Hey guys,
I have been fishing these rods exclusively up here in Southern Oregon since about October of last year. I cannot say enough good things about them.
Slage, Really glad you brought up the question of which line as i think the gaping hole with these rods is matching them up with the right line. I've been trying different lines on them every week for several months now.
Jeff & JR, I would love to hear what lines you guys are using on them and in what application. For the most part I have been using them to fish Nymphs for area Steelhead though I have cast sink-tips with weighted leeches as well.
These 7 & 8 wght rods will absolutely rock spey/sink tip systems for winter applications with a skagit 350 or 400 body line. What I would consider doing is using shorter lenghth T-14 or T-8 Tips or cutting back your stock 15 ft tips to between 7-10ft. I think you will be amazed at the distance you can achieve with a rod as light easy to handle as this.
Lately for nymphing I have been digging the RIO Outbound lines with an added floating tip (15-20ft) or Windcutter/Midspey lines with about 2-4 feet of the tip cut off. This gives you a longer belly (50-65ft) to mend with... crucial to nymphing at the insane distances you can with an 11 footer. These spey lines will also fish in close.... though not quite as well as a traditional wt forward, but it's kind of splitting hairs. The Outbound w/ floater fishes much better in close. On my 7wt I have been using a 10 wt Outbound. These set-ups will fish great single or double handed.
The 5 & 6 wts would take the lower line weight Outbounds & Spey lines for Skagit & Dryline techniques. For nymphing I think the better lines for these line weights are long bellied weight forward lines like the RIO Steel/Salmon lines or their Nymph line. Try the 9 & 10 wts in these.
Sorry to ramble on a bit about it but i think these are probably the most versatile rods on the market for fishing the rivers & coast in our region. I have been having a blast with them. Hopefully this takes a little of the guesswork out of getting the right line for you on these rods... I know i struggled with it quite a bit at first. Good Luck!
-will j
ps.. for max versatility i would stick with an 11 footer... and don't overlook the Winston B11x 11 ft 7wt.. it rocks!
"fish finely and far off"
Bookmarks