Unknown Spey Line

[Idadon]

I bought a line last summer at a garage sale for $.25, ya a whole quarter. Anyway it's in a ziplock bag that's labeled "Grand Spey X9 1600 Grains 10/11". I have a 15' St Croix Imperial 10/11 but 1600 grains seems really heavy. Not sure if this is an old way to label Spey lines or what? Would this be good for cutting down for a 6 weight 11' switch rod. I hate to think I wasted a quarter. Any help would be appreciated. By the way it's light green and has no loops. No label to tell the maker either.

[Moose]

Scroll down to post #6: http://poppysspeycastingforum.forumchitchat.com/post/fly-line-specs-6802239

That line is so heavy because the head is 100 feet long. Not the line, just the head is 100 feet. The Grand Spey was one of the first long belly spey lines to appear, before that it was mostly double taper salmon lines. I've had several Grand Speys over the years, they cast very well. Nowadays most people think 55 feet is a long belly. Play with it, you might like it. Your rod will handle it. If you don't like it I'll give ya .50 cents for it and you can double your profit.

[Idadon]

Thanks Moose. That 1600 grains had me wondering. Did these handle sinking heads at all?

[Moose]

They are wonderful floating lines and no longer available so I'd not cut one, but I do recall discussions about guys who did measure, weigh and cut these lines and then throw tips on them with success. You might want to go look in the archives on the speypages forum and look back to to the early years, say 2008 and prior.

[Idadon]

I've got a spare, empty spool for that Imperial setup. I think I'll spool this thing up and when the rivers thaw out give it a try. The rod (also a garage sale) came with some kind of Cortland line that has a nice wallet with 4 heads. Probably my lack of Spey casting prowess but never could get the whole rig to work good. I've since dropped down to an 11' six weight with a Rio Switch. I mostly fish that single hand with an indicator rig. Occasionally I swing a fly with it but bigger flys and the rig just seems to wimp out. Maybe this Grand Spey line with a sinking Versa Leader will prove to be the right stuff for the Clearwater. Thanks!

[Moose]

The line has a very long fine front taper and won't throw those sinking leaders well at all. A long (15') mono leader and light wire hook is what you want.

[Idadon]

Might still prove to be useful. Not every year, but every so often I get to fish the lower Deschutes on my way to the coast. Might be useful over there. The Salmon & Clearwater are usually November or the Salmon in April. Much colder water. I usually hit the lower Klamath in mid September or so and usually stop on the Trinity on my way to Redding. That rod is probably over-kill for the Trinity but might give it a try.

[troutless]

I bought a line last summer at a garage sale for $.25, ya a whole quarter. Anyway it's in a ziplock bag that's labeled "Grand Spey X9 1600 Grains 10/11". I have a 15' St Croix Imperial 10/11 but 1600 grains seems really heavy. .

Sounds like one of the original GrandSpey. Even at 100ft 1600 grains is, yes, very heavy. By comparison, a modern 100' head for an competition-rated 18' rod, much beefier sticks than what you have, is only going to come in at 1200-1350 grains.

The GrandSpey, at one point, was indeed available as a multi-tip line. I still have one or two. As far as long-belly lines go, they will turn over sink tips about better than any other. They are really thick, relatively speaking, meaning, relative to other long-bellies, down near the tip. If you measure out the taper you will see why. You will also see why they have a reputation as being difficult to cast, even for those who are pretty experienced. Not much taper, not as much weight in the back as modern lines and a generally weird profile.

You could probably get much more than a quarter for such a line on speypages. Personally, I'd avoid trying it on your 10/11. A half-hour with that line may put you off long-bellies for life, which would be a shame. Definitely pull in a lot of line if you do try it, both to keep the weight down, and to have some hope of managing the line.

I'm told they make good Skagit heads when chopped into bits, but, you have a piece of history there, that would be a shame.

[aaron]

Labeled X9 in plastic bag means you bought a prototype from a former RIO employee in IF.

[Idadon]

OK! Well, is that a good thing or bad? Was it a bad design or the one they decided to mass produce? Interesting. I found the back end and it was connected to backing at some time. Kind of cycling between thinking I got a great deal for $.25 to wondering if I wasted a quarter. There was another line in a plastic bag inside the bag with this one. Same kind of printing. It says "WWF9/10/11 tips 6/18/02". This other line has welded loops on both ends but looks really long to be a add-on tip. I thought it was a totally different line.

Think Rio still has a facility here in Idaho Falls but when I called the IF number I reached an office in Washington. Might drive by there today and see if anyone there might know anything about these lines. Thank you guys!

[aaron]

OK! Well, is that a good thing or bad? Was it a bad design or the one they decided to mass produce? Interesting. I found the back end and it was connected to backing at some time. Kind of cycling between thinking I got a great deal for $.25 to wondering if I wasted a quarter. There was another line in a plastic bag inside the bag with this one. Same kind of printing. It says "WWF9/10/11 tips 6/18/02". This other line has welded loops on both ends but looks really long to be a add-on tip. I thought it was a totally different line.

Think Rio still has a facility here in Idaho Falls but when I called the IF number I reached an office in Washington. Might drive by there today and see if anyone there might know anything about these lines. Thank you guys!

Impossible to tell, all the prototypes are usually marked X something or other. That line is over a decade old so I doubt anyone there will recall, not to mention they're not intended for the general public.

[Idadon]

I took a drive over to the Rio office and to my surprise got a guy that knew exactly what it was. Seems that in 2002 or so they had a lot of the prototypes that were bad design/tapers so at some point they boxed a whole batch of them up and took them to the dump. Evidently somebody went dump-diving and hauled them out and for awhile they were being sold on Craig's List and eBay. Like you said, NOT MEANT FOR THE PUBLIC due to design. Their final statement was that they were glad I only paid $.25 for it.

Might be fun to play with I guess.