of "Switch" rods (basically anything 12' or less) came the need for shorter Skagit heads In addition to the traditional Skagit Heads, when the first "Switch" or "Short Skagit" heads were developed, they had an average length of 19'6" to 20'6" in length. Today these "Short" Skagit heads are as short as 12' like the ever popular OPST Commando 150 grain, head and typically are no longer than 20'.

These Shorter Skagit heads are ideal for shorter single hand or two handed switch rods. That doesn't mean you can use them on a longer 13' or 13'6" rod because you can. You just have to be careful when fishing a shorter head on a longer rod because the opportunity to blow your anchor increases if you don't slow your stroke down and chill a bit.

Links to the most popular SHORT Skagit Floating heads (not necessarily in order):

Airflo Skagit Scout: Airflo-Skagit-Scout
RIO Elite Skagit Max Power: RIO-Elite-Skagit-Mini-Max-Power
Scientific Anglers Skagit Short: Scientific-Anglers-Skagit-Short
OPST Commando Head: OPST-Skagit-Commando-Head

Shop All Skagit Heads

INTERMEDIATE SKAGIT:

The first Intermediate Skagit Heads, that I know of, were created by Tom Larimer and Steve Rajeff out of the idea of having a Skagit head that could get below surface currents and slow the swing way down. To this day, I still use the Skagit Compact Intermediate heads that I got when they first came out. They have since been discontinued, paving the way for the newer Airflo Skagit F.I.S.T. heads.

"A few years ago, I came up with the idea of building an intermediate sinking Skagit head after fishing with my old guide friends in the Great Lakes. Because of the complex surface currents in some of the larger "Third Coast" rivers, a traditional floating Skagit would get surfed around, not allowing for a smooth swing. In addition to tricky currents, Great Lakes rivers can be extremely cold from late October through February -- prime time for swinging flies. A slow, deep swing is often necessary to coax a steelhead to the fly. Airflo distributor Tim Rajeff and I developed a number of prototypes that my Midwest friends helped us test and which eventually became the Airflo Skagit Compact Intermediate." - Tom Larimer, from Hatch Magazines "Skagit Heads Explained" Jan 12th, 2015

That first Skagit Compact Int. head I used, was and still is, a staple for me when it comes to those runs where I just can't get the swing right. It truly does get you below the conflicting surface currents and slows your swing down considerably. You can really feel the connection to the fly. These original Skagit Compact Int. heads are no longer available since they have been discontinued.

Today, most Skagit sinking heads have graduated from just an intermediate to now what is called
Multi-Density which basically means there is a seamless blend of three different densities ensuring a smooth transition of energy while turning over level or tapered sinking tips all the while giving you great control for depth during your swing. It's a beautiful thing!

MULTI DENSITY:

There has been a generous amount of time dedicated to taking that idea and making it even better with now the Multi-Density heads. Because of that, I would say this area of Skagit heads has had the most development in recent years. Now with all thee different Skagit heads, it seems like things are getting more confusing and difficult to choose from, BUT, how sweet is the versatility to pretty much fish any run you come across with confidence in knowing that you fished it well.

Airflo Skagit Compact F.I.S.T. 450-720gr:

20.5' to 23.5' depending on grain weight.

F/I/S.T - Floating, Intermediate, Sink 3ips Tip

Shop Airflo Skagit Compact F.I.S.T

RIO Elite Gamechanger Body, 400-725gr - 23' to 25' depending on grain weight:

F/H/I - Floating, Hover, Intermediate
F/I/S3 - Floating, Intermediate, Sink 3ips
F/S3/S5 - Floating, Sink 3ips, Sink 5ips
I/S2/S3 - Intermediate, Sink 2ips, Sink 3ips
S3/S5/S7 - Sink 3ips, Sink 5ips, Sink 7ips

Shop RIO Elite Skagit Gamechanger Body NEW FOR 2024

RIO Elite Skagit Pickpocket, 475-600gr - Short Skagit head 20' no matter the grain weight:

F/I/S3 - Floating, Intermediate, Sink 3ips
S3/S5/S7 - Sink 3ips, Sink 5ips, Sink 7ips

Shop RIO Elite Skagit Pickpocket NEW FOR 2024

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Generally speaking, the Skagit head that I choose to use can be determined by the length of the rod I'm using, but absolutely not limited to it. In other words for example, if I were to fish a 13'6" 8wt rod, I normally would go for a full length Skagit head. The length of the rod accommodates the length of the skagit head very well. Conversely, if I were to fish an 11' 7wt, I would most often choose a shorter Skagit head, which accommodates the shorter lengths of these rods. If I were to fish with a 9' 7wt single handed rod, I would most likely go for a really short skagit such as the OPST Commando heads.

That being said, this doesn't mean I can't use a Commando head on a 13' rod, I know folks that do it and it works very well for them. They are accomplished casters and understand that the shorter your head is the more compact your casting stroke should be. So, visualize a 13' or even a 13'6" with a very short skagit head of 400gr which is only 16.5' long, you could see how your casting stroke would need to be very tight and pretty slow to prevent blowing the anchor.

To be less confusing when matching a Skagit Head to your rod (generally speaking):

On rods greater than 12'6"- I typically would fish the full length Skagit heads. (i.e...Skagit Driver, Skagit Max Launch)
On rods 12'6" to 11' - I will use the shorter Skagit heads. (i.e...Skagit Scout, Skagit Max Power)
On rods 11'6" or less - Short Skagit heads like listed above or the even shorter Skagit heads like the OPST Commando heads work really well.

Technique Tip: While fishing with sinking Skagit Heads when you come to the end of your swing and are in the "hang down" phase, you will want to perform a roll cast directly down stream to free the tension of your sinking Skagit head and the sinktip from the water. Once the roll cast is complete you can then go into your next cast. This roll cast brings your sinking Skagit and sink tip to the surface and releases the tension so your next cast can effortlessly be made. If you don't perform the roll cast first before going into the next cast, the tension of the sinking Skagit head and the sink tip will cause you to use way more effort to complete your next cast. At the end of the day you will be tired. I have had numerous conversations with customers who have experienced this and state that they hate the line. They love how it fishes but hate how it casts. Once they realize the roll cast is needed, all is good again.

Thanks for reading.

GFS Team

John G.