TFO 11′ 5wt. Spey??
- This topic has 22 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated Nov 25, 2006 at 11:15 pm by
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I have just noticed that TFO has put out an 11′ 5wt Two-Hander that may fit rather nicely to our Great Lakes Steelheading high stick nymphing/indicator techniques.
Interesting, we use a lot of 10′ 6 and 7 wts here for nymphing, and I figured the longer 5wt would be useful and pretty fun to scrap with a fish on under the right conditions.
First off, here are my preferences: I am not a fan of short speys/switch rods. I had the 11′ 7 wt Winston BIIx, which would probably be ideal for your applications. It worked well with a normal single-handed rod line. I spoke with Sam Druckman and the rod was designed for single-handed lines. That is the case with most of the short spey/switch rods, they are designed for single-handed lines. I find them awkward to cast and not providing enough benefits to put up with their limitations. I prefer 9′ – 10′ single-handed rods or real spey rods for steelhead. All of my steelheading is swinging flies and I have been using spey rods exclusively for the last two years.
Personally, I would stick with your 10′ rods rather than jump into short spey/switch rod area (10′ – 12′). Good line combos are just too hard to come by. As for over-lining, you see that a lot in MI with the C&D crowd. I don’t see any benefit in it unless you are chucking a lot of lead. If you want a 11′, I would look at Winston’s or G. Loomis’s 7 wt. offering and just match the rod with it’s rated single-handed line. My complaint with the TFO is it’s just too light to handle a steelhead quickly.
– David
P.S. – TFO has hired Meiser and they are going to be redoing their entire spey line (and the 11 footer) over the next year or so.
I wish I could afford that Winston, but I graduate college in 3 weeks and it will definitely be out of range of my budget for quite some time.
There are other options out there as well. I should have mentioned Meiser’s or Beulah’s (same rod) switch rods with Bob’s lines or Rio’s Outbound lines. That combo works and is less expensive than the Winston’s/Loomis’. Beulah’s 10’6″ 6/7 switch rod is $390.00.
I have the 12’6″ #6 TFO Pro that I use to swing flies on the larger rivers we have such as the Cattaraugus, and the Grand River (OH).
David- I,m curious on what the idea- “combo that works/awkward to cast/etc ” means ?? Not being cantankerous or combative – honestly, just curious how you define that.
I have a 11’6″ switch rod/line combo, I can toss dual weighted nymphs/2 1/2″ dry stones- 80 ‘+ with relative ease and consistancy – Single/Spiral Single/double and standard spiral Spey casts. All the casts I need to cover the species and water I use it on.
When you are judging/rating a setup- what are your baselines? short/mid/long bellies/60,70,80,90 ‘ casts?
Will
No, great reply.
I’ll toss this into the mix- what is the Switch concept??………- A short lightweight spey rod or a long SH overhead
Switch rod is a term started by Bob Meiser. It is a double-handed rod that can be both over-head and spey cast. Many others now use this term to apply to rods between 10 – 12 feet. The question that comes up is what lines are these rods designed for? They are often difficult to find a good rod/line combo for.
Prairiespey, if you have a rod/line combo that works for you – that’s great. I don’t have a baseline in terms of casting distance. I find the long rods awkward to over-head cast, particularly with a bank, trees, etc. behind you. And some times the single-handed lines don’t anchor well for spey casts.
This is all personal preference, I prefer single-haned rods or true spey rods. I have been frustrated with 11ish footers. That will probably change when I get a good rod/line combo in my hands.
– David
Must admit I struggled a bit with the switch idea- which is why I asked the initial set of questions- as
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