Dana,
I've not tried the 10/11 GrandSpey on any other rod. I own and love the 1611 T&T and that is the only rod I've cast with it. Nooksack Mac cast it on my 1611 T&T and liked it as well. He said (which I already knew because I had cast the 1511 T&T before I settled on the 1611) that except for the extra foot of length, his 1511 T&T feels the same with a little less line lifting ability.
I have sevearal friends who have 10/11 Sages, but they don't feel right to me with a 10/11 accelerator, so I've been very reticent to cast them with the 10/11 GrandSpey. I have a very good friend who wanted to cast it on his 1st generation Sage 10151, I was afraid the rod might break with it because it broke with a 10/11 Accelerator and Sage repaired it once before.
I'm sure the G.Loomis 15 ft 10/11, and 15 1/2 ft 11/12 (both rods that I have cast and like) would be superb rods for the 10/11 GrandSpey as well. The Winston Derek Brown 10/11 comes to mind as another superb rod for it. The big B&W's, such as the 18 ft 10-12 that Fred recently acquired would be a good choice with it too. Wish I new someone who owned one of the new Sage 16 footers to cast this line on, unfortunately I don't. It is a line that should work well with all of the big powerhouse 11 weights and the powerrful 10 weight 2-handers.
That said, the 10/11 Grandspey cast well on my 1611 from about 50 ft of line out the rod (note this is line, not line plus leader) to as far as you can cast. It is a superb spey casting line with very dynamic turnover. I love not having to shoot line to cast 90+ ft.
The 10/11 GrandSpey is a very long line, over 100 ft of belly and front taper, but it is a very forgiving line and when you get in the habit of keeping that much line aerialized to form your 'D' loop, it just zings out to your intended target. Snap-T, Snake Roll, Double Spey, Single Spey, Switch are a breeze with this line. Also, this line lets me throw 70-80 feet of line with almost no 'D' loop (i.e. the line is kept almost completely in front of you, usefull if brush is right at your back). It casts well in wind as well, as I found on the Skagit the second day I was using it. The color change from the belly to running line is also a nice touch. One that I'm told is being incorporated into all of the RIO Spey lines for 2003.
It takes a huge reel to hold the 10/11 GrandSpey. I have it mounted on a Redington AS 13/14 ( truly huge capacity reel) and I could get 250 yds of 30 LB dacron backing and the 150 ft of 10/11 GrandSpey on it. Lessor sized reels will not hold much backing with this line, if you could even get the whole line on the reel. It defintely requires a reel that one could use a 14 weight line on for huge saltwater fish. Despite this, I will be using the 10/11 GrandSpey nearly exclusively on my 1611 T&T.
This is a great line for the big sticks!
