rob chapman
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Adam,
I have the same rod and used it in the same place!
I like the Teeny Chard Permit line in 9wt. I loaned it to a buddy who is a much better angler than me for a Bahamas trip a couple of years ago and he picked up the exact rig when he got home.
Broke my 11wt X2s at the first ferrule on a Permit over the Elbow. Those fish pull hard…
I’ll be back there in July. Have fun dude, it’s awesome down there.
-Rob
Hi Zach,
I have tried both the switch and Spey route for summer Steel here in OR, and I much prefer a 12.5′ 6wt Spey rod. The timing is much more forgiving with the Spey than with the switch due to the extra rod length and a subsequently larger D loop.
The nice thing is, I use the same reel on my summer Spey as I do on my 8wt single handed Steelhead/ Salmon rod and on my 9wt saltwater rod. Guess that answers your original question 🙂 If I bothered to replace the dacron backing with braided I could likely get away with more.
Buy one reel and save the rest of your $$$ for the Sasquatch Music Festival in the Gorge, great line-up this year!
-Rob
Hi Zach,
There are spool weights available for the Torque that help to eliminate the tip heaviness often experienced when using lightweight saltwater oriented reels on two-handers. One of my buddies uses these weights with his Torques and rates them highly.
You might also consider gel-spun backing as a means of using a somewhat smaller reel with your Spey lines. I have serious doubts about the ability to remain connected to a fish with more than 200 yds of backing out in a river.
I think that you can find a reel that will work on both 7wts. It just might look a little big on the single-handed rod. Who cares, it’ll just wind in faster!
Cheers,
Rob
Short of a manufacturing defect which I haven’t seen yet, when I eventually break a rod chances are it will be my fault. Personally I feel like I should pay for the repair, which seems to be the case even with most lifetime warranties.
My question is, if I take good care of my gear, what is my incentive to buy the $700 rod versus the $350 rod given that they both have the same guaranty? Read that domestic vs. import if you’d like.
It seems to me that Zach’s suggestion could help our domestic rod manufacturers stay competitive if they are able to drop the warranty costs from their retail prices. At some point price matters, whether you have a mortgage, or a rugrat, or you don’t want to eat pasta every night because half of your income goes to toys.
Cheers,
Rob
Todd,
I was recently on the #9 hunt as well. I test cast the Sage Xi2, the Winston MX, and the Scott X2S. I wanted to try the GLX Crosscurrent but the shop didn’t have one. After two separate testing trips I went with the Scott. I found it to be easy to load in close and it shoots the line out there quickly. The tip seems to be forgiving of operator error which I reckon is a real consideration towards the end of a long fishing day.
The Winston was a real close second, and thats coming from a guy who doesn’t particularly care for the BIIx. I think they are going to sell a million MX’s.
The Sage throws tiny loops and is very responsive but even with a #10 line it felt a little wooden to me.
It’s funny because I thought I’d be walking out with a Sage or a Loomis. It drove home the importance of trying before I buy.
For a reel, I went with the South African Abel, I mean the Shilton
Hi all,
I’m an Aquastealth with studs proponent now. I used them for two months in NZ with few problems. The only time they are sketchy are while boulder hopping. Made me wonder how old time mountaineers got away with hobnailed boots! I kept wondering if I was spooking fish with the studs but it didn’t seem to be an issue in moving water.
Where they really shine is on those long walks back to the car. There are some places out there that would be terrifying to walk in felt soles, especially in the rain.
The other reason I’ve made the switch is that I think it is impossible to adequately clean felt between watersheds. Like it or not critters like Didymo and Mud Snails are here to stay so it’s high time we all started cleaning our gear. Don’t mean to sound preachy but it’s the way it is.
Have fun out there!
Yep that’s Mr. Chu alright! I recognized the Prosek Abel of his first. Watch out Alaska, he’s threatened to come back this year.
Hello all,
This is my first post but I’ve been lurking about for some time, please bear with me while I ramble.I’m not convinced that any of us here are truly concerned about market forces. Seriously, while I admit to owning more fishing gear than I truly “need” all of the stuff that I have is well within the reach of the working class(single :)) angler. I truly believe that most of us fish because we love it.
I was fortunate enough to be able to spend about two months of ’07 in New Zealand spread over two trips thanks to the $ I saved while in the Oil War, I mean OIF, which was more time than I spent in my own country. At no time did I ever feel like I was held back because my fishing jacket wasn’t 400 bucks, my reel didn’t cost enough, or my rod wasn’t the most favored on the internet bulletin boards. My successes and failures were all my own.
I should mention that I was lucky enough to fish with some amazing anglers like Chris, Dan, Deano, Greg, and Simon (who is on this board) and believe me when I tell you that they can out fish me with $40 reels in their hands, no problem (ask me how I know that)!
Nobody cares if we are enjoying the process but us!
