[juro]

To all who have requested, hounded for, field tested and otherwise contributed to the realization of our greaseliner rod, the Solstice Series... my sincere and utmost appreciation!

On my recent visit to the west I noticed the leaves had changed, the air became crisp and the steelhead and salmon began to fill the pools. I stood along the bank and let the line glide sharply in a balance of force and finesse over the glassy surface of the river to light softly by the far bank. The rod I was using was supple yet tight, gentle yet violent, calm but fierce - all at the same time. Aside from all the hoopla, the end result was a rod that I truly love to cast and fish. If that's not worth being thankful for, I don't know what is.

 

[MJC]

Hey Juro...

the end result is a rod I can truly love to cast and fish. QUOTE]


Please tell us about the lines that work for you on each of the three available models.

 

[juro]

A full line chart is in the works.

preview:

13'4" 6/7 - casts lines true to rating (6/7 mid, 6/7/8 windcutter, SA short 6/7, etc) but can be pushed with heavier lines (7/8 mid, etc)

14'3" 7/8 - also casts lines true to rating, also does scandi / underhand very well and can throw tips full line (7/8/9 w. 15ft tip)

15'2" 7/8 - casts all of the 14'3" lines (to rating) plus does well with the extended lines like the 7/8 Grandspey and the 6/7 XLT. Pushes the short spey and midspey lines out to full line casts fairly easily

16'1" 8/9 - designed to handle extended belly lines, big casts in a lightweight package. Casts true to rating (8/9 mid, 8/9/10 windcuttter) but also handles XLT and Grandspey lines

"True to rating" is my shorthand for the standard Rio Midspey/Windcutter ratings: a 7/8 = 7/8 midspey, 7/8/9 windcutter, etc. Airflo, Wulff, and other lines can be determined relative to these lines as is usually the case.

The standout feature you will notice about these rods is that despite being very light they have a deep reserve and a smooth flex profile so they don't bottom out when overloaded a bit as desired or as needed by the fishing situation at hand.

Personally I like them loaded on the light side and crisp to throw with a little overhand for distance, full lines are well within the capabilities of all models.

I hope this helps,
Juro

 

[MJC]

Hey Juro...

I hope this helps,

It doesn't. We (anybody that is interested) already know what you have posted above. With all due respect your answer sounds like something an advertising person would write. The question was, what are the lines your using when you are fishing and not testing? Thanks


Additionally, The above is not meant in anyway to be "smartass". Since these rods are so new and you have more time on them then anyone else around here I'd like to know what lines you would fish considering that you have tried alot and can fish with what you really like.

 

[juro]

Those are the lines I used when testing, which is 90% fishing

Also, if I just post what I prefer, then it is only useful to those who prefer the same as I do. The fact is, I have no favorite. After ten casts you can find the plusses and minuses of any line out there, provided it's within the grain range.

Perhaps you would prefer if I provided grain weights over head length?

Here is how I see the situation with lines:

We have all been struggling to get to a meaningful way to judge lines and rods against each other. Although a standard is developing, the closest thing so far has been the Rio Windcutter and Midspey ratings, and other lines have been variations around those two.

The most effective, and the choice of hardcores, is grains/head length. This is more complicated than the "Rio standard".

The first two numbers of the Windcutter and Midspey are the same for the given rod - per my example 7/8 = 7/8 midspey and 7/8/9 windcutter. If the rod has been rated in this way, it has been considered to be rated correctly by the general spey public as far as I have been able to determine from conversations at shows, claves, and offline.

That is what I meant by "true to rating". I hope *this* helps

 

[juro]

Post overlap again (per your edits)...

On the 13'4" 6/7 I prefer to use the Midspey 6/7, SA Short 6/7 or when using tips the Windcutter 6/7/8 with tips. Since I mostly fish skaters on this rod this summer, I used the first two lines the most. However at the show (Denver) we had the 8/9 mid on it and it still cast well. I would not fish it that deeply loaded though, especially if wading deep.

When fishing tips, I prefer to use the 7/8/9 Windcutter or Airflo Delta with tips. Both cast very nicely on the 14'3" 7/8. When fishing dry, the Midspey 7/8, SA Short Spey 7/8, or Hardy Mach I 8/9 PLUS are very nice choices - I have and fish all three.

The 15'2" 7/8 casts all of the same lines as the 14'3" 7/8 (same line rating) but has more ability to throw for distance, carries longer heads, and will provide better height for deep wading. Same lines, plus better for the extended lines (Grandspey and XLT).

I would have to ask Nobuo to provide detailed information about the 16'1... the availability was a big surprise to all of us. It was not planned to be announced until later on when the big BC rivers come into play, but was ready to show so we brought it to Denver.

It doesn't. We (anybody that is interested) already know what you have posted above. With all due respect your answer sounds like something an advertising person would write. The question was, what are the lines your using when you are fishing and not testing? Thanks


Additionally, The above is not meant in anyway to be "smartass". Since these rods are so new and you have more time on them then anyone else around here I'd like to know what lines you would fish considering that you have tried alot and can fish with what you really like.

 

[Philster]

A full line chart is in the works.

