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Gaelforce 70' Clearwater

3K views 19 replies 6 participants last post by  eriefisher 
#1 ·
What can you tell me about the Gaelforce 70' Clearwater Special? I'm thinking about putting it on a 2 handed Scott Radian, 16ft. 10wt. that has a upper
grain window of 720 and this weighs 740 grains. How are you rigging the tip of the line?
 
#4 ·
It weighs more because it is longer but the weight is distributed correctly as in the taper makes all the difference.....grain weight is not as important in long lines...the least you could do is call Poppy at the RedShed for a test drive of the 73 9/10 :wink2:
 
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#6 ·
I have yet to try the 73ft and 83ft Equalizers ... rivers in my area have just thawed out.
I was quite happy with the 70ft Clearwater Touchdown heads. My 16' 8/9/10 Highlander could easily tame both the 9/10 (802grains) and the 10/11 (864grains) versions. Like Bruce mentioned, it's all in the taper and grain distribution. With longer lines, there's a bit more play.

Something to consider from Bob Meiser's website (Balanced Rod/Line Marriages):

~ Classic Speys

Many traditional two handed anglers feel that the true poetic beauty of delivery will be best achieved with the use of a longer bellied Classic Spey line married to a long rod. I fully agree with this, and I will always pause my fishing day to watch, and admire a skilled long line caster.

One of the major advantages of Classic Spey lines that anglers universally appreciate is that in order to successfully fish many of their runs, they need only to present, swing and re-deliver the lines long belly length, this minimizing the need to strip in long lengths of running line at the end of every delivery. Shooting heads (on the other hand) have much shorter head lengths, and each delivery will require the striping in of a substantial length of running line.

Rule of thumb: Classic Spey line belly lengths will generally be 4 to 4.5 X the rod’s length. A long line caster delivering a 14'0” rod will feel comfortable with 55' to 65' of aerialized line grain beyond the rod tip. A 13'0” rod will like 50' to 55' etc. Their preferred grain weights will be similar to that of comparable Skagit on the same rod. For example: If your 14'0' 7 wt rod performs well with 650/675 grains of Skagit and tip … I would suggest a Classic Spey of a similar grain weight = 650/675 grains.

Another way to approach the marriage of a suitable grain weighted Classic Spey would be to use the rods determined grain window. If your 14'0” 7 wt has a grain window of 450/750, the happy spot for most classic Speys will be around +- 100 grains down from the high end of the grain window = +- 650 grains.

Most well designed Classic Speys will have the ability to carry both conventional tapered mono leaders, and poly coated sinking leaders with equal efficiency. The most versatile will be those long belly lines that will have the ability to carry not only mono and poly leaders, but also have the ability to carry various sink rate tips as well.


I've used this as a "Rule of Thumb" and it works very well for me, gets me right in the ball park anyways. Feel for loading is always personal and grain weight is certainly a factor, however a well designed taper and proper grain distribution makes all the difference.
I'm very excited to try the 54ft, 63ft, 73ft and 83ft Equalizers on my various rods. I am highly impressed with the Touchdown series, EMT, EEMT and the 15M Extended Spey Heads. Everyone has been telling me, "Wait until you try these" ... makes me wonder if it can get any better ... like I said, I'm excited :D:D

Just to answer your other question, I had no issues with 10ft and 15ft polys (all densities) right off the end of the Touchdown heads. Long mono leaders are a dream right off the end.
Incredible turnovers !! The line/leader is fully extended before it touches down ... makes for excellent presentations :smokin:


Mike
 
#10 ·
I just checked the Scott website, they list a Radian 2H 16' 10wt as liking a 720 grain Skagit.
For a 720 Skagit you can easily use 200 grains of tip, maybe more. This puts you into 920 grains +/-.
You can compare that to Mr. Meiser's "Rule of Thumb". It has worked well for me.
Again, "feel" is personal though. I would be interested to see how you made out :)


Mike
 
#11 ·
So after a hardy helping of french toast, I would like to sort of edit to this:

720 grain Skagit + 150'ish grain tip = 870'ish grains

Grain weight and taper/grain distribution is all about the line designer. Personal feel is all about the caster :)
I have had many recommendations for my Meiser 16' 8/9/10-CX to use 800 grains @ 70ft. However, it didn't work for me as much as expected. Stepping up to 860 grains @ 70ft was like a 1000 watt light bulb turning on !! BOOM - instant rockstar :smokin:


Mike
 
#18 ·
Too bad there's no 8/9 wt in the 73/83 lines.
I found the 9/10 totally dogs my rods; 16' MKS gen 3 and 16' 7/9 CX Spazturbo. They like 750 and 725 respectively.
 
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