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I spent about 5 hours on the Russian yesterday testing the 8/9, 9/10 and 10/11 with my Sage 10151 and even my beloved Sage 7141 with the 8/9.
The river is still high, and where I could cast, there was a high 6' to 7' bank directly behind me preventing much of a D loop. Also, I could only wade out about 5-6 feet before the water was over my head. All of my casting was with river right and my terrible imitation of Simon's graceful Double Spey. This was made worse with the high bank and being able to wade out about 5-6 feet.
This may have had a negative impact on the Grandspeys. The 9/10 did not work at all for me it never loaded the 10151 properly and was a real pussy in my hands with any wind. So it was returned to its box fairly quick.
The 10/11 worked better and was less wind impacted. I could get out 70 to 80' casts if I paid attention to every little detail, the wind, the current and the mechanics of my terrible Double Spey casting. I was somewhat disappointed in the distance. Because in the same spot this Tuesday, I was getting as far with my Mid Spey floating and tips with my Sage 7141 with a lot less energy and effort for each cast.
Then, I tried the 8/9 and was getting some good distance without much more effort than casting my 7141. I was casting 80 to 90' on 50% of my casts.
So, I decided to try the Grandspey 8/9 on my 7141. After a couple of practice casts, I was heaving it out about 10' to 15' further than my Sage 10151 and with a lot less effort at a distance of 95 to 100'. Twice I touched the opposite shore with casts. One time a drift boat was upstream waiting to come through when this happened. The guide asked if I was using a 30 06. This happened about 4 hours after hurling the heavy lines and the heavier and bulkier 10151. I'm sure that I can do better without the heavy lifting and just going directly to the 7141 with the Grandspey 8/9 when I'm fresh and my shoulders are fresh.
Then, I replaced the leader with the MS Sink Tip compensator about a foot of tippet with a heavy fly, this is the best kept secret in Rio's great line. I was able to get 70 to 80 feet casts without a lot more effort than with the M/S and the same trick. The wind was really gusting around and except when it would change directions and blew directly in my face, had minimal effect on most casts. The GrandSpey 8/9 with the MS tip compensator, a foot of tippet and a heavy fly worked very well with my 7141.
If I can keep the 8/9 for another week or so, I want to try it with my Sage 7141 and all of my sinking tips from my MS 7/8 pack on the Yuba.
Conclusion: I'm not man enough nor good enough to use the Grand Spey's 9/10 or 9/10. I kept remembering Jim Vincent's comment of how tiring the Grandspey was for him versus the MidSpey here on this board. I agree with him.
The good surprise was how well the GrandSpey 8/9 worked with my Sage 7141. It might be a great line to have on a spare spool when the fish move out further in the water on the Yuba, Lower Sac or Deschutes during the mid day or during the high water summers as Herr Davis has the water pouring out for electricity since we have no new generators in California.
The mending capability of the Grand Speys is incredible. You can mend about as much as you can cast. On shorter casts, you can do a roll cast as per John Judy's loose line mends and dump a load of line on top of the line tip. They are the best mending lines that Rio has made. I'm sure that the better casters can mend 80 to 100 ' with a single and basically effortless mend.
Two other observations about the two bigger GrandSpeys:
1. There may have been some contact with some chemical in previous tests. Both lines really sank a lot. Also, there were about 1 foot sections that would sink and the next section would float and the next section would sink and for the length of the line in the water. It was really weird. The 8/9 or my MS 7/8 line did not do this. A fellow, who was watching me said that it looked like oil was beading off of these lines. Then I noticed the same after each cast.
2. The lines are really reel users. My loop 4 with 300 yards of the minimal diameter backing really did not hold the two larger sizes. So I had about the length of the rod plus a couple of feet not on the reel. ( I didn't want to cut my backing). The 8/9 was a tight fit. This Loop 4 and 300 yards of small size backing holds my AC 9/10 with no problem and any tips plus 15' of leader. It holds my new MS7/8 with any size leader or tip with no problem.
I want to thank Rio and Simon for arranging the tests of these lines. My reports to Simon will be mailed this weekend.
