[Leo M]

I am in the market for a reasonable priced trout spey rod. What are your suggestions? The TFO 5 weight looks interesting, does anybody have a picture of the handle of this rod. I did some reading in a search and was wondering how it differed. I took up the spey rod this year and have just developed a problem with my right thumb (arthritis maybe) and the trout spey has a whole new meaning to me. Thanks for any help.

 

[Rick J]

Gary Anderson has several nice light speys - I have his 1204 and I beleive he makes a 1203 - I beleive he may be changing blanks around but not sure. You might try contacting him

 

[Ol Rich]

Trout Spey

The Meiser/Beulah 10' 6" 5/6 wt. is a great rod. Nextcast here on the forum has a great line formula for it.

rich

 

[FKrow]

When I purchased my Sage Z-Axis 11ft 5wt the dealer also had the TFO 11ft, 5wtin stock for comparison. The TFO is a nice rod for $250 retail, I suggest you test cast the rod prior to buying. The 11ft rods are more critical in timing the cast than a longer rod like the TFO 12'6" or 14ft rods.

BTW Rio has a new line for these 11ft 5wt rods, Windcutter 4/5

Regards,
Fred Krow

 

[sandyspey]

I have a TFO 5wt spey and love it. got it from the RED SHED, they are super easy to deal with. Put a rio windcutter 5/6 wt on it and use it on the deschutes for redsides and steelys. Has a nice full flex to it when casting.

cb

 

[Peter Finnis]

My Meiser 12ft 6ins 4/5/6 performed fabulously on the Madison in September for fishing nymphs, soft hackles and streamers. Its next trip will be to the Usk in South Wales for the opening week of the season in early March. I cannot recommend this rod highly enough.

 

[Neil]

I am in the market for a reasonable priced trout spey rod. What are your suggestions? The TFO 5 weight looks interesting, does anybody have a picture of the handle of this rod. I did some reading in a search and was wondering how it differed. I took up the spey rod this year and have just developed a problem with my right thumb (arthritis maybe) and the trout spey has a whole new meaning to me. Thanks for any help.

Hi Leo.
My friend has one for sale.
Check out the link,???.questoutdoors.net/phpBB2/about2518.html
I sold him this rod last year.It is in great condition.
Speyladdie:smokin:

 

[Rolfe]

Hi Leo,
I got the TFO 5wt just recently and have had one chance to try it out before the Maine winter finally settled in. I am in love with it with a 6wt Mastery Distance line on it. It casts overhand, one-handed or two, very nicely, feels limber yet has power. The roll cast is a delight as well as mending and tight line nymphing. A 12" brown didn't feel overpowered by the rod. And landing the fish was no more trouble than with a 9'. I bought mine through Feather Craft, and the line was Bob Story's correct recommendation for my use. Come spring, my 9' Sage and Winston will feel neglected. And come next fall, I'll be able to reach those special spots at Grand Lake and Grand Lake Stream that were 10' to 15' beyond my ability. One more thing, my arthritis that had been aggravated by single hand casting took a holiday.
Rolfe Gerhardt
South Thomaston, Maine

 

[Cannon]

From the threads I've reading on this rod it almost sounds like a 11' 5wt. single-handed rod. Would I be right on this?

 

[MJC]

I think the TFO 11'-5wt feels pretty good as a single hand rod with the lower handle removed. I think this rod would be great for high stick nymphing.

 

[Cannon]

MJC: Is the bottom handle removable? If so, does the whole handle remove or just part of it and if it does remove is there a fighting butt that can be installed? I guess one could make thier own fighting butt to interchange with the factory handle,that is if it is removable.

 

[Rolfe]

Yes, Cannon, it is the Temple Fork 11' 5wt with a removable bottom handle. Since this is an inexpensive rod, no fighting butt replacement is provided but, as you say, you could make one. I really like it with both handles in place since it gives me options on how I cast and retreive, and it seems to balance better.

 

[gnarsick]

That TFO 5wt switch does come with a fighting butt for when you take off the handle...it is provided right in the case with the rod when you buy it.

 

[sushiyummy]

Hold off till Spring

Leo, if you can wait till spring, TFO will be coming out with a new family of switch rods perfect for your trout fishing.

I spoke to Rick Pope from TFO and they are at the final stages of their prototype testing with Meiser-man.

The new offerings could possibly incorp. the Axiom Kevlar technology (see TFO Axiom single handed rods for writeup). Throw Kevlar thoughts to TFO's way if you want to see Kevlar in these rods.

I am salivating for these new rods.

A little murky history from what I know about the 11' 5 weight talked about here. It was created by a Pro Staff/ guide to high stick nymph the tail waters of Arkansas. Thus the butt is not a knobbed butt but more of a tapered tube. Although there are many accounts of people being satisfied with this rod, I have second guessed this rod as an after-the-fact 2 handed rod. I have found the upper half of the rod too soft for my liking/ casting style. I felt vindicated after hearing the origins of this rod.

My rod doesnot have a removeable butt as it is epoxied. BTW, removeable butts are notorious for unscrewing themselves- My Orvis does that to me inspite of a rubber washer.

But then, this is just my opinion. You have yours to work with.

PS: In a separate post, I also posted comments on a 4 weight spey rod, adapted from Cabela's 11' 6 weight single handed rod with butt (non balled radius). It is my summer rod and I cast 230 grain skagit head on it. It's a sleeper.

 

[Riveraddict]

For the money...

...I don't think this rod can be beat. The screw on/off butt is actually pretty convenient - take it off and you can use the rod singlehanded when the need arises. To provide more "security" with the butt on, just throw a few wraps of electrical tape around the "junction". This is amongst the lightest of doublehanders I've used so far (have not yet tried the Sage 5 weight Switch) because it is a "true" 5 weight by singlehanded standards., and not rated with doublehander "standards". To "turn on" the performance of this rod in a "Spey" capacity, couple it with lines that are a total of three times or less (down to 2 1/4) of the rod's length... for Skagit try a 300 grain belly with 80 to 100 grain tips. The SA Singlehanded Skagit heads should be perfect. This rod is great fun fishing stream trout and would probably be a total kick for anyone that has circumstances of stream bass/panfishing available.

 

[Riveraddict]

One thing I should add...

...is to be realistic in expectations for a rod of this class. In other words, don't expect a "true" 5 weight at 11 feet in length to throw 100' in a "Spey" aspect. In a Skagit casting capacity, this rod threw muddlers, woolly buggers, and flesh flies on short sinktips out to around the 70 foot range. With smaller "wets" it would probably go a few feet further, but I would say that this rod in a Skagit mode makes fishing at distances of 30' to 65' all day a "breeze". The thing to think about here is that it will do so while offering the usual advantages of Spey approaches - minimal backcasting room, a bit more line control than with "standard" 9' singles, MUCH better capacity to fish in varying circumstances of wind, and less physical casting strain produced throughout the day's fishing.

I ran this rod and my Meiser 10 1/2' 4/5/6 on Alaskan 'Bows this past summer, the Meiser being the "gold standard" against which I compare other rods of this class. They both threw pretty close to the same grainage in lines, but the Meiser had the definite performance advantage - wider "window" of grains that it would handle, and sizes/weights of flies it would throw, in addition to its outstanding aesthetics. However, considering the selling price of the TFO, for anyone that is looking for a very capable, utilitarian "no frills" rod, this is a great choice.