First spey rod

[troutless]

Another vote for the Beulah 1266.

Which of course I bought at Kiene's.

[JasonB]

I fish smaller river , like the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced Rivers and I fish the American for shad.

I think a switch rod would totally get the job done on those rivers personally. Not sure about shad, but for trout fishing you could probably go as light as a 4wt, or a 5wt -6wt if you plan on also using some sinking tips. I got an 11' 6wt deer creek based on a lot of help from Aaron and Bill at Kienes. I am really happy with the rod, and happy that they kind of talked me out of getting a bigger rod for what I'm doing. I've been using my rod for swinging wets for steelhead on the Trinity, and a bit of streamer fishing on the Truckee.

I have to say it's been plenty capable for both of those scenarios. So far I've mostly used floating lines, but have also used it with some 10' sink tips and been quite happy with that too. In terms of size and capabilities of a 6wt, I notice it gets a bit sloppy dealing with really heavy weighted flies (#2 dumbell eyes, 15 wraps or so of lead free wire, rabbit fur, etc), but even then can still get the job done as long as I don't have too long and thin of a leader and keep my casting pretty simple.

If you can, I'd call the shop and chat a bit; or better yet stop in sometime when you're in the area and pick up some rods. I'm really happy with the service and help that I've gotten at Kienes on both of the rods that I've bought, and on the help that I got getting into fly tying and purchasing a vice. Good place to deal with for an important purchase like a new rod imo.

As an aside, I think that the post directing someone to take their business to STP was beyond cheesy and inconsiderate. I'm surprised that Bill left the post standing; I think a lot of business owners would have nuked that instantly. I also don't see the likes of STP ever hosting a forum such as this that we all use and enjoy. Something to consider
JB

P.S. forgot to mention that I did get to swing my friends Beulah "classic" switch, and a Sage Z-axis switch as well. Really liked all of these rods but the Beulah really shined imo.

[Ben J]

Talk a little about the vxp, would you? Lines, tip types, characteristic, etc?

I bought a 6129 on KIENE FLY SHOP STAFF recommendation, and think its the best rod in that "range" for sure.

Is the 5120 as good? A hidden gem? (As an owner of the 5119, I'm interested in this rod just for conversation sake....)

Really sweet rod. I haven't thrown tons of two handers so i'm not great with the flex jargon, but it feels fairly stiff in the butt with a progressive flex from mid to a fairly strong tip. Really light in hand and definitely an easy all day type of rod to cast (I use a Ross Vexsis 4 on this rod and it balances nicely). I have a One and Zaxis spey but prefer the cork profile on this rod to those as it is nice and thin. It has deceptive power when fighting steelhead and i've caught a few NF Feather trout in the 16-20" range they felt pretty sporty on this rod.

I saw a youtube video with George Cook talking about this rod and he recommended a 385 rio steelhead scandi, so i started out with an airflo 390 compact scandi. This line bombs with a nice and easy stroke, but not quite my style for scandi; felt heavy with single speys and snake rolls in particular. I put on a 360 scandi compact and it feels amazing... i think an even lighter scandi head with a mono running line could be really fun on this rod.
Limited skagit experience on this rod but did fish it a few times on the NF Feather with a 425 short and 10' t11 with sculpin patterns. Fished fine and had a pretty heavy load, a bit much for my preference. I bet a 390 skagit switch or 400 flight would be sweet. I would really like to try a Rage 360/390 on this rod.
Overall, great fall steelhead rod and can do some trout work. Great on the Trinity. Plenty of punch to cover the lower river well and short, light, and delicate enough to swing through JC.