david_dornblaser
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Travis,
It looks like a beautiful river. Your photo essay has caused me to put the Little Red on my calendar for this winter.
Best,
– DavidI thought that I would throw this question onto this thread: I do not have the option of test casting a Scott in Chicago until the fly fishing shows come around in the winter. Unfortunately, I have need of another long 4 at roughly the same time. How do the 8’8″ & 9′ G2’s compare to the 9′ BIIx? I am looking for a rod that has enough guts to cast nymphs, streamers and yet be able to fish a dry within 20′. My normal preference in rods are Winston WT’s with an increased interest in cane. 😕 Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks,
– DavidThere are some great new rods out. The 8′ 4 wt and 8’6″ 5 wt BIIt are wonderful, smooth rods. The Z-axis are, IMO, a vast improvement over the XP. Orvis’ new Troutbum editions of the Super Fine rods look wonderful, althought I have not cast them. The Scott G2’s are also a great new version.
We may be living in the golden times of graphite. My comment about the industry contracting is just that, fly fishing is losing it’s base at the very time that rods, reels, etc. are reaching new heights. With rods and tackle so good, maybe our focus should be how many new friends have we introduced to fly fishing?
– David
Really old news to us Winstonites.
FWIW – here is Jerry Kustich’s comments in March. www.uppermidwestflyfishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1174
Here are some pics of the last day of the ‘boo boys.
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
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.
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.
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 started an almost identical thread on UMFF yesterday. I, too, am new to cane, picking up two cane rods in 2006 (a Winston and an Oyster). I expect to fish cane more in 2007. I find that adapting to cane has made me a better caster and cane works well on the spring creeks that I fish. Even though I have a good number of graphite rods, I enjoy cane with dries, soft hackles, and single nymphs on the slower spring creeks. I expect to use cane rods most of the time when I am not on larger freestones or during the day after July 4th when I am likely to using hoppers, streamers or double nymphs. Although one of our cane rods is an 8′ 5 wt and it handles larger flies just fine.
– David
P.S. – we have two cane rods budgeted for 2007.