Thanks to Fred for setting up the schedule and getting a little more gray hair from some of us.
The river is still high, and where I could cast, there was a high 6' to 7' bank directly behind me preventing much of a D loop. Also, I could only wade out about 5-6 feet before the water was over my head. All of my casting was with river right and my terrible imitation of Simon's graceful Double Spey. This was made worse with the high bank and being able to wade out about 5-6 feet.
This may have had a negative impact on the Grandspeys. The 9/10 did not work at all for me it never loaded the 10151 properly and was a real pussy in my hands with any wind. So it was returned to its box fairly quick.
The 10/11 worked better and was less wind impacted. I could get out 70 to 80' casts if I paid attention to every little detail, the wind, the current and the mechanics of my terrible Double Spey casting. I was somewhat disappointed in the distance. Because in the same spot this Tuesday, I was getting as far with my Mid Spey floating and tips with my Sage 7141 with a lot less energy and effort for each cast.
Then, I tried the 8/9 and was getting some good distance without much more effort than casting my 7141. I was casting 80 to 90' on 50% of my casts.
So, I decided to try the Grandspey 8/9 on my 7141. After a couple of practice casts, I was heaving it out about 10' to 15' further than my Sage 10151 and with a lot less effort at a distance of 95 to 100'. Twice I touched the opposite shore with casts. One time a drift boat was upstream waiting to come through when this happened. The guide asked if I was using a 30 06. This happened about 4 hours after hurling the heavy lines and the heavier and bulkier 10151. I'm sure that I can do better without the heavy lifting and just going directly to the 7141 with the Grandspey 8/9 when I'm fresh and my shoulders are fresh.
Then, I replaced the leader with the MS Sink Tip compensator about a foot of tippet with a heavy fly, this is the best kept secret in Rio's great line. I was able to get 70 to 80 feet casts without a lot more effort than with the M/S and the same trick. The wind was really gusting around and except when it would change directions and blew directly in my face, had minimal effect on most casts. The GrandSpey 8/9 with the MS tip compensator, a foot of tippet and a heavy fly worked very well with my 7141.
If I can keep the 8/9 for another week or so, I want to try it with my Sage 7141 and all of my sinking tips from my MS 7/8 pack on the Yuba.
Conclusion: I'm not man enough nor good enough to use the Grand Spey's 9/10 or 9/10. I kept remembering Jim Vincent's comment of how tiring the Grandspey was for him versus the MidSpey here on this board. I agree with him.
The good surprise was how well the GrandSpey 8/9 worked with my Sage 7141. It might be a great line to have on a spare spool when the fish move out further in the water on the Yuba, Lower Sac or Deschutes during the mid day or during the high water summers as Herr Davis has the water pouring out for electricity since we have no new generators in California.
The mending capability of the Grand Speys is incredible. You can mend about as much as you can cast. On shorter casts, you can do a roll cast as per John Judy's loose line mends and dump a load of line on top of the line tip. They are the best mending lines that Rio has made. I'm sure that the better casters can mend 80 to 100 ' with a single and basically effortless mend.
Two other observations about the two bigger GrandSpeys:
1. There may have been some contact with some chemical in previous tests. Both lines really sank a lot. Also, there were about 1 foot sections that would sink and the next section would float and the next section would sink and for the length of the line in the water. It was really weird. The 8/9 or my MS 7/8 line did not do this. A fellow, who was watching me said that it looked like oil was beading off of these lines. Then I noticed the same after each cast.
2. The lines are really reel users. My loop 4 with 300 yards of the minimal diameter backing really did not hold the two larger sizes. So I had about the length of the rod plus a couple of feet not on the reel. ( I didn't want to cut my backing). The 8/9 was a tight fit. This Loop 4 and 300 yards of small size backing holds my AC 9/10 with no problem and any tips plus 15' of leader. It holds my new MS7/8 with any size leader or tip with no problem.
I want to thank Rio and Simon for arranging the tests of these lines. My reports to Simon will be mailed this weekend.
Thanks to Fred for setting up the schedule and getting a little more gray hair from some of us.