Rio Skagit Floater Spey Line

Rio Skagit Floater Spey Line in-stock, no sales tax - $50 orders ship free in USA.

Color: Yellow Head/Green Running Line
This is a weight forward line that is designed for "Skagit Style" casting. It incorporates a short, heavy shooting-head type line with a compound taper for presenting very large, weighted flies.  The head on this line is 10' shorter than the popular WindCutter line of the same weight.  The compact design allows easier casting of large flies and requires a shorter "D" loop which will appeal to beginners or anglers working around stream bank vegetation.

Field Test Report          Relative Weights

These lines are very much like the "Mark-mark" lines of a few years ago.  They were shortened WindCutters.  We had found that if we shortened the head of WindCutter Spey Line, it was a lot easier for beginners to learn with.  Since the WindCutters of the era didn't change color at the rear taper like the modern ones, it was hard to see how much "over-hang" you had past the rod tip.  We installed a 6" band with a black waterproof marker pen.  We sold so many of these lines, that guys started calling it the "Mark-mark" line.  It sounded kind of like the hair-lip dog joke, but it worked very well for the purpose intended.
We have tried Skagit Floaters on a wide range of rods and field conditions. Because of its compactness, it is a great line when working in tight places, such as smaller rivers or when working off the steep side of any river that has overhanging branches, or anywhere there is little back cast room.  This is a great teaching line when you want a group of students clustered around you in a small area. It is a great practice line when your practice area is small. The best attribute this line has is beating the wind.  The short, compact head allows you to load a rod hard and stop very quickly, thus generating very fast line speed.

When choosing a Skagit Floater to match your present Skagit Spey system, you might want to rethink sizing.  The chart below shows the the total head weights for Skagit Speys with standard Rio components.  As you can see, the the relative weights of the heads vary widely between floating and sinking tip lines of the same size designation.  If you like the way your rod feels with your sinking tip setup, then you should move up a size when buying a Skagit Floater.