Tom Larimer’s King Rig

Tom loads up yet another laser loop.

Photo: Cameron Miller

Tom Larimer runs one of the premier guide services in the Northwest. He’s a super dude, an incredible angler and teacher, and…you guessed it, he’s one of our spey hosts during our king season at Alaska West.

If you saw Tom headed out on the Kanektok looking for some early-season chrome of the king variety, chances are he’d be setting up this rig.

The Summary

Burkheimer 10130-3 – That’s right, 13 feet for a 10 weight.
Ross Momentum LT 7
Airflo Skagit Compact, 720 grains

The Detail

30 pound dacron backing attached to the spool with an arbor knot
Airflo Ridge Tactical Running line, attached to the backing using an Albright knot, coated with Zap-A-Gap
Skagit Compact 720 attached to the factory loop on the front of the running line using a loop-to-loop connection
Airflo Custom Cut 330 tip cut to 12 feet, attached to the Skagit Compact using the factory loops and a loop-to-loop connection
Loop created in the leader end of the tip by stripping the coating off the end of the tip and tying a perfection loop into the core
4 feet of 15 pound Maxima Ultragreen, attached to the perfection loop on the front of the sinktip using a triple surgeon’s knot and a loop-to-loop connection
Solitude Reverse Marabou Intruder tube fly (available this winter) slid onto the leader
Owner SSW hook, size 1, tied to the leader using a non-slip mono loop

The Commentary

“When I pull the fly out of tension, I want it to drop quickly. Using that stripped off end of the sinktip and a straight leader, versus using a butt section, enables the fly to sink. The idea is that by having a straight leader, as soon as you take the fly out of tension, the fly will sink a lot quicker than the sinktip will. With a Skagit head, you don’t need to have a tapered leader. You’re much better off getting the fly down quickly. Halfway through the week at Alaska West this year, that really hit me. By fishing tips that were shorter but heavier, I started hooking a lot more adults by getting the fly into the troughs.”