Hawk, thats the same setup I use on the Quinault river's Cook creek fishery, and main river, leaving a tagline on the mainline, it does save alot of downtime especially when your fishing an oversized creek like Cook's and some 3800+ above avg hatchery steelhead brats(A good freind of mine is the hatchery mgr.)are in. Whats weird is that how you explain how you meter your cast and then strip out a couple of pulls to get it right down to where they are, is exactly how I present my bait or spinner, to me that's a little eerie, knowing that there's another guy who knows how to catch steelhead like I do, and not to brag, I do catch alot of steelhead!, and with the techniques you describe and share, I'm sure you catch a your fair share also, are you a Snaglys "Slick" within you fishing partners
Snagly I use a GLoomis 9ft 1082s IMX which is also very sensitive, enough to feel them mouthing my eggs.. Sustain & Stradic 2000's, by the way Snagly I have the same problem of line twist with Sustain and the Stradics and your remedy is the solution period... And in my opinion there is no better spinning reel on the market. Oakly makes the best polarized
glasses I've used yet and their glass not plastic only 1 style and a bit spendi at 175.00 dojas, and do not know if they prescribe them. Hawk wouldn't mind tagging along next year up north, if you don't mind fishing next to your NW clone. sounds like a cool river and time.