Yesterday I got a few hours on the Russian River to cast my Sage 7141 and Rio's New MidSpey 7/8 with tips.
The river was still high and really rushing. In fact it took me hours of driving up 101 and back roads to find an area where the water line wasn't in the trees. That makes it a little difficult to wade and cast.
The 7141 did a great job of casting all the MS and all of the tips in high water without the compensator.
I then removed tip 2 and replaced it with the compensator.
Rio has done all of us a massive favor with this compensator. When the rivers are really ripping along, the 15' tip by itself just doesn't get down fast enough to fish. The running line part of the Spey line floats and not enough of the 15' sinking tips get down, including the new fast sinking tip.
With the compensator the tip immediate goes down, with one good mend the compensator lines up and sinks behind the sinking tip.
Yet the combo of the compensator and sinking tips do not catch bottom and snag up like with 26' shooting heads, Teeny lines and even Rio's new 26 ft Stripper sinking lines. I tried two casts with my Rio 350 sinking tip in the same water that all of the Spey sinking tips and the compensator had no problem and snagged the bottom twice and lost a fly each cast/snag with the Rio 350.
I was so impressed with the combo of the compensator, that I left my compensator on the reel for this winter. That way I can just add whatever sinking tip is needed for the winter high waters. I felt that it was easier for me to load the 7146 and cast the tips with the compensator than without the compensator. A late afternoon wind upstream had minimal effect on the combo.
Last but not least, even in fast and heavy water, I was able to lift the compensator and sinking tips up to the brown mark of line and do a double spey cast with my Sage 7141. I could feel when the rod was loading properly and or not due to my casting. The rod really felt good in the Double Spey with the compensator and sinking tips.
At the last of the day I was using a tungsten bead size 2 hook with pink bunny tied to it (looks like an earthworm). The rod lifted all of this up and I was able to make 40 and 50 ' casts out into the deep part of the river and mend once for great drifts with the compensator and deep sinking tip and about 1 foot of tippet.
Conclusions: For this old Grampa, the new Rio Mid Spey 7/8 with tips and the wonderful compensator is a great package with the Sage 7141.
Kudos to Simon and Jim Vincent for this great line. It makes my older WC678 feel like an old Model A. This MS 7/8 with tips and my Sage 7141 should be able to handle basically any steelhead stream in N. California and S. Oregon. One reel, one rod, and one line with the tips in one little package makes life very simple and yet very versatile to meet and match different river conditions.
I don't have to look for an 8 weight 14 foot European action Spey rod anymore. With the Mid Spey 7/8, my Sage 7141 is really an eight rod capable of ripping up sinking tips and my big ugly flies even in high, deep and fast running waters.
I will be buying a compensator for my Sage 10151 for Salmon season later this year. It should work great on my Accelerator 9/10 with the tip two replaced by the compensator.
Thanks again to Rio, Simon and Jim Vincent for this great new MS 7/8 with the tips.
The river was still high and really rushing. In fact it took me hours of driving up 101 and back roads to find an area where the water line wasn't in the trees. That makes it a little difficult to wade and cast.
The 7141 did a great job of casting all the MS and all of the tips in high water without the compensator.
I then removed tip 2 and replaced it with the compensator.
Rio has done all of us a massive favor with this compensator. When the rivers are really ripping along, the 15' tip by itself just doesn't get down fast enough to fish. The running line part of the Spey line floats and not enough of the 15' sinking tips get down, including the new fast sinking tip.
With the compensator the tip immediate goes down, with one good mend the compensator lines up and sinks behind the sinking tip.
Yet the combo of the compensator and sinking tips do not catch bottom and snag up like with 26' shooting heads, Teeny lines and even Rio's new 26 ft Stripper sinking lines. I tried two casts with my Rio 350 sinking tip in the same water that all of the Spey sinking tips and the compensator had no problem and snagged the bottom twice and lost a fly each cast/snag with the Rio 350.
I was so impressed with the combo of the compensator, that I left my compensator on the reel for this winter. That way I can just add whatever sinking tip is needed for the winter high waters. I felt that it was easier for me to load the 7146 and cast the tips with the compensator than without the compensator. A late afternoon wind upstream had minimal effect on the combo.
Last but not least, even in fast and heavy water, I was able to lift the compensator and sinking tips up to the brown mark of line and do a double spey cast with my Sage 7141. I could feel when the rod was loading properly and or not due to my casting. The rod really felt good in the Double Spey with the compensator and sinking tips.
At the last of the day I was using a tungsten bead size 2 hook with pink bunny tied to it (looks like an earthworm). The rod lifted all of this up and I was able to make 40 and 50 ' casts out into the deep part of the river and mend once for great drifts with the compensator and deep sinking tip and about 1 foot of tippet.
Conclusions: For this old Grampa, the new Rio Mid Spey 7/8 with tips and the wonderful compensator is a great package with the Sage 7141.
Kudos to Simon and Jim Vincent for this great line. It makes my older WC678 feel like an old Model A. This MS 7/8 with tips and my Sage 7141 should be able to handle basically any steelhead stream in N. California and S. Oregon. One reel, one rod, and one line with the tips in one little package makes life very simple and yet very versatile to meet and match different river conditions.
I don't have to look for an 8 weight 14 foot European action Spey rod anymore. With the Mid Spey 7/8, my Sage 7141 is really an eight rod capable of ripping up sinking tips and my big ugly flies even in high, deep and fast running waters.
I will be buying a compensator for my Sage 10151 for Salmon season later this year. It should work great on my Accelerator 9/10 with the tip two replaced by the compensator.
Thanks again to Rio, Simon and Jim Vincent for this great new MS 7/8 with the tips.