[7Xjerry]

Looking for some sound advise from the experts here....I went to the Spey clave and cast just about everybody's rods. Met great guys who helped me out a lot. I really liked the faster action rods. The Scott SAS cast pretty nice and was light weight. And seems to be the forerunner.

Now the serious questions:

Am I being a wimp by going with the Euro action with a lighter weight rod? Or do I need to learn to be a better caster? I am a dyed in the wool Sage man, but to tell you the truth, both the 7141 and the 9141 were a tad heavy in the hand for me.

Are the Loomis rods light in the hand? Also, what other manufacturers are there with faster Euro action rods.

I seem to migrate to higher end rods for the quality, and wish the Scott SAS was a little higher end. Is this the snob side of fly fishing emerging out of me? Or will this rods run its course in the long run?

I currently have a Sage 7136 Brown rod which will going to Ebay to generate funds for the new rod. I wish there was a Euro rod this light and size. The 7141 seemed as heavy as the 9141, so I have some resevations on that model.

I would like a all around summer rod that would work well on floating lines and maybe a sink tip for California Steelhead.

Any advise will be appreciated from you guys.

All the best.

7Xjerry

 

[fredaevans]

Assuming "money is no object" the best Euro

I've used (Joan would never sit still if I got another one) was the Burkenheimer 7-8-9. About 13 feet in length, light as a feather and real cannon with a long taper dry line.
fae

 

[Whistler]

You may want to consider either the sage 8126
or the 12'6" loop green series for a #8. Both of these sticks are light in the hand and represent the latest and greatest in fast action light weight rods. The loop is a real steal at just over $700 CdN(@$480US)and comes with a spare tip section to boot.Brian

 

[fredaevans]

Wiz, interesting about the second tip.

Are both 'tips' the same, or is one a lighter/heavier tip? This is the first reference to a two tip spey rod I've seen anywhere.
fe

 

[Willie Gunn]

Try Bruce & Walker

Fred. Your old friends at B&W do a Double Spey series, they have two tips and are priced accordingly. They do a 16' 15' and a 13' they are lovely rods in blue with blue tyings, titanium reel seat silver ferrel stoppers and a large aluminium tube. Limited edition of 100 rods.

Malcolm

 

[Whistler]

Fred,
the second tip is purely a spare, could come in handy. I guess if murphy has his way the tip will never be the section that breaks. Great rods and exceptional value priced in the $750cdn range.

 

[fredaevans]

Never 'busted' a tip but I've had two rods

go back for new butt sections. But as Jim Jones said this past week end the "snap-T" should be called the "snapped-tip."
fe

 

[JDJones]

Fred's Tackle Store

I'm surprised Fred failed to mention it, but he has a Loomis 14ft 8/9 GL3 rod that works exceptionaly well with an S. A. 7/8XLT line. He has cut the tip back 4ft and with this set up is able to throw a pair of heavily weighted flies 100 ft.

I too had the hots for a Sage 7141 but the Loomis rod surprised me. And Loomis rods are noted for being light weight. I am not as familiar with their product line as I am with Sage but they also have a Trilogy model that is about 13ft long for 7/8 and their top of the line GLX rods are absolutly the lightest rods on the planet! Rumor has it that the Trilogy series may be discontinued soon so if you can verify this you may be able to get a deal.

You may also want to check out T&T's product line. They tend to be of the faster "Euro" type rods.

JD

 

[Rick J]

Scott ARC - 1287

Not sure if you got to cast the Scott ARC series at the Clave. They are not fast but the 1287 and the 1509 would be classified as medium fast and both are great long line rods (probably the fastest action in the ARC series). The 1287 is a wondrful all around light rod - use mine alot on the Klamath and really handles the 7/8 XLT - great combination. For a shorter line try the Airflo Long Delta 7/8 - casts like a rocket

 

[Grampa Spey]

7xJerry

This past Friday, I went up to the American River to cook this old man and try my relatively new Sage 7141 and my new Sage 10151.

Obviously the 10151 is heavier and you know that you are casting with it. However, I think that it and the Accelerator 9/10 with the interchangible tips will work out well (when I learn how to cast the heavier tips) for the King Salmon runs this summer and early fall.

I have the 7136 brown, and it would have been over whelmed with the high and fast water flows at Sailor Bar last Friday.

My Sage 7141 lifted the WC 6/7/8 with the upgrade section floating tip and intermediate tip with no problem using Simon's Double Spey technique in low wind breaks. My 7136 would not have been able to even lift the regular section in the water that was humming down stream. Casting the 7141 with the WC 6/7/8 using the Single Spey was effortless, however I could only get about 50' of line plus the leader out. The wind that was gusting upstream at about 30 mph was probably limiting any distance. However, I could not have done that with the 7136.

