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8128-4 question for its owners....

6K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  reely 
#1 ·
Hello 8128 owners,

Wanting some feedback from you on the Burkie 8128. I currently fish a TCX8119 for all my winter work in the PNW and bought a Asquith 13 footer as a back up— and really don’t care for it because it is quite softer than I now prefer. I now have really gravitated to the shorter rods that are fast, stout and progressive- rods that I can “pop” and feel the line just jump off the rod. I had my hands on my friends SAGE X 8120 and love it because I can launch line, nice strong tip, and lift with no issues. Finding a used 8120 has proven very difficult.

Soooo, I am considering another Burkie (I have 2 one of which is a 7134) and I am told the 8128 is a great WINTER rod. Ive heard from some that tell me its kinda like my 7134 which is NOT what I would consider a winter rod because it is waaayy to soft.....and...I cant rip it like I can with a TCX Switch or the X.

Is the 8128 all that different from the 7134?



Cheers,
 
#3 ·
If you are cosmically dialed into the action of the TCX series then the Burkie 8128 is not going to be your thing. Launch a hoarding raid on the TCX that you like or call Sage and have them build you one or two of the rods that you like. They have all of the mandrels in house to do it. Orvis has made a couple rods for me that are out of production and they were happy to do it. Just make sure you have the cabbage before you call.
 
#4 ·
I also have taken a liking to the slightly shorter Spey rods . I fish 7wt more than anything. The Beulah Onyx 7129 is by far my favorite as of now I havnt fished anything else for tips since I’ve gotten it’s powerful rod. As is the new G2 Platinum 7128 . They don’t make an 8 in that length but the 7 is def worth a look
 
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#8 ·
the 8128 is one of the most steeply tapered / fast action two-hand rods that Burkheimer makes. It has a fairly stiff, large diameter butt section, but still soulful for a fast action rod. It is a light 8 wt in terms of power (skagit 570), plenty strong for most winter fish. I find the 7134 and 8128 to feel pretty different. The 8128 is better with a faster stroke and punchy bottom hand. The 7134 handles a slower stroke and doesn't need a hard bottom hand

If what you say is true (and I am of the mind that it is) then 8128 may accommodate my needs nicely. I am not looking to duplicate what I already have in my 7134 (which is a nice soft summer rod for the big D but lacking for winter capability). I assume it also has a stronger tip and lifts skagits/tips better than 7134?
 
#7 ·
the 8128 is one of the most steeply tapered / fast action two-hand rods that Burkheimer makes. It has a fairly stiff, large diameter butt section, but still soulful for a fast action rod. It is a light 8 wt in terms of power (skagit 550-570), plenty strong for most winter fish. I find the 7134 and 8128 to feel pretty different. The 8128 is better with a faster stroke and punchy bottom hand (same with the 9129 mentioned above). The 7134 handles a slower stroke and doesn't need a hard bottom hand
 
#9 ·
I used the 8128 for a solid month of winter fishing around 2 years ago. I found the tip plenty strong to clear 13' T-11 sinktips and a weighted tube into a single spey or snap-T. Compared to my normal 7127, it was silly how easy. I should mention that I have no problems lifting tips with the 7134 either, though lifting tips with the 7127 requires more attention to timing and smooth power application
 
#10 ·
I think SSPey (Steve) is right. I have used this rod for a decade or so. It will launch Skagit heads with aplomb. I don't fish it in winter much, however, largely because I don't enjoy fishing Skagit heads and the rod isn't quite strong enough to easily land the biggest steelhead. I mostly fish it in fall with Scandi lines and whatever is needed for a given situation -- tips and wet flies to wakers. As Steve said, it's a very progressive taper and has a very strong butt. That said, I feel it's tip is sometimes a bit too soft relative to the butt for my casting preferences. That said, this thing launches Skagit heads with any tips or flies you could want. I've cast some of the TCX rods, but my casting style and line preference don't match up with Sage very well so I can't say much about how the rods compare.
 
#12 ·
Thanks to those that responded to this thread. I was able to locate a preowned 8128 and have had a few days with it on my local ditch. My observations: A VERY different different rod than 7134 and ideally suited for chasing steelhead (not a salmon rod). Different feel and behavior all together than 7134 and fishes wonderfully with your favorite skagit and tip. Not too big, not to small , just about perfect for all our PNW inland and coastal rivers. As a dedicated winter rod loaded with a skagit and a bunch of mono it flat out launches. It may be the nicest casting skagit rod in my quiver...correction, it IS the nicest casting skagit rod in my quiver. Line speed galore.

