ECHO Skagit Compact

Try casting 15ft of lead core on the end of your regular Spey line and you’ll quickly find its not up to the job – enter the ECHO Compact Skagit . Skagit lines were originally developed by the Steelhead freaks of the Pacific North West to get flies in front of fish regardless of environment. These short high power heads have the ability to make a cast in tight confined spaces, which often means the difference between success and failure.

Tim Rajeff’s good friend Tom Larimer guides the mighty rivers of Oregon and Washington and as a pro steelhead and king salmon guide he needed a series of lines that allowed his clients to quickly get the hang of fishing heavy level sink tips and BIG flies. So he spoke to Tim about his needs and together they came up with the ECHO Skagit Compact.

As with any line the shorter the head the more critical the weight; by refining the taper and length of the ECHO Skagit Compact from 23ft/7m to 27ft/8.2m depending on head weight, they’ve created 15 models from: 360grains/25g to 810grains/53g in 30grain/2g increments that ensure you’ll be able to find the perfect match for your favourite rod.

As with all ECHO Spey-Lines the front loop has the line size and line type printed on it for easy recognition. ECHO Spey-lines do not contain softener’s and are environmentally friendly.

Designed by ECHO’s Tim Rajeff with Tom Larimer
Manufactured by AirFlo in the UK
Distributed exclusively by BalticFlyFisher

ECHO Skagit Compact Intermediate

The ECHO Skagit [Compact] Intermediate gets you below the surface into even flowing water, allowing for a smoother more direct fly presentation. Two tone in colour, the front taper and belly section are transparent blue intermediate, and the floating back taper is Heron grey. Featuring power core for direct contact and solid hook set, with Flexi-loops at both ends, and easy to read head size designation.

The ECHO Skagit Intermediate is available in eleven sizes from 390grains/25g to 720grains/47g and lengths of 21ft/6.4m to 24ft/7.3m.

In keeping with all other ECHO Spey-Lines, the Skagit Intermediate also has weight increments of 30grains/2g, enabling you to fine tune the line to your rod with ease and the front loop has the line size and line type printed on it for easy recognition. ECHO Spey-lines do not contain softener’s and are environmentally friendly.

Designed by ECHO’s Tim Rajeff, with Tom Larimer.
Manufactured by AirFlo in the UK.
Distributed exculsively by BalticFlyFisher.

ECHO Skagit Switch

Switch rods are designed more like a traditional single hand rod taper… they’re fast in the butt section and flex progressively through the tip giving the caster the ability to overhead cast them.  However, a Spey rod taper is typically slower in the butt section and faster through the tip section.  This allows the caster to form the D-Loop and change the direction of the cast without the rod wanting to unload too quickly. The load is sustained through the whole casting cycle until the cast goes outbound.  It’s the reason why Spey casting feels so good!

Designed by ECHO’s Tim Rajeff with Tom Larimer

Manufactured by AirFlo in the UK
Distributed exclusively by BalticFlyFisher

Much Ado About Nothing …

Not only have the ECHO Spey Lines arrived but we are also allowed to use the old names …

the lines are now called:

ECHO Scandi Compact
ECHO Skagit Compact
ECHO Skagit Compact Intermediate
ECHO Skagit Switch
ECHO Rage Compact Float

The Myth about Skagit Rod/Line Length Ratios

We have often been asked for the “rules” surrounding rod length line length ratios for skagit casting. Well who better to talk about that than the man himself  …

… this is part of a thread written by Ed Ward on the skagitmaster forum.

” ….. Skagit Rod/Line length Ratios
- Maximum Line length (belly + tip) – 3.5 times rod length.
- Minimum Line length (belly + tip)  - 1.75 times rod length.
 
   These figures are often stated as “rules” and for beginning/novice casters, they should be thought of as such. The max length of 3.5 has been determined by the fact that lines longer than this ratio become increasingly difficult to position and sweep without breaking the arms away from the body. “Breaking away” is counter productive to the “effortless power” aspect of Skagit casting because that effortless power action is dependent on keeping the pivot point of the sweep movement as compact and tight-to-the-body as possible.
   The minimum length of 1.75 has been determined by the fact that line lengths less than this ratio are difficult to maintain sufficient anchoring of the line on the water during the forward casting stroke to conduct that forward casting stroke without prematurely blowing the line off of the water.
   My recommendation for general purpose casting/angling or entry-level casters is a ratio around 2.75 to 3. Longer ratios of 3 to 3.5 are used for achieving maximum distance as that follows the “longer line, longer casts” rule of flycasting in general. A less-than-2.5 ratio would be selected primarily for tight quarters casting as the shorter the line, the shorter the resulting D-loop. Also, shorter ratios will increase the capacity of any given rod/line system to cast heavier tips and/or flies because “compacting” the overall weight of the line into a shorter package increases the grains-per-foot status of the line.
   As stated earlier, these rod/line ratios are presented as “rules”, but for advanced/expert casters that have established an effective, efficient Skagit casting “core” (Sweep-Turnover-Casting Stroke sequence), these rules become guidelines that can be “breached” to accomodate specialized situations. Lines longer than 3.5 can be cast by “breaking away” during line positioning movements, but one must then “re-establish” – AFTER the line is “set” and BEFORE conducting the Sweep – a “tight, fixed, central” casting pivot point… not exactly an easy action for a novice or even intermediate caster to accomplish. Lines less than 1.75 times rod length can be cast by lowering the plane of the Sweep, increasing the speed of the Sweep (to keep the lower altitude line from hitting the water) and narrowing the separation-of-planes action of the Turnover to a measurement of inches… another not-so-conducive-to-novice-casters process. These are actions that demand constant, vigilant attention and as such are only employed for VERY specialized situations, even by expert casters. …”

Happy New Year

We wish you all good health, tight lines and sexy loops for 2013
See you next year.

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Happy Christmas

Fly Casting World Championships – Medals and placings

Silja finally ended up with the following medals:

1. Silver  – Womens 15′ Spey
2. Bronze  – Womens 16′ Spey

In addition she had a 4th place in the sea trout distance (1hand) and a 4th in Trout Distance (1hand #5 weight).

Lasse was overall 11th in the (mens) sea trout distance.

More results and some pictures will follow asap.

Well done both of you !!!

Medals

We have just heard that Silja has won silver in the 15′Spey… more details will follow asap.

Going for Gold

Come along and meet Silja and Lasse and all the other worlds best casters on 24.08 and 25.08  at the World Championships in Flycasting 2012 in Fagernes (approx. 180 km. from Oslo), Norway.  Silja and Lasse will be casting for the Danish Team; Silja will be competing in Trout, Seatrout and Salmon Distance as well as 15′ ft Spey, Lasse will be competing in Trout, Seatrout and Salmon Distance as well as Trout Precision.

They will be using ECHO TR 15′ #10, ECHO3 9’6 #8 and the ECHO3 9′ #6 and self-made spey lines in the competitions..

If you are in the area pop by, have a chat and give them some support – it is going to be a sizzling weekend