[Skilly]

I have a line that was given to me. The original owner thought it was an 8/9 long delta, but it does not seem to be.

It is a mint green full floating line. The head is 74' 6" to the start of the running line. It is easy to see where the head stops.There is a deffinate hump when it goes from the running line to the head, but this is made into the line. It does seem to be a 7/8 or 8/9. My custom 1308 really likes it and its ok on my Specialist but not the greatest.

I appreciate your help.

Skilly

 

[MJC]

What Line is This???

Skilly,

I think the hump you are referring to is, was, called the holding spot or something like that. The therory being you held the bump in your fingers and when doing so you always had the same amount of line beyound the rod tip. The hump was also easy to find in low light conditions. This only worked if your rod happened to be the right length to match the line but it gave you a reference point no matter as in find the hump and then make one srip or whatever to get to your desired casting length. At least that is the way I understood it to work. There has been discussions on this in the past. I remember Silver Doc, myself, and some others discussing this. I think the current Delta lines do not have this feature. Take care, MJC
PS, Here is the thread I was referring to above.

http://www.flyfishingforum.com/flytalk3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8257&highlight=Delta


"Wild $teelhead C&R gives me a thrill, why don't we all make it the drill"

 

[North Island]

Skilly,
Perhaps the old Mastery Salmon spey? The line I have is mint green but the head is 77 ft. Also no bump.

N I

 

[flytyer]

It sounds like the no longer made Airflow spey line which was on the market pre-Delta spey lines.

 

[Skilly]

bump

The bump or joint is the end of the rear taper joint to the running line on this line. It tapers rapidly to this joint.

If I do hold the joint- bump under my uphand I can snake roll this line 100 ft without any effort. Both Fieger and I were amazed. This was on my 1308 Custom CND. On my Specialist it didnt cast near as well. Although I am going to try it more and see if I can find the sweet spot.

My white long delta 7/8 does not have this bump joint. the taper to the running line is very smooth.

I would really like to identify this line so that I might find the same line, one weight heavier for my Specialist.

 

[Skilly]

line

Peter

Do either of those lines have 74 ft 6 in. head from the joint or bump ?
This may be the key to identifying this line.

Thanks
Skilly

 

[flytyer]

The Airflow Speycaster had the "bump" and it was available in either light green (mint) or very light blue and it had a head of 74 or 75 ft. The old SA Mastery Spey had a head length of 77 feet with a front taper of about 22 feet, it was mint green in color and was made is 3 sizes, 8/9, 10/11, and 12/13.

 

[North Island]

Skilly
Could it be that the previous owner trimmed a few ft. off the line?

N I

 

[Skilly]

line

Thanks
Flytyer

I think this is what it is. I had to go to Portland to the Doc this morning so I took my Specailist with me and tried it again. The wind was blowing up the Deschutes fairly strong so I could only do some Perry pokes. It seemes to cast pretty well with the bump at the second guide from the reel. When I get a calm day I will try it agian. Some of the gusts today would just fold up the line.

The previous owner didnt modify the line, but he did hate it on his Loomis GLX thats why he gave it to me.

 

[Skilly]

line

Peter

I agree with you 100% on the standariztion. Its kind of like back in the stone ages when I learned to fly fish. A HCH or HDH from different manufactures could be a completely different line. It would be nice to be able to say ok I need a #8 line with a 65 ft head and know that this is the line I want.

Even then the different finishes could change the casting characteristics of the lines, but they would be close with the same grain weight over a given distance.

I`m just a novice at this Spey thing but I already have 4 different lines. And still shopping for the holy grail. Ohhh, I am going to keep this spey caster for my 1308 it may be the holy grail. :devil:

 

[flytyer]

Skilly and Peter,

There were many who bought the old Airflow Speycaster either thinking or being told by someone in a shop (usually someone who didn't spey cast) that it was sized like a Windcutter with the top number missing. The truth is that is was really size a full size smaller in wt than the Windcutter, which is why it works so well on your CND 1308 Skilly and why it didn't work on the other fellow's GLX. I own the 13/ 8/9 GLX and I tried that exact line on it, the rod was very underloaded.

Like you Skilly, I remember the days of letter designation of fly lines and how you never knew if the HCH or HGB you just bought was going to be too light, just right, or too heavy for your rod. The standardized line weights of AFTMA sure made it a lot easier for folks to get lines that would work properly on their rods. I do remember it taking a while to figure out what line wt worked on your rod that had a letter line designation on it. But it was still a far sight easier because once you figured it out, it was very easy to get a line that matched your rod.

I'm looking forward to the world of spey lines to have the same type of standardization. Imagine the surprise of someone who found that a Carron Jetstream 10/11 worked well on his 2-hander then going out and buying a GrandSpey 10/11. Or conversely, finding that an 8/9 Midspey or Long Delta works well on his rod then going out and buying an 8/9 Jetstream.

 

[Skilly]

Thanks

Thanks to everybody !!!!!

It is great to have all this knowlege available. I really appreciate the help.

Skilly