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Pete
08-26-2008, 01:34 PM
I'm looking for a new spey line for my z-axis 7136-4. There are so many lines on the market right now, it's mind-boggling. If anyone has any recommendations, I would certainly appreciate it. Thanks.

Jasonh
08-26-2008, 04:21 PM
Hi Pete,

For a skagit the Airflo Compact 600 rocks on that rod. As for scandi style heads i would opt for an AFS 7/8 or get a custom cut Vision. For traditional spey lines, the Airflo Delta 7/8 is pretty nice on that rod.

Jason

nrthcsteel
08-26-2008, 04:27 PM
Second on the Airflo delta 7/8. Great combo. An Ace vision cut to 34' @ 440 grains is pretty darn sweet also. Mostly used this rod with floating lines havent done much yet with the skagit so cant comment there. Pretty fun rod for sure. Kevin

Pete
09-02-2008, 07:01 AM
Thanks Jason and Kevin!

Jeff Putnam
09-03-2008, 01:11 PM
What fishing conditions and rivers are you fishing in? Smaller water 20-50 foot casts or bigger water with 60-100 foot casts? This will help in determining how much grain weight is needed to get the fly to the fish. Skagits are great for getting down deep and fishing big flies on heavy tips, Vision Ace for med to small flies, Delta Spey 7/8 for all around, and the CND Gravity Point 6/7 for med to light tips and flies and longer casting 50-100 feet. There are many things to take into consideration when deciding on a spey line. The Z-axis 7136 has a grain weight window of about 450-550 grains. Hope this helps, jp

Grampa Spey
09-16-2008, 06:49 AM
I'm looking for a new spey line for my z-axis 7136-4. There are so many lines on the market right now, it's mind-boggling. If anyone has any recommendations, I would certainly appreciate it. Thanks.

I have one of these great rods. The Rio AFS 7/8 head with Rio's 15' floating and intermediate 15' Spey Versi Leaders work very well.

When going deep, my Z 7136 works with Rio's 550 Skagit if there isn't a lot of wind. With a lot of wind, the 650 Skagit works better for me.

Also, with the shorter rods like the Z 7136 and the Skagits, the 10', 12' and 15' Rio Versi sinking Leaders seem to work better than the standard 15' sinking tips.

My only complaint re my Z 7136, it is too much of a rod for fish under 5 pounds and most of our spring, summer and fall fish and low water. My Z 6126 is more than enough rod for most of the year and most fish we can tangle with on the America and other local rivers.

Bill Kiene semi-retired
09-16-2008, 06:30 PM
The Sage Z-Axis 7136-4 (13'6" #7) is a very popular medium size versatile Spey rod.

Andy Guibord took it to Nicholas Dean Lodge out of Terrace, BC and when he returned he said it was great for short, medium and long casting.

We are seeing a trend where many are using looped heads with looped running lines now.

This way they can change heads and tips for different situations.

aaron
09-16-2008, 07:59 PM
Grampa Spey
Just curious as to the advantage of using poly leaders over normal tips on skagits?

In my experience to get the true skagit load I really like to fire up my D loop so to speak and the heavier 15 tips seem to be very helpful at times in not pulling the anchor. Seems like a poly leader would be less effective at this?

Grampa Spey
10-04-2008, 07:18 AM
Grampa Spey
Just curious as to the advantage of using poly leaders over normal tips on skagits?

In my experience to get the true skagit load I really like to fire up my D loop so to speak and the heavier 15 tips seem to be very helpful at times in not pulling the anchor. Seems like a poly leader would be less effective at this?

When I got into the Skagit lines, I was fortunate to have Bob Pauli help me, Chris Andersen of Sage, and some NW originals with the Skagit like Ed Ward or Ed Skagit as some of us call him. Then a couple of the Rio Skagit guys at the following Speyorama

The rods I used then for the most part where 14' rods. All of the above guys preached going slow and never really using a lot of power with the casts. My favorite Skagit cast is the Perry Poke and I probably don't have much if any D loops. Still the 15' standard sinking tips worked.

In the first summer of Skagit lines, I ripped my right bicep head and retore my right rotator cuff in a non fishing accident. For months I had no rods in my hands. A year later, when I got back to Spey rods, I bought a Sage 5120 from Gary Anderson and that rod and my Meiser 5/6 Switch rods became my main rods with the Sage 6126-3 as the heavy duty rod as per the advice from my physical therapist. He was very against my longer rods, long Spey lines, and they were sold or given to my son.

At that time Rio's lightest line was the Skagit 450. I found out that the 5120 and Meise's 5/6 switch rods didn't work that well with the standard 15' tips for me. I started using Rio's Versi tips at that time, their 7', 10' and 12' lenghths for these lighter and shorter rods. The tips worked better for me, and I had a large choice of lengths to chose from to match the river depth and speed.

Then, John and Amy Hazel started customizing Ace Vision lines which used the Air Flo Poly Spey Floating Leaders with 5-7' of tippet. I had John custom cut Ace Vision lines for my 5120 and 6126-3. They became my top water and intermediate lines.

Then, Rio came out with their AFS Heads. They became my line of choice for top water and intermediate flies. I had Gary Anderson make me a combo switch/spey Z Axis 7136, and that rod became my heavy duty rod for N California with the 7/8 AFS head and the Skagit 550 for light to moderate winds, and the 650 when the winds tried to lift my 200# body off the water. Rio at that time came out with its Spey Versi Leaders, and I discovered that the Spey Versi Sinking leaders in my old hands and terrible casting skills worked better than the standard 15' Sinking tips.

The 15' fast sinking Spey Versi leaders/tips with the above Skagits and the Z7136 have no problem Shad fishing on the Sac with high/fast water and wind in getting the fly out and to drift into the Shad bucket. This year I never used any T14/T8 or 15' sinking tips and the 15' Fast Sinking Spey versi leaders put the Shad fly right into the bucket in tough casting situations.

I still have an assortment of T14 lengths and a 20' section of T8 if an when the Versi Leaders aren't quite there.


Rio also came out with the Skagit 350 which is the Skagit of choice for my 5120 and Meiser 5/6 Switch with the shorter Versi sinking leaders.

My newer Z6126 does well with the Skagit 550 and the shorter Versi tips with light to moderate wind. The AmericanV and Russian where I do most of my casting and sometimes fishing this year don't work well with the longer sinking tips.

Jeff Putnam and I had a good and interesting discussion last month under the Watt Avenue Bridge. The gist of the discussion was: Good and average two handed rod guys can probably make any line work and any sinking system work if they really work at casting and adapting to the rods, lines and teminal gear.

However, in today's world why put yourself into that trap/situation. There are some many great rods, different lines and terminal leaders at Kiene's and other fly stores that will work without having to settle for something you can force to work. Today, we can experiment and find rods, lines, and terminal gear that work great for us with our casting levels and the water we cast on without the hassle of having to adapt to make a rod, line or terminal gear.

Jeff and Jason will be working on finding the best lines for switch rods, and their work will help all of us to zero in and find which rod, lines and terminal gear work the best for us.

One final point is the cost of the Spey Versi and Regular Versi tips versus the standard 15' tips, they cost less than the standard tips and the shorter the Versi leader, there is less cost versus the 15' regular sinking tips.