Then, the 7141 with the Mid Spey 6/7 and a 12 foot leader had no problem of lifting a size 4 or 6 terrestial and banging it out as far as my 10151 with the Accelerator 9/10 floating tip. When, the wind would stop for awhile, I could really zap the Mid Spey out with minimal effort.

Even with a bad right shoulder, I think that with the 7141 casting the Mid Spey 6/7, I could cast 60 to 75' foot casts for 3-4 hours at a time without any real need to rest.

The little heavier weight of the 7141 versus the 7136 is more than made up with the ease of casting the 7141 in the heavier waters we run into in Kali to keep the lights on down stream. When the wind ripped upstream, it handled the Single spey very well with maybe less effort for me than the Double Spey.

We had a workshop with our fly club at the local fly shop last December with our local Sage rep. I told him about the problems I had with the 7136 re lifting the line and bigger flies in our often heavier water flows. I asked him as the Sage Rep what rod would be his one steelhead rod in Kali and S. Oregon.

His immediate and unqualifed answer was the 7141. It is his favorite rod. He said that he can fish all day with it and recommended going under with the lines and to try my 6/7 Mid Spey and 6/7/8 WC with the upgrade before I invested in other lines. So far I think that he was correct. If I can try a SA Mastery Spey XLT for free, I might consider buying one, if I can cast longer distances and with the same or less effort than with my Mid Spey 6/7.

If my 7136 wasn't so good for fishing Putah Creek as my home water, I would probably be selling my 7136. I still may sell it.

 

[andre]

GS,

you really fish a two hander on Putah? Where ? summer or winter?

andre

 

[JDJones]

7141

Now that you have the Sage 7141 and have tried the windcutter and the mid spey you should try the XLT 7/8. If you are at the point where you can cast the full length (65 ft belly) of the mid spey and are having to shoot line to get more distance, the XLT will do the job well. Not that it wont do well at the short and medium ranges, it will, but when you start extending line, the XLT makes it much easier. Haven't measured it yet but I think the belly on the 7/8 XLT goes out to about 90 to 95 feet!

JD

 

[Grampa Spey]

Andre re Putah Creek with a 7136

I don't fish Putah in the summer with the high flows. Too dangerous and the fish are stressed out enough with the high flows without being hooked and released. There are ways to do this without a Spey Rod.

In the fall, winter and spring I fish upstream from the bridge to where you can go without getting a marshall or deputy after you.

Purists, please go to another thread. I use the Boles indicator with the La Fontaine sinking furled tip leader hanging down straight down with 4# or 6# Vanish (no leader about 6 to 8' total hinge hang, depending on the flow rates. I use a sliding tungsten bead slid on above the fly. I can lob cast up stream 40 to 50' and control it down stream that length or longer. These controlled fishing drifts of 40 to 80 plus feet with one cast make the 7136 like a vacuum cleaner.

I start out with Fox Caddis Puppa olive or tan size 14 which will be effective about 25 to 50% of the time. If not effective, I keep going to a smaller Fox Caddis Puppa. If I have to go to a size 18, I go to Black Fox Caddis Puppa. That is my fly 90% of the time.

If they don't increase the flows, I connect with a 4 to 6 pound trout about 50% of the time. About 400 yards upstream from the bridge are the wide pools with the trees right behind you. The 7136 can lob a side arm roll about 40 to 50' out. Huge fish stay in these holes. I have had 6# tippets broken off with moderate water flows. Then I go upstream to as far as we can get to the below the dam since 9/11 and wade across and come back to the boundary of the rv area. This is golden water with 2 to 4 pound trout feeding on small dark flies size 20 to 22.

Often big browns come out and just hover about an hour before dark. It is really nerve racking to get them to strike at your fly. You need big size 4 to 6 baby rainbow type flies.

Just before dark I will go down the flats about 200 yards upstream from the bridge. Browns that are 14 to 16 inches will come up to nail the evening caddis hatch if there is one. They stay about 50' out and down stream. Most fly casters can't get there. I go the 6/7 Mid Spey and put the La Fontaine floating furled leader and 4' of 4# Vanish. I do a lob roll downstream about 3 feet above the striking browns. I will usually get 2 to 3 before they realize that they are in fishing range.

If I'm there during the lunch hour and there is a BWO hatch and no fly fishers are in the pool directly below the bridge. I will go dry BWO size 16 to 18 with a size 20 emerger dropper. I can stand in the middle and work basically a 360 degree around the clock cast, roll or downstream Fall River release covering most of that pool. If there is a good hatch usually with partial clouds and a steady flow, you can catch nice 12 to 15 inch native rainbows, cuts, and browns in that one pool in the that one hour window.

Then there are a few holes about 2 miles down stream that I can do the same thing with a dry or with the Boles indicator.

Last but not least the fish seem to have an off switch when the flows increase or a cold winter rain comes down. I'm not the only one who has observed this. I think the rain stops any hatches and within minutes the normal drift of pupa stops. I just hope the new regulations allowing hardware will not allow the meat hogs to kill the fish.