Leland on Rio Skagit 15' Sinking Spey Tips

Are the steelhead in your river near the surface? Or maybe like most rivers, 90% of the time they stay on the bottom! With the 15' RIO Skagit Tip System, you can add what tip you need for the right situtation to your RIO Skagit Spey Line, Skagit Shooting Head, RIO VersiTip or other spey lines. You can fish just sub-surface, or dredge mid-current or the bottom in any flow. These tips are Density Compensated for even sinking performance. They feature the RIO welded loops that are bar-coded for size and color-coded for easy identification. Go down and get 'em!

Each Tip Sold Separately

Specifications:

• Tapers: Sinking Spey Tips
• Length: 15'
• Available densities: Intermediate, and types 3, 6, 8
• Colors: Varies with type (see photo)
• Fits RIO Skagits, VersiTips, and other spey lines

Rio Skagit 15ft Sink Tip		7 WEIGHT		Intermediate
Rio Skagit 15ft Sink Tip		7 WEIGHT		Type 3
Rio Skagit 15ft Sink Tip		7 WEIGHT		Type 6
Rio Skagit 15ft Sink Tip		7 WEIGHT		Type 8
Rio Skagit 15ft Sink Tip		9 WEIGHT		Intermediate
Rio Skagit 15ft Sink Tip		9 WEIGHT		Type 3
Rio Skagit 15ft Sink Tip		9 WEIGHT		Type 6
Rio Skagit 15ft Sink Tip		9 WEIGHT		Type 8

Welded loops are bar-coded for size and color-coded

Leland on RIO Fly Lines

Jim Vincent and his team of fly fishing experts have been manufacturing the most functionally creative fly lines at RIO for the past 20 years.  From depth, distance, wind, visibility, extreme heat, or extreme cold, the RIO team has considered every factor that presents itself to the fly fishing experience and come up with innovative fly line solutions to overcome the trials of any environment.  In terms of the unique challenges presented by every fish, RIO has specifically developed fly lines to optimize presentation, whether it's delicate precision or powerhouse delivery you're seeking.  Experience drives innovation at RIO—the fly line design team at RIO has spent countless hours on the water, testing and perfecting their fly fishing products to provide you with the most sophisticated fly lines on the market.

RIO's Simon Gawesworth on Skagit Lines

The most recent style of spey casting is called Skagit casting (pronounced ska-jit) and named after the Skagit river in Washington.

This style of spey casting utilizes an even shorter head length spey line than the WindCutter - something in the region of 27 ft. This exceptionally short head length allows the fly caster to make long casts in extremely tight situations. Even the most basic of spey casters can make a 70 ft cast with no more than 3 ft of room behind. Added to the shortness of the line is the fact that the head weighs about the same amount as the corresponding WindCutter, but at half the length. This means that the Skagit line has almost twice the weight per inch of the WindCutter line. This extra weight per inch is an immense asset for lifting out deeply sunken tips or heavy, large flies. Nothing will pick up big flies or T-14 or LC13 style sink tips as easily as a Skagit line will.




 

Skagit Cheaters

The most confusion with Skagit lines comes with something called “Skagit Cheaters”, which are 2½ ft, 5 ft and 7½ ft extension pieces for a Skagit line.

One of the ideas behind Skagit casting is that you want to maintain a constant ratio between the rod length and the head length of the line. It maybe 3 times the rod length, it may be 4 times the rod length, and each caster will find their happy ratio.
 
For the purpose of this example, let’s say a caster likes a ratio of 3½:1. A 12 ft rod would require 42 ft of line and a 15 ft rod will require 52½ ft. By following this ratio, it means that the caster never needs to adjust their casting stroke, regardless of which outfit they pick up.

If a caster likes this ratio and uses a 12 ft rod, they are going to need 42 ft of line to feel comfortable. The Skagit line has a 27 ft head. Add a 15 ft sink tip and you get 42 ft, which means there is no cheater needed. The next day, the same caster casts a 14 ft rod - 14 x 3½ = 49 ft. So, to keep the same casting stroke, the caster needs a total head length around 49 ft. A 27 ft Skagit line, plus the 15 ft sink tip is only 42 ft. Plug in the 7½ ft Cheater and the head length becomes 49½ ft and much closer to the required ratio.

The whole idea is pretty confusing to a novice, but once the concept is grasped, it is very easy to understand and allows for a caster to develop a consistent style, regardless of the size of rod used.

A final note to mention on the Skagit lines is that the sink tip does not form part of the calculation for line weight. If you look at the spey line recommendation chart and decide on a Skagit line for your rod, make sure you use the weight of the Skagit body. If the chart suggests you need a 550 grain Skagit line, it does not matter which size sink tip you add on to the front end of this (as long as it is not heavier than the Skagit body). The reason for this is that the sink tip usually does not form part of the D-loop and, therefore, plays no role in loading the rod. A typical example is that someone is told that they need a 550 grain Skagit line. They know they are going to use a 150 grain sink tip, so they buy a 400 grain Skagit line (thinking that the two added together will give them the correct load). This is very wrong and will result in an under loaded outfit. Make sure the Skagit body weight is correct, regardless of the sink tip.