15'2" 7/8 - casts all of the 14'3" lines (to rating) plus does well with the extended lines like the 7/8 Grandspey and the 6/7 XLT. Pushes the short spey and midspey lines out to full line casts fairly easily
Juro

7/8 grandspey? The same line that works so well on the Salar? isn't the grandspey over 200 grains heavier than the 6/7 XLT packed into a 10 foot shorter line? I am to say the least the confused. I am also very excited, as a 15 foot rod that would handle the 6/7xlt "crisply" would capture my dollar very quickly! Can't wait to lay my dirty mits on that one and the 13'4" 6/7...

I've made it this far without a CND in my stable (barely)... I might be in trouble now though!

 

[kush]

Here is my.02

So far I have been using 2 lines on the 14'3" and 15'2" Solstices. Both are long belly lines. The stock line is the 7/8 Airflo Traditional - both rods love this line. The other line is an extreme long belly custom line that Dana made a long while ago. It is his version of a light Derek Brown Speydriver - I respectfully call it the Sturndriver, it is so sweet that I had to splice 30' of running line to it - as I was casting the whole thing off the rod with the 15'2" and the 14'3" comes close.

Philster,

This is the 7/8 Grandspey that fits into the new Spey Classifications - it is not the same one that was the one prefered on the Salar.

 

[Philster]

Here is my.02

Philster,

This is the 7/8 Grandspey that fits into the new Spey Classifications - it is not the same one that was the one prefered on the Salar.

Ahhhh. Good news! Nothing about it on the Rio site about it. I had heard the 7/8 would be called the the 8/9 or the 9/10 or some such thing, but I didn't know they were introducing a whole new lighter line. I thought I remembered Simon saying don't hold your breath on a lighter grandspey

 

[flytyer]

Kush,

It is very good to hear that Simon acted on what several folks, myself included, asked him about doing at Sandy (and I'm sure elsewhere): produce a GrandSpey that is a size lighter than the "old" 7/8 with an 80'-85' belly for use with 7/8 rods (at the time I called it a 6/7). When I spoke to Simon and Jim at Sandy about doing so, they both told me it was a strong possibility.

A hearty thanks to both Simon and Jim for getting this line available as well as altering the other GrandSpey lines to fit the new spey line standards.

 

[Luv2flyfish]

All Kinds of Cool New Toys!

I must say that I got to cast a couple new CND's at the NW casting expo. They were sweeeeet!

I wasnt planning on buying any new toys for a while, but I think I am screwed on this one?

which one to buy.....13'4 or 14???????? Do I want to strip line back in to be able to punch out longer, bigger water casts? Hmmmm..... I guess its time to start studying line spec. charts again and see if there is a long belly line out there in comparable weight to the windcutter or mid-spey. I highly doubt there is, but I have lots of free time on my hands. Might as well spend it looking at spey stuff.

 

[sazan]

Juro—

You have mentioned that with 13’4’’ you use mainly MidSpey 6/7 as a dry line and when fishing tips you prefer 6/7/8 WindCutter.

Since MidSpey 6/7 head is shorter (59’) then heavier lines (65’), in principle 6/7 interchangeable MidSpey should cast tips quite well, even if someone favores sorter heads for casting tips.

Did you try MidSpey 6/7 with type 3 or 6 tip?

Martin

 

[juro]

Thanks for the inquiry Martin -

I have not yet tried the 6/7 midspey with tips on the 13'4" 6/7, probably because I prefer to fish tips on the 14'3" 7/8. The 14'3" is very light as these were designed to be ideal for greased-line fishing (the original name of the model was Greased-liner) - yet it's very powerful and throws the 7/8/9 Windcutter with tips to the albright when needed.

Because I consider the 6/7 to be an ultralight spey for anadramous species, the tip system I would use would be custom made for the Midspey. I prefer to use the front taper from a 7wt hi-density shooting head cut and looped to attach to the midspey or windcutter. For a longer sinking portion (over 15ft) I would opt for a 6wt shooting head's front taper. These cast noticeably more like a floating line and are still very effective at catching fish.

Where the 14'3", 15'2" and 16'1" are equally suitable for the winter solstice as they are for summer, the 13'4" 6/7 is a summer solstice rod.

It's so light I can lift the rod high with one hand to hold my line over inside currents to allow my skating fly to float with more control, even for long broad tailouts. Not too many two-handers out there are comfortable to fish like a single hander in that fashion.

I will try both the factory tips and my light-touch tips on the midspey 6/7 and let you know what I find out. Keep in mind that the line casts the tip, not the rod - so if the rod casts the line well, then it's simply a matter of finding the tip to match the line.

Juro

 

[juro]

luv2flyfish -

Great meeting you the other day, and please accept our thanks from the homeland for your involvement in Iraq.

Kush mentioned that the Airflo Traditional 7/8 works with the 14'3" 7/8; it's an 80-85ft head and not quite as long as the extended belly lines but should make for a good long pick-up between casts.

You make a heck of a point though - the most applicable time for a long line is summer, and light grains are the rule in low clear conditions. Not much available in the lighter extended belly lines to match up with 6/7 and 7/8 rods as I see it, definitely worth some investigation.

 

[MJC]

Airflo Traditional...

Kush mentioned that the Airflo Traditional 7/8 works with the 14'3" 7/8;

In recent conversations with Rajeff's I have been told ( much to my sadness) that the Traditional spey lines will not be available in the future due to poor sales. Jarred told me they have none in stock.