Jed Peters
10-18-2012, 11:00 AM
Okay, so I went out this morning with myself (by no means a master, but decent enough to get the line to the fish) and AnadromousFly (a fishy dude, former guide, and new spey caster) from the forum and tested some rod/line combos.
I am posting this in detail here to share with the community and to try to take some of the "mystery" out of line matching.
ONE 5126: Rod impressions: I don't really care about aesthetics, but I do about performance. This rod is super light in the hand, what a sweetheart. I noticed it likes a really slow stroke, and doesn't match all that well with my faster "cast off the tip" style.
The handle SUCKS. WAY too big. Should be perfect on a 15' 10 weight, it has no place on a rod of this size. I think Sage should have put the ONE switch handles on this. If I got a ONE, I would have the grip turned WAY down. And I like a thick grip. This was almost a joke. Now onto the lines:
Rage 330. This was under-lined for this rod. I think a 360 Rage should be perfect combo for summer and winter fishing. NOT recommended in the 330 size.
Flight 375. WOW. Just WOW. This was a killer combo with 10' of T-8 mow tips. We even tried it with some T-6 and a floating tip (homemade) and it was SWEET. I could totally get into this rod. I just had to slow my stroke a little as said above.
ONE 7116. This is my rod, and I've reviewed it here with the Rage 420: http://speypages.com/speyclave/showthread.php?t=61272
Rage 420: http://speypages.com/speyclave/showthread.php?t=61272
iFlight 450: This was used in concert with a medium sized bunny string leech and 10' of T-11. WAY too much for this rod. Couldn't even get it out of the water! Just didn't like it the way I do with a standard Flight 450 and T-11 or T-8. Perhaps because of the intermediate tip of the iFlight, I should have used some T-6 or T-3, but with T-11 it was just too buried in the water with it's 11'6" size to get it out and out. Basically not a fan.
I have some work to do to find a good skagit head with this rod. I've tried everything from AirFlo and Rio (literally) in 400-475, and unlike the Rage, I haven't really found anything that was "automatic"
TCX 5119: My go-to rod. Enough has been said about this little thing. I love the fact that it's stiff in the butt and tip, it suits my quick stroke casting style well.
Rage 330: Sweet setup with floating mono leader at 16' and 1.5ips versi leader at 10' plus about 5' of tippet. Fishes well to about 80' or so.
Flight 375: With T-8 MOW tips, this rod sings. Absolutely perfect little setup. Very happy with it. In my opinion the perfect setup.
TCX 6119: Same stuff as said about the 5 weight. Great setup.
Homemade Skagit 420 at 21': Oh how this thing sang. AWESOME and AUTOMATIC setup with T-11. Super pumped on this line that AnadromousFly created. Should be a great setup for him. This thing felt PERFECTLY balanced. I would not change a thing. If you could get something in the 21-22' length around 420 grains, this would be the perfect "non-custom" match IMHO for T-11 water.
Abel Switch: Just got this yesterday. Not sure if I can get into the annoyingly loud click. Drag is for show--pretty much no go--so this will be a palmer. Might have to go back to my Hatch reel. Perhaps I just need to hook a fish with it to see, but for all the stripping and reeling I do on the water vs how often I hook a fish....may not be worth it for the annoying sound!
I am posting this in detail here to share with the community and to try to take some of the "mystery" out of line matching.
ONE 5126: Rod impressions: I don't really care about aesthetics, but I do about performance. This rod is super light in the hand, what a sweetheart. I noticed it likes a really slow stroke, and doesn't match all that well with my faster "cast off the tip" style.
The handle SUCKS. WAY too big. Should be perfect on a 15' 10 weight, it has no place on a rod of this size. I think Sage should have put the ONE switch handles on this. If I got a ONE, I would have the grip turned WAY down. And I like a thick grip. This was almost a joke. Now onto the lines:
Rage 330. This was under-lined for this rod. I think a 360 Rage should be perfect combo for summer and winter fishing. NOT recommended in the 330 size.
Flight 375. WOW. Just WOW. This was a killer combo with 10' of T-8 mow tips. We even tried it with some T-6 and a floating tip (homemade) and it was SWEET. I could totally get into this rod. I just had to slow my stroke a little as said above.
ONE 7116. This is my rod, and I've reviewed it here with the Rage 420: http://speypages.com/speyclave/showthread.php?t=61272
Rage 420: http://speypages.com/speyclave/showthread.php?t=61272
iFlight 450: This was used in concert with a medium sized bunny string leech and 10' of T-11. WAY too much for this rod. Couldn't even get it out of the water! Just didn't like it the way I do with a standard Flight 450 and T-11 or T-8. Perhaps because of the intermediate tip of the iFlight, I should have used some T-6 or T-3, but with T-11 it was just too buried in the water with it's 11'6" size to get it out and out. Basically not a fan.
I have some work to do to find a good skagit head with this rod. I've tried everything from AirFlo and Rio (literally) in 400-475, and unlike the Rage, I haven't really found anything that was "automatic"
TCX 5119: My go-to rod. Enough has been said about this little thing. I love the fact that it's stiff in the butt and tip, it suits my quick stroke casting style well.
Rage 330: Sweet setup with floating mono leader at 16' and 1.5ips versi leader at 10' plus about 5' of tippet. Fishes well to about 80' or so.
Flight 375: With T-8 MOW tips, this rod sings. Absolutely perfect little setup. Very happy with it. In my opinion the perfect setup.
TCX 6119: Same stuff as said about the 5 weight. Great setup.
Homemade Skagit 420 at 21': Oh how this thing sang. AWESOME and AUTOMATIC setup with T-11. Super pumped on this line that AnadromousFly created. Should be a great setup for him. This thing felt PERFECTLY balanced. I would not change a thing. If you could get something in the 21-22' length around 420 grains, this would be the perfect "non-custom" match IMHO for T-11 water.
Abel Switch: Just got this yesterday. Not sure if I can get into the annoyingly loud click. Drag is for show--pretty much no go--so this will be a palmer. Might have to go back to my Hatch reel. Perhaps I just need to hook a fish with it to see, but for all the stripping and reeling I do on the water vs how often I hook a fish....may not be worth it for the annoying sound!