Skagit Line

The Skagit lines are, quite simply, the easiest way to cast large flies or fast sinking tips. The mass of the head and the short body length result in incredible lifting power, making it child’s play to cast otherwise “nasty” rigs. It is a very easy line to learn to cast with and also extremely useful for casting in tight situations. The Skagit line is available in: 300 (new for 2008), 350, 400, 450, 500, 550, 600, 650, 700 and 750 grain head weights.

The Skagit lines have a thin running line extending from the 27 ft long head that aids in easy distance and shooting ability. The front end finishes with a loop and to this loop you will need to attach some kind of tip. The line does not come with a front tip of any kind, so if you purchase this you will need to add a tip to your purchases. As explained earlier, you may also need a Skagit Cheater, depending on your rod length, casting style and size of sink tip used. RIO makes five 15 ft tips to choose from:

1. Floating
2. Intermediate (1.5 to 2 ips)
3. Type 3 (3-4 ips)
4. Type 6 (6-7 ips)
5. Type 8 (8-9 ips)

In addition you can purchase T-8, T-11 or T-14 and cut to the desired length and weight.


Skagit VersiTip®
The Skagit VersiTip is a Skagit line, packaged with a 5 ft floating Skagit Cheater, a 15 ft Type 6 tip, a 15 ft Type 8 tip and one of RIO’s shooting head wallets. For those that don’t know much about the Skagit technique and tackle it is a good purchase as it has pretty well everything you need to start with. The only possible add on would be a 15 ft floating tip, for conditions when you don’t need to be deep. The Skagit VersiTip is available in 450, 550, 650 and 750 grain sizes.


Skagit Shooting Head
The Skagit shooting head is the head from the Skagit line. It is 27 ft long and has a loop in both ends. To the front end you attach a tip as recommended for the regular Skagit line, while the back end loop is ideal for attaching your favorite RIO shooting line. These heads are available in 350, 400, 450, 500, 550, 600, 650, 700 and 750 grain sizes.

One very simple fishing set-up is a reel loaded up with either SlickShooter or a floating Powerflex core shooting line and have a wallet with a couple of AFS heads (floating, slow intermediate and Sink 4 for steelhead fishers and floating, slow intermediate and intermediate sink tip for Atlantic salmon fishers) and a Skagit shooting head with some tips. With a rig like this, each fly fisher would be primed for everything and any situation they would encounter.

Rio on Skagit Spey Line

Modern Spey fly lines were pioneered and developed by Jim Vincent, with the help of other proficient spey casters. RIO Products, the Spey Line Specialist, is the only company with five different spey taper designs so casters can choose the right line for their individual preferences. RIO has done it again by introducing the revolutionary Skagit Spey for 2006. RIO has the most comprehensive array of floating and interchangeable tip spey lines to fulfill the needs of every situation, every spey rod design and every casting ability.

 

The Skagit Spey is a revolutionary new line designed for the Skagit-style spey casting. This casting technique requires a line with a very short, 27 ft (8.3 m), heavy head that will propel heavy sink tips and big flies great distances with a very short casting stroke. Skagit casting is easy for novice or experienced casters to learn. For casting the Skagit Spey, the total head length and weight must be matched to the rod. The total head length including the sink tip should be no more than 3 - 3 1/2 times the length of the rod. To adjust for rod length and loading, simply add a 5 ft or 10 ft Skagit Cheater to achieve the desired load and length. The RIO 15 ft sinking tips or T14 may be used to achieve the desired depth. The Skagit Spey features RIO's welded loop for fast tip changes and is also available as a full floating line with a 44 ft (13.4 m) head to cast bombers and weighted flies for summer steelhead. The head is green with a yellow running line for optimum casting control.

Scott O’Donnell on Skagit Lines

“All levels of skill at spey casting will benefit from the versatility of Rio’s Skagit Lines, but I don't believe anyone benefits more than I do. I'm a steelhead guide that specializes in teaching spey casting. Each day my responsibility is, not only helping people to become proficient casters (often for the first time), but catching a fish or two as well. So, it’s in my best interest that my anglers learn to cast a decent line as quickly as possible so that I may begin to teach them how to fish. Rio’s Skagit Lines have decreased the time it takes my anglers to become good enough casters to be confident anglers - tenfold. The short, heavy head is second to none for turning over heavy sink tips and huge flies, and it’s versatile enough to fish a dry fly, making it the favorite line of many seasoned spey anglers. More importantly to me, the extra head weight makes it easier to feel the rod load, which makes it easier for the beginner to learn.”

RIO on RIO Fly Lines

For more than 20 years, RIO has demonstrated passion, innovation and a pure love for the fly fishing sport through its development of the industry's highest performance fly lines. And the great news is, we at RIO will continue to research, design and refine our fly fishing products to ensure RIO fly lines are your preferred choice for years to come.

In 1990, Jim and Kitty Vincent founded RIO in the mountains of Idaho on the idea that exceptional fly fishing products should be built by anglers for anglers. More than twenty years later, we're still fly fishing in Idaho and driven by that same ethos.  At RIO, we take great pride in the promise to give you the absolute best of fly fishing on your rod.