[steeliechaser]

I am interested in the Winston 15' 8 weight has any one here on the board casted the rod......

 

[Charlie]

Steeliechaser,

I had a chance to cast this rod and it is quite the tool. Not Winston's usual slow action rod. This is a very powerful rod made for distance casting. It is also very heavy. There are rods I would get before this one, however, simply because I am a mediocre caster and prefer more forgiving rods. If you are a good caster, don’t mind the weight, and your looking for a canon, this may be the rod for you.

Charlie

 

[juro]

Steeliechaser -

Since you fish the Salmon River and the Catt, I would recommend something a little more fitting for the river sizes. My personal taste for rivers the size of these (although I have not fished the Catt only studied it for my upcoming visit to it) is a 13-14ft rod in the 7/8 or 8/9 class, something very light in the hands and fun with 8 pounders but tough enough for 18 pounders. Something that won't collapse if you hook a king, yet is agile and fun to fish for browns and coho.

An example of a great rod for a great price for this fishery IMHO would be the CND Expert 13' 8/9, $325 new w/ warranty, or the Custom Series or better yet the Skagit or Steelhead Specialists.

Send me a PM and I will try to get you a CND demo rod to try. My demo rods are making a world-tour without me lately but when I get them back I'll gladly send a demo your way.

Another sponsor Bob Meiser often does this kind of thing as well. He has a nice assortment of rods covering the full gamut and your bound to find something to fall in love with in his line.

Also there is a Great Lakes Spey Clave on the Muskegon coming up where you can try a whole assortment of rods for yourself, and get some lessons too from big names like Andy Murray from House of Hardy England.

There might even be a CND guy there again this year :devil: I attended last year, it was a great time. I hope to work out the birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and holidays that time of year to attend again this year.

 

[juro]

Peter -

I'll bet the short spey lines from SA work well on the Atlantis as well, I hope to try them soon. The Hardy Mach I 9/10 is a nice match, although you need to put the 45 ft head out there to load it fully. It will throw nice little loops all over a river the size of these and as you know it has all the guts you'd ever need for the fish that swim these rivers, even the kings.

 

[macspey]

CND Steelhead Specialist demo

Steeliechaser,
I just received one of the 'globetrotting' CND demo SS Specialists that Juro mentioned. It's a beauty! If they cut the flow on the SR tonight, I plan to be up there on Wednesday. I'd be happy to hook up and hand her off to you for some test casting. Could meet at the Pineville bridge? That's where I plan to try her out. I don't plan to 'fish' her, just want to to get an idea what the rod is like. Can't wait!! Shoot me a PM or email if ya'd like to meet up,
John

[email protected]

 

[steeliechaser]

..Thanks Guys..I already own a couple Double Handers.And was looking for another Toy...I did cast the CND Specialist.A buddy of mine has one..I really had to slow down to lay line...It was a little fast for me...I presently have a 15 10/11 St Croix,
Which weighs allot..but a heavy reel gives the rod a zero center of gravity...


SteelieChaser

 

[Philster]

I don't know if Winston changed the rod when they dumped Derek, but the Derek Brown 15 foot 8/9 is a great rod, that is very different from the standard rods out there (Sage, Loomis, etc). Heavy, slower, yet much more powerful than anything in the same line class. Expensive, probably too expensive at retail price, but a really rewarding rod to own, if you can afford to own a number of rods. I love mine, and look for opportunities to use it.

Folks who have experience with both are equally in love with the 7/8, if not more so.

 

[steeliechaser]

Thanks Eric...

I have the 12' 6/7 Winstonr...Which is more of a Switch Rod
than Spey....But Swinging Streamers And Nymph's on that Rod
IS SUPER SWEET.......And I love the Components and Finish...


"YUP I'M DONE.....THATS THE ROD"


THANK YOU ......


SteelieChaser

 

[highlander2]

I guess I am a little late in the post but thought I would put my .02 cents in as well. I think all of the DB winstons are exceptional rods, the 7/8 is I think the real sweetheart of the whole line up. They are with out a doubt some of the most powerful long line rods ever made. I think the weight of these rods turned most people off but the ones that could get past that realized there full potential. Had winston stuck with it and tried to make improvements they could have developed the ultimate spey rod for guys that like to throw the long line. Now another fine company has filled that niche very nicely. Still I would not trade my Db winston 8/9 for any rod exept maybe the 7/8 as it really is such a sweet casting rod. The 7/8 would be a great rod to add to your collection but really is a big water rod desighned to cast alot of line with out having to shoot much line. The Cat from what I have seen in pictures is a beautiful little stream, but one could very well learn to speycast the single hander and cover it from bank to bank quit easily.


