[Goose]

Hello All,
I was in search of some advise on spey lines for the 11 1/2 glx.this is a factory rod that I bought then I took the rod and added 1 1/2 inches to the rear grip and 2 inches to make this more of a two hander.I currently use a SA steelhead taper but I was wonder if any was using atrue spey line and how its working.
Thanks in advance Chris

 

[Huckleberry]

Line for GLX 11 ft 6"

About three years ago I was contemplating the same question and contacted Loop. They suggested a floating shooting head (10 wt, shortened to approx. 10 meters, 33 ft.?). That seems to work fine for me. I understand that Loop has since come out with the Adapted Line system, and I imagine that there is a similar line for that purpose for that rod. Maybe Dana or someone else from Loop can make a suitable recommendation.
So long
Tom.

 

[flyfisha1]

Just to be clear, are you referring to the 11'6" 8/9 3-piece GLX?

 

[flytyer]

The 11'6" 8/9 GLX was designed for single hand rod lines. It is really a single hand rod that can be cast 2-handed because of the short rear spey grip. The rod is very close to the 11' IMX 8/9 I own, the main differences being the slightly longer length that was added to accomodate the short rear spey grip and slightly longer rod grip. It casts the same lines as my 11' IMX, namely the 8wt steelhead/salmon lines, 8wt DT, 9wt standard WF lines, and either 9 wt or 10 wt shooting heads. I use mine with an 8 wt RIO steelhead taper, 9 wt RIO single hand Windcutter, or 38' 9 wt floating shooting head for bass bugs.

I would not use a spey line on the rod because it would greatly overload it. Remember a 9 wt line is 240 gr (230-250 acceptable range), and a 10 wt is 280 gr (270-290 acceptable range) in its first 30 ft and that is what the 11'6" GLX 8/9 was designed for.

A spey line, even the light 5/6 Windcutter spey lne is 365 gr for its 48' belly and the 6/7 Windcutter spey line is 455 gr over its 48' belly. This means that the 5/6 Windcutter might load the 11'6" GLX (it will be badly underloaded at distances shorter than 35 ft) and will be very overloaded with the 6/7 Windcutter if casting the complete belly. Which leads to the question: Do you want to have a very nice 8/9 single rod that can be cast 2-handed, or do you want to have an overly powerful and badly overloaded light trout spey?

I'd stick with the 8 and 9 wt lsingle hand lines it was designed for.

 

[flyfisha1]

Goose - I just acquired this exact rod and have been sitting here cutting lines to make a shooting head set up. I cast the rod last weekend with a full 10-wt. SA striper line and while it loaded the rod well and threw pretty far, I think I'd be happier with a lighter line. As such, I'll be using a 35' clear floating head (cut from a 9-wt. Monic), 27' 10-wt. intermediate (cut from a DT), and an 18' T-14 head for sinking. Shooting line is Airflo Non-Stretch Miracle Braid. I'm hoping to test this out in the salt this weekend and will report back afterwards. The overall weight for the heads will be in the range of 240-250 grains. I will be Spey casting this rod with an 8-wt. DT until I get the steelhead line recommended by Flytyer (on the birthday list).

 

[flyfisha1]

I took the rod out on Long Island Sound yesterday afternoon and fished the floating and intermediate heads. I (re)discovered that the Monic line is total garbage; I remember the first time I used this line I was unimpressed with the slickness (even after it was dressed) and the floatation, so this will go back in the line drawer for hacking. I don't have a grain scale so I'm not certain what the overall weight of the head was, but at 35' it should have been at least 240-grains, if not closer to 250. The intermediate head was great to cast two-handed. Again, this is a 27' 10-wt. head cut from a DT; the overall weight should be near 250-grains. The rod loaded nicely with this head and tossed some fairly large flies a good distance (80-110'). The wind was essentially non-existent, BTW. Bob's bangers, crease flies, squid patterns, and 6"-9" baitfish patterns (some quite bulky) were among those cast. I have an SA 9-wt. shooting head that I'm going to rig up for use this weekend; it can't be any worse than the monic line was. Will report again when I have some results. So far it looks like 240-gr. is the upper limit for me to cast this rod comfortably single-handed. I made a few casts with the 250-gr. head single-hand and it took a lot more effort to throw a fly the same distance as it did with a relaxed two-handed cast. So far, I love this rod. It's easily the most enjoyable casting tool I've used yet.

 

[JR SPEY]

I'd be real interested in exactly which Monic line you feel is garbage. In a previous post you mentioned cutting up a clear floater, but Monic makes more than one of these. I have found the Monic Tropical floaters to be the finest casting lines I've ever used for flats fishing. I, too, wasn't enormously impressed with their slickness, but they still cast better and farther than any line I've used, and I've used most of them. I'm not overwhelmed with clear lines, so I buy the Tropical Opaque which is the same line as the Tropical clear except it has a light amber color to it. They are stiff without being wiry and cast better in the wind than even the lines promoted for windy conditions (Mastery Windmaster and Rio Windcutter, etc.) You have to keep the Monics clean or the tip will sink, but otherwise I love them.

If you've been using the Monic Clear All-Weather I would agree with your assessment. However, I still use this line on occasion as it's the only clear cold water line I know of available in the US.

 

[flyfisha1]

The line is indeed the all-weather variety. It had been used once before and cleaned, the cleaned again and dressed the night prior to using it.

 

[Rodloader]

Spey line for G. Loomis 11'6" 8-9 GLX

Goose, I use an 7/8 Airflo Delta Spey line with my 11'6" 8-9 wt GLX. The total head length is 55.5'. It casts beautifully overhead or spey, single hand or two. On the other hand, if you 're using a WF line with a 44' head for this rod, it wouldn't spey cast as far. Since you modified your rod for you to use mostly 2-handed, this would work. Steve Rajeff who designs rods for G.Loomis introduced me to this combination which he recently started fishing. Good Luck!