Fished my new Beulah G2 Platinum 6wt Spey Rod

[MHeuch]

I fished my new Beulah G2 Platinum 6wt Spey Rod for a couple of days. I really liked it.

The rod is an interesting color. Beulah list it as Black Iris on their web page and from the picture there it looks black. But it actually a dark blue, indoors in looks black, but in bright light it is a definite blue. The guide wraps are a solid blue and the ferrules are a blue to purple fade.

The rod feels very light in weight; Beulah says that it is made with Graphene, but I have no idea how they can apply something that is 1 Carbon atom thick. Guess I just need to take their word for it. It balances with an old Lamson Velocity 3.5x weighing 5.7oz and 150 yds of 20# dacron backing at the very tip of the handle. (A reel that weighed ~0.5oz more would balance out better)


I lined the rod with a Rage Compact 420 grain line. The rod bent deep and cast easily with a Poly-leader and a slightly weighted fly. (most of the time a fished an unweighted fly) I also tried Beulah's Exilar Scandi 400 grain line. It felt right for touch and go cast, but it would not cast a slightly weighted fly. (Or one could say that: I could not generate enough line speed to cast a slightly weighted fly with that line). I liked casting the Rage Compact better. Maybe it was because of the extra 20 grains.

I am a happy fisherman, Mark

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

What is the closest moving water for you to Spey cast on Mark?

Try to get up on the Klamath or Rogue rivers in the new month.

October is a top month for both rivers.


I am a big fan of the Airflo Rage head myself.

I think it should be the first line a new Spey caster buys.

I think it is in between a Scandi and a Skagit.

[MHeuch]

I live in the Bay area, so the closet moving steel water is the lower American. I will be there in Nov. - Jan. (with a 7wt)
My last trip was the lower Klamath a week ago for a few days. The fishing was good the catching (for me) not so good, but there was the occasional half-pounder which put a little bend in the rod.

I do often make a fall trip to the Trinity when family and job time permit. Last year I had a awesome day in Dec. on the Feather, this rod would be a great fit the for swing fishing there.

[Mark Kranhold]

I live in the Bay area, so the closet moving steel water is the lower American. I will be there in Nov. - Jan. (with a 7wt)
My last trip was the lower Klamath a week ago for a few days. The fishing was good the catching (for me) not so good, but there was the occasional half-pounder which put a little bend in the rod.

I do often make a fall trip to the Trinity when family and job time permit. Last year I had a awesome day in Dec. on the Feather, this rod would be a great fit the for swing fishing there.
Fish that new 6wt on the American this winter, it’s all you need!

[MHeuch]

Thanks, I will give a try.

[Adrian]

Fish that new 6wt on the American this winter, it’s all you need!

Hey dont mean to hi jack a thread, interesting comment whats your winter set up on the A? I like using a 6 wt, since it allows for more flexibility if flows get high but sometimes I feel its too much "gun" for the A.

[hwchubb]

Most of the winter run fish on the American run 6-10# with the rare 15+, so a 6 definitely isn’t too heavy. I fish a 13’ 6 wt Meiser with an intermediate skandi and poly leaders, which covers most everything but the highest flows. There are plenty of guys throwing skagits and heavy heads, but that always seemed a better snagging setup to me. I mostly fish downstream of El Manto, which means fewer but better condition fish and fewer fishermen, so maybe that’s part of it too.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

20 years ago an average Spey rod was a 14' #9 in 3 pc.

10 years ago it was a 13' #7 in 4 pc.

Today it is a 12'6" #6 in 4 pc.

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The length of the two handed fly rod and the length of the head has to do with how fare you are casting.



Friend who fish the wide, shallow Clearwater in Idaho in Sept/Oct like 14' #8 rods with long 60'? floating Scandi heads.

Spey expert distance casters like Dough Duncan and Simon Gawesworth like casting over 100 feet.


Skagit Masters Mike McCune, Scott O'Donnell and Ed Ward developed the short 20'? Skagit heads and MOW tops.

Now they use 12' 6" #6 line rods for winder fishing in the Pacific Northwest.

On short brushy coastal winter run rivers of WA, OR and CA they probably cast 30 to 60 feet on average.

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Line weight or line size has to do with how heavy or wind resistant your flies are in single or two handed fly fishing.

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Scandi heads are for casting light summer/fall flies on Poly/Versi leaders or long tapered mono leaders.


Skagit heads are for throwing weighted leechy flies in the Winter/Spring with sinktips and short leaders.


Most two hand fly fishers will have both systems, Scandi and Skagit, even for one rod.

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For small half-pounder flies in size #8/10/12 you can use a light 11' #3/4 Switch/Trout Spey.



My information is usually pretty close because I get it from the talking with top anglers who are really out there today.



I can imagine most having 2 to 6 Spey rods? Kind of like golf clubs.....

How many two handed fly rods would you need to fit all your destinations?

[MHeuch]

I took a class from Jeff Putman a while back, he recommened at 7wt Spey as an all around rod.
He aslo recommended at MOW tip of 5-float/5-sink on the Am. in the winter when the flow was around 2000 cfm.
I agree with hwchubb; a sinking poly/versi leader is enough to get a fly down on Am. at typical flows.
If I was every lucky enough to hook into one of those 10+lb fish I wonder if I would wish that I had the 7wt.