Brian

 

[Cresswell]

The former Winston Derek Brown Favorite (DBF) in both the 15' 7/8 weight and 15' 8/9 weight have now been renamed to the "Winston Spey Rod". The "Winston Spey Rod" is produced with the same action, taper, graphite, and components as the former DBF. Nothing has changed except for the name of the rod. However, the old 9/10 and 10/11 DBF models have been discontinued altogether and are no longer available as part of the "Winston Spey Rod" label.

You will find a review of the DBF in Dana's Spey Pages.

A lot of people don't like the DBF. It is a heavy rod with a lot of weight in the tip section. The common complaint is that it takes a lot of strength and effort to cast this rod. If you like to do "finesse" casting, perhaps this rod is not for you. Personally, I love this rod. It is a great rod for throwing tips and long-belly lines. To me, this rod does not feel heavy at all, and I can cast with it all day long and all week long without getting tired.

 

[flytyer]

Brian,

I agree the DB rod are very nice long-line rods. However, i think the reason there were not more of them sold has to do with the retail price of $895.00 US than the weight of the rod.

Also, I suspect that many folks are not used to casting 15 ft rods and have bought into the myth that they are too heavy and require too much of a person to cast all day. Hence, they buy 14 ft and shorter rods. This is born out by the number of different rod makers producing rods of 13 ft to 14 ft and the number of different models most of them offer in the 13 ft to 14 ft length.

There are many who think I'm a bit off for wanting a 17' to 17'6" 12 wt for big river winter fishing because they see no reason to have a rod longer than 14 ft for any river. As you know, I'd like to see a fast-action (which the DB is not) 15 ft 7/8 rod on the market; however, the response I get from rod makers is that there is a limited market for 15 ft rods and they don't see a market for a 15 ft 7/8 fast-action rod.

 

[steeliechaser]

I just got my Sage today the 13'6" 8 weight Traditional..Have not tryed it yet.But will this weekend..I am still considering the 15' 8
weight Winston for throughing Large Tube Flies,The dilema I have now is trying to find a reel to balance the rod the winston weighs 12 3/4 oz So my best guess I would need a Reel to weigh at lear 14-16 oz. So I am still reasearching.The 15' 10/11 St Croix I have is a nice Rod....I balanced it with a 4GAR Penn.The Combo balances well.But is allot of Rod to through all day....


Thank You For All The Feed Back......

SteelieChaser...

 

[paul locke]

winston DB favourites

as a certified tackle tart i had to buy the db line before it was discontinued! [not neccessary it seems but who cares]. i have been away for some time so have not yet tried them. any advice on lines you have found most suitable for any of the range would be gratefully received. thanks

 

[Philster]

For the DB 8/9 the 8/9 xlt, and 7/8 grandspey are good long line choices. It handles midlength (midspey 8/9, long delta 9/10) lines very well also. Those are lines that I own, and have therefore spent some time with. Would love to try the Airflo traditional, but haven't gotten around to it.

Phil

 

[Philster]

Only line I cut is the 7/8 grandspey. Cut back 3 or so feet to handle 8/9 weight tips, and the floating tip from an 8/9 midspey. Makes for a much smoother turnover for me on the grandspey when used as a floater.

It seems Nobuo Nodera cuts a 7/8 grandspey and sticks on something like 20 feet of a triangle taper. Folks who have cast it gets goosebumps apparently Speybum has the specks on the Nobuo line if you are interested.

As to the XLTs Highlander2 told me a long time ago to stick to leaders around 12 feet. Haven't had any issues with the 6/7 or 8/9 following that advice. The 10/11 turns over 18 ft of level 15 lb Maxima for me out of the box as long as the fly is reasonable. I haven't found a need to cast more than 70 ft while fishing with it though. Maybe someone throwing the whole head would have a different opinion. I've only done that with yarn, and not very well

 

[Bob Pauli]

Paul Locke -- Bravo!

The funniest description for an equipment crazed fisherman:

"TACKLE TART"

Great post, Paul.

 

[Philster]

Do you find that you're casting all of those lines with about the same amount of line beyond the tiptop -- say, about 60' or so of line? I'm still wrestling with the idea of getting a long belly or staying with the short stuff.

When practising, I generally get to the point where the whole head is being used with the longbellies. Not real hard with the Grandspey at 80 feet long. In fishing, I cast where I need to. As I said with the 10/11 XLT, I haven't gone beyond 70 feet because I haven't had to in order to hit my targets.

The midspeys length line, I generally fish with the head out. If I need 35 foot casts, I do a big upstream sweep while the cast is in the air, and deal with the loose line. Get real deep that way too!

 

[steeliechaser]

All I fish with are Long Belly Lines... :smokin: But I can Shoot Line
with a Short Head...Or Regular Wf Taper...

SteelieChaser

 

[steeliechaser]

Where I fish it's mainly Skinny Water...So I do fish Sink tips often.
A small Split shot or 2 always has me in the zone...Late Fall and Winter...

Spring,And Fall it's Tubie Time......

 

[steeliechaser]

Oop's DO NOT FISH...Sink Tips often