[Steve_sullivan]

I will be fishing rivers like the feather, american, and sacramento. I have never speyed before and this will be a christmas present. I wont be able to try out rods in advance and have never used a spey rod so will need to get help once I get the rod . 1 handed rods I like are the tfo ticr. This will be for both steelhead and king salmon, but since salmon are farther out in the deep holes I figure it will be more for the kings. Feather river kings arent that big, about 15 -40 pounds.

I will need a rod, reel, and line. For rods I am currently thinking about the cnd expert 9/10 and the tfo professional 10. FOr reels, the top two contenders are
lamson velocity 4
ross big game 6

I doubt I will get any bad opinions about the ross, except maybe that it is costly, what about the lamson?


What about lines?

 

[Moose]

Contact Jeff Putnaam or Adam Grace at Kiene's in Sacramento. They'll point you in the right direction.

 

[flytyer]

Moose's advice is excellent because it is always best to cast the rods your are thinking about before buying one. Especially since there is a very noticeable difference between the CND Expert and the TFO rods you mentioned. Since you already have and use the TFO single-hand rod, you will find the aciton of the 2-hand TFO to be familiar since it is similar. The CND Expert is a fine rod, just more full-flex (meaning bends to the butt on most casts) than the TFO which is more a mid-flex rod. You can also go up to the Fly Shop in Redding to try out some rods. There used to be a shop in Chico, if it is still in business, you should try them to see about test casting a 2-hander.

The Lamson is a fine reel; but there are less expensive reels out there that do as well as the Lamson and Ross. The Redington Breakwater 10/11, the STH DDR #4, the big SA Mastery reel, the Teton #12, etc. are all very good, lower cost reels that work well with spey lines and rods.

 

[MJC]

Hey Steve...

I see you made it to the Forum. Welcome! I agree with Moose you will find some great help out of Bill Kiene's.
If you get a hankering to test drive any CND rods on your water please let me know.

 

[SSPey]

the ross #6 will be too small for many spey lines

 

[Moose]

I reccomended Kiene's because...

..the spey nuts there really know their stuff, and Jeff Putnam is one of the very few certified FFF spey casting instructors around. Lessons to a beginner are as important a tool as any rod, reel, line or anything else. As with any of the other necessary tools, without good teaching you will be on the water ill equipped. If you take a lesson from Jeff he can bring several rods for you to try, and if you want to try the CND (which Kiene's currently does not carry) contact Mike at Redshed and take him up on the test drive. I did just that and have bought a couple based on just how much I liked the rod, something I never would have known had I not first tried them.

I read on you posts on another board that you don't want to spend too much, so along with the CND and TFO rods, I'd also reccomend the Anderson Custom rods (available at Kienes). All of these rods are very nice and modestly priced..

 

[FLGator]

I agree...get one on one help from the local pros for casting form and technique.

I highly recommend the CND Custom 14' 9wt paired with a Rio Winductter w/tips as a good place to start.

As mentioned, Mike at the Red Shed Fly Shop can/will send you one to check out on the water. It is a great service and a great rod that will not break the bank or let you down.

Chris

 

[Willie Gunn]

I would avoid the windcutter to start with. In order to learn to speycast properly you will be better starting with a longer bellied line. With a wincutter you will learn bad habits in the beginning and then if you move to long bellied lines you will strugle. Best to learn the nbasics right, in the begining.

 

[David Dornblaser]

Willie,

What line would you recommend for newbies to learn on? Particularly for small to medium sized rivers?

David Dornblaser
[email protected]

 

[Moose]

I'll second the delta long

It's about the most perfect line at splitting the difference between short heads and long belly's. About the best personal endorsement I can give is to tell you that I own more of these than any other line. I have the multi tip lines in 6/7, 7/8, 8/9 and 9/10 as well as 3 full floaters.

My first good rod/line combo was the CND Expert 14' 9/10 with the 9/10 delta long multi tip. Great set up, especially forgiving for new casters.

 

[Willie Gunn]

Yawn, just up. I would have no hesitation in recomending either the Carron lines or the new Ian Gordon Partridge lines. These lines are designed for speycasting.

 

[Big K1]

I will second the Carron lines. Pricey but oh so sweet. The Snowbee lines are nice
also. I can't wait to try the new Partridge lines. I fish shortheads but I love to cast
longer lines. This summer will be strictly 70' + lines though.

 

[finnsalmo]

Peter:
Try Google with an "Ian Gordon partridge spey line", and you'll find a pdf -file, that has some info.