[jaycle]

Does anyone have any hands on experience with these 11 foot surf type spey rods? I'm wondering how they'd work for salmon/steelhead fishing.

 

[Cutthroat1954]

I bought one (11' 7-8), used it for a short time then traded it in on one of the Beulah Switch rods. I planned on using it for beach coho. Loved the surf rod and I'm certain they are great in the right application, but I think they are too much rod for most salmon/steelhead applications.

 

[shotgunner]

I don't know the Opal Surf specifically, but in general..

These rods are genre specific surf rods.. ie, two hand overhead casting. Not spey casting. That's not to say that good casters capable of dialing line / head combinations well couldn't make them functional with spey casts.. but overall it's less than optimal.

There are some options in faster actioned more spey friendly rods that could cover both spectrums and be more user friendly. I've been fishing a Winston BII MX 11'6" rod (only 5 ounce!) for several seasons now and have no plans to change short of some miraculous release of super blanks.. That's just my pick, there are rods out there that can function well in both niches.

I love rods that will serve both capacities. Primarily Spey casts but still perform very well in the two hand overhead capacity.

 

[Hardyreels]

I had a long talk with Steve Edie about this series rod recently. If you give Beulah a call they'll fill you in, I was told this will make a great light to medium size salmon rod for use here. They have a bit more backbone than the platinum 11' rods. Don't take my word on this, the staff will be very happy to speak with you and that will answer any and all questions.

Ard

 

[Guernseybass]

These rods are genre specific surf rods.. ie, two hand overhead casting. Not spey casting. That's not to say that good casters capable of dialing line / head combinations well couldn't make them functional with spey casts.. but overall it's less than optimal..

this is the most important factor - they are not designed for fishing moving water. :tsk_tsk:

 

[fatman]

what does moving water have to do with it?

this is the most important factor - they are not designed for fishing moving water. :tsk_tsk:

I have one of the original Beulah two-handed 7/8 surf rods. I've fished it overhead in the Pacific and Gulf coasts, and it rocks a Compact Scandi and/or Skagit.

I've also seen a Platinum 6wt Spey fished overhead with big streamers for pike.

What's the worst thing that can happen?

 

[Yeti]

this is the most important factor - they are not designed for fishing moving water. :tsk_tsk:

This made me laugh...:chuckle:

 

[peter-s-c]

This video discusses the differences between surf and switch rods. It's about Loomis rods, but the issues can be applied generically.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kn-xUYwtRc

 

[NCFS]

7/8 Beulah Opal and line matches

Since I have used these rods likely more than Most for both Surf Casting and a bit of River work I will chime in here...These rods are not Skagit rods simply because of their action but if dialed in can be a blast ...if your fishing smaller Rivers and water ways then setting up one with a 425 Skagit,14' Super Fast Poly Tip and smallish fly will make smiles come out with every cast..and playing big fish is really not an issue. Over head is another thing ..these rods excel for any beach or surf fishing using all sorts of fly sizes..I like a 33' Scandanavian shooting head in the 470 range for this rod, the same set up for dry fly work on wide or larger rivers holding big Trout,Steelhead and even Pike or Musky. My current favorite little rod is the 5/6 Opal Surf rod,this rod is sweet..from Dry Fly work for Summer Steelhead and big Trout on smallish Vancouver Island Rivers ,Baby Tarpon and Bonefish in Cuba and Mexico to Beach Fishing for Pink and Coho Salmon...a rare find indeed these rods with such wide ranges
C