Airflow Rage Compact

[aaron]

Been fishing this new head by Airflow for a week or so now. It's pretty darn sweet. For most people this could be the only head they ever need. If you do some serious winter work then you'll still want a skagit in the arsenal. Otherwise I think this is the nicest 'tweener' line on the market. We have some in stock now. Check out the blog for a more in depth review http://powfly.org/

[aaron]

Now online. Note we are missing a few sizes that Airflo hasn't gotten in yet.
http://speyshop.kiene.com/newairfloragecompacthead.aspx

[Don Powell]

Glad to hear you like 'em, Aaron...
After reading Tom Larimer's background on R&D I am anxious to try a few...
Time will tell if they work best on any given rod...
Did you attach a 10' poly leader as Tom suggested?
Which rods in your quiver did you cast them on?
The "California" Skagit line design may have arrived???

[Terry Thomas]

Don,
The 420 is a great match for the Sage Switch 7119 TCX. Plan on fishing it on the Trinity next week and the Rogue the following week. Will report back. Throws the 14ft clear floater Polyleader by Airflo very well. Plan on testing the new 10ft Rio tips on it as well.
T.

[golfish]

I like the design concept of this line, may have to order one for my light Meiser switch and try it out. Is the 360gr in stock?

[Terry Thomas]

Yes, the 360 is in stock.

[Don Powell]

Thanks, T,

Hope conditions are excellent for you up north so you get to give the outfit a fitting work-out!
I am sure I am going to work this new head into my line-up for certain rivers/conditions/rods...
Isn't it a "hoot" being able to play with all this stuff- technology has advanced immeasureably- so much so that I don't really care if there may not be as many fish to catch... they are even more precious when they come to hand...

Best Luck on your Trip!

Don

[Tim R]

I fished the 420 Rage head on the following- Batson 1266, Beulah 12'7 7/8, Echo Tr 1307- Its an amazing line- I used a 7.5 ft floating tip @ 60 grns and a 10' Snowbee trout floating polyleader- Also fished the Rage with 10' of t8- this line really zings amazingly worked nice with a floating tip or cheater when used as a floating line for me- although I didnt try it naked with a mono leader- the tip of the rage is pretty big and would probobly work great with the light mow tips.

This line configurations I used were A tad heavy for the 6 weight- but very fishable- and nice on the 7 and 7/8 - although they might have handled a little more grainage- still casted wonderfully- waterborn and touch and go. Its made of pretty dense material and throws tight powerful loops.

[golfish]

Tried a 450 grn Rage on a Echo TR 6126 as recommended by Jamie at Rajeff Sports. Tried 10ft. poly tips up to Type VI, no prob. Haven't tried it with a piece of T8 or T11 yet but if I'm going that direction I'm probably throwing a skagit already. Once my stroke was dialed in the line was money. If my compact scandi starts blowing around too much this line is coming out, much better than a skagit with a floater like I did before.

Can't wait to try a 360 on my switch rod. Should be a nice setup for the Klamath at the end of the month.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

We just got in another shipment from Rajeff Sports....

These new Skagit heads have a front taper on them so they cast smooth and will turn over all but the heaviest "winter junk".

http://speyshop.kiene.com/newairfloragecompacthead.aspx

PS: Then nice thing about heads is that for about $50 each you can have lots of different types of lines. Kind of like golf clubs?

.

[Don Powell]

I cast the Airflo Rage with a floating 10' Airflo leader and 2' of Maxima- pretty nice...
But, I agree with Bill- I think some more "junk" will cast well...
Let's all experiment and see how much weight works well. The head is going to "bridge the gap" between the Airflo Compact and the Rage.
Report results please-

[aaron]

10' of t-14 on the 420 is doable once you figure out the stroke but a bit much. I think 10 of t-8 and possibly t-11 would be ok.

[Terry Thomas]

Had a chance to fish the Rage line on the Trinity and the Rogue...very impressed! Not too clunky to swing muddlers on a tapered mono leader and turns over MOW T-11 tips pretty well. I was using the Sage TCX 7119.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChPyx_ujNcE

Watch this video.....

This is a very popular line now for summer/fall Steelhead fishing with Poly/Versi leaders and small/medium flies, especially in the afternoon winds.