12 weight and 8 weight recommendations

[DeepSea]

I had the chance to cast the 8 wt and 12 wt Salt. Both amazing rods. I did a direct comparison of the 8 wt Salt versus the Helios II. The Salt felt better to me.

But as Tony mentioned, that 12 wt Salt is really amazing. I demoed it at the Pleasanton show. Without any effort I shot the line out to the second ring towards the end of the casting pool.

So I think my rod selection is all set. I had thought of going all Helios but now am a Salt convert.

Bill

[Willowemac]

If money is no object, then you should do what the previous posts suggest and try rods out. Loomis NRX, Scott S4S, Sage Salt, Hardy ProAxis are all good choices for the salt. If you want a good budget option, the new Scott Tidal is a fine choice in both weights - under $500. Much better than Sage Motive or other "budget" rods. BVK's cast fine, but they have a breakage problem. So I wouldn't go on a remote trip without backup. For a 12 wt. and Giant Trevally, you will want a saltwater specific rod. With an 8 wt, you can go with Sage One's, Methods, Scott Radians, Helios 2. But I do like bigger stripping guides in the salt than what these "all water" models have. I ordered 8 & 9 wt. Method blanks made up custom with saltwater hardware just for that reason. And when we tested them against factory rods, they cast 20' further. Not sure why - the way the builder spined them, the bigger guides - but they are terrific. But I don't use them in freshwater. If I did, I would go with the factory set-up (mending purposes).

[Chasin Fin]

Willow - Thats a great idea about having a custom method with bigger guides for salt use. Who did you have build your rods? Just recently bought two new methods in 6 and 8 wt and really liked them even over the xi3.

[Willowemac]

I use a local guy in Sunnyvale. Doug Weber. Doug Weber Rod Works. (40 736-1949. He does it as a hobbie, but does nice work at reasonable prices. You could always contact Gary Anderson or Bob Meiser as well. But all I know is the rods Doug did up for me out casted the factory rods using the same lines. 4 of us tested this. No BS