Cheers,
 
#13 ·
Hi just read your post and I am very curious about what you said. I am considering buying a 8128 for atlantic salmon. I already own a 8134 and a 9135 that I use for big rivers like the Grand Cascapedia or the Matapedia especially early season. But I also fish the lake branch of the grand cascapedia or other smaller rivers ( like the Mitis) where a shorter rod ( under 13 feet) comes handy with a rage Compact.

To be honest I am also just looking for a reason to get me another Burkie :)

Now you sais that is was not for salmon. I guess you talking about Chinook ? ( which can be way bigger than Atlantic from what I understand). Of course on the Cascapedia you can encounter a 40 pounder but mots of the time were in the twenties...

So I guess my question is do you feel it is a light 8 weight ? A bit risky for a strong atlantic ? Got no experience with Chinook.

Also about the action:I fish scandi heads almost exclusively. Is the action finally any different to you from lets say your 7134

I'd appreciate any more insight from you or others on this


Thx
 
#18 ·
In terms of power, the 8128 is a light 8 wt, the 8134 is a solid 8 wt, the 9135 is a light 9 wt. They’re close, but with slight differences in grain windows that translate to fish fighting power, if that helps you judge what you need. I find it hard to make finely-sliced statements about what poundage of fish any specific rod can handle, because races of fish, their fight and freshness in the water, the river flows they inhabit, and angler skill and comfort levels all vary. The 8128 is pretty stout, but if you suspect the 8128 isn’t enough rod for your needs, the 9129 is available.

Both the 8128 and 9129 are faster tapered rods in the Burkheimer family. But .. faster is relative! They are not hyper-fast in the scheme of what the rod market offers overall, though they do lean more towards the typical faster, scandinavian rod action. They’ll chuck skagit lines if a faster rod taper is your preference, they are not one-trick ponies, just not what the market labels as a typical “skagit” rod action.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Sorry in advance for the semi-hijack.

So I’m confused at some of the comments/discussion above. :Eyecrazy: Maybe SSpey can comment, or someone else.

First off, a “fast” rod has a relatively WEAKER tip - not stronger. Sometimes people use the words “very progressive” but it means that for a given wt rating a rod bends more towards the top end, i.e. it has a measurably larger “common cents” angle. The taper/flex modulus increases (progresses) rapidly at the top of the rod. This type of rod has closer to what one would think of as a traditional euro-SCANDI type action.

Burkies are interesting in that, while I’m sure they may have certain common jumping off points in the process, they are all designed and tweaked somewhat independently. In contrast most other rods get their taper design finalized and that gets (more or less) scaled up and down the weight spectrum. From the four burkies I own and a few others I have tried it is VERY easy for me to imagine them all having different personalities, but I haven’t met a truly “tip flexy” one (ultra fast, bends more towards the top). But from what SSpey said sounds like 8128 may be as close to this as Burkies get.

What I’m confused about is the idea put forward by the OP and maybe some others above that a very fast rod is better for skagit heads and a “softer” rod for lighter stuff as this goes counter to most of the prevailing dogma. Because I’m a weirdo, every time I decide I like a particular type of action I go out and deliberately play with the opposite. Usually I come back, but within enough time to readjust I realize other extremes work equally well, but are just different aesthetically. Lots of people like the feeling that THEY are making things work (faster rods) and others like that feeling of having the line go a mile seemingly without effort. But I’m not sure I subscribe AT ALL anymore to the theory (to take one example) that stiffer tips, hence deeper-flexing, “slower” rods like an MKS are objectively “better” for big, heavy tips and skagit heads. But I know a lot of people believe this to be the case, and I certainly enjoy this more depending on my mood. But this is seemingly exactly the opposite action from what the OP is looking for. I do know for sure if you are used to one action and pick up a rod with a very different action the first cast (or the first 500 maybe) will be crap - until you adapt.

So I guess my confusion is, unless the OP is talking simply about the added carrying capacity of an 8wt as opposed to a 7wt, I’m not sure I get why one would think an ultrafast, tip-flexy rod like the TCX would be a priori a great winter rod for skagit heads and bigger tips rather than a rod with a more uniform progression like a middle of the road burkie - or any other Spey rod with a more uniform progression than the TCX (has to be like %90+ of all all Spey rods). I definitely get that someone’s tastes could develop that way, but not that it has objective validity. I’ve certainly heard the exact opposite argued many times.

Someone square this circle for me please! What am I missing? I feel like it must be something semi-important if it made my brain break so bad. :chuckle:
 
#17 ·
I think he was only speaking in general about sage, but it does sometimes seem like only Sage these days would design a Spey rod as fast as the Death Star. Over the years they have certainly designed many beautifully soulful rods, just quite a few recently more towards the other end.
 
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