spey rod ?

[Kevin2023]

Seeing all these videos online is making me interested in getting started in spey fishing. I know there is alot of info available out there but I wanted to know what everyone here thinks. I would like as much feedback on these rods or blanks as possible. I want a rod capable of handling some summer steel, mostly winter steel, and be able to handle an incidental chinook. Most of my time is spent fishing the sandy and clack. The most important feature to me is comfort for all day casting. I saw the loomis 15' IMX on the for sale board but it will probably be gone before I find employment or get my tax return.

Rainshadow
F1308/9-4 Dark Blue Gloss 13'0"4 8/9 spey 0.5755.5 Med-Fast 4.75 oz. $102.16
F1409/10-4 Dark Blue Gloss 14'0"4 9/10 spey 0.6405.5 Med-Fast 7.00 oz. $147.11

Cabela's LST
LST1389 13' 4 8/9 B $215
LST14910 14' 4 9/10 B $220

Beulah
8/9 11' fast action $460
9/10 11' fast action $465

Echo
8136-4X 13'6" #8/9 $270
9140-4X 14'0" #9/10 $270

If any of you have any experience with these rods or blanks please give me some feedback. I would like to keep the entire setup under $500. If you think there is another rod out there that I should look at please throw your suggestions out there for me. This is just a starting point. I know the spey clave is a great place to try out rods but I was hoping to get one before then.

Would an 8/9 or 9/10 be bested suited for what I'm looking for?

[C-lice]

I have an Echo 14' 9/10. I got it as a package deal from Poppy at the Red Shed fly shop. I highly recommend you visit his website before you buy. Great, great info on rods, lines, etc. there.

If I had it to do over, I'd get the 8/9 (maybe even the 7/8) instead of the 9/10. Don't get me wrong, there's not a thing wrong with the 9/10. But for steelhead under 7-8 pounds it's a little overpowering. However, I have caught summer steelhead to 36" on it, and never felt remotely overpowered by the fish.

[Kevin2023]

all this research is making this clear as mud to me. Right now I'm leaning toward an 8/9 with skagit setup. I would like the rainshadow blank but does anyone have one that I can cast? I would hate to get it and be unhappy with it.

[surfnfish]

all this research is making this clear as mud to me. Right now I'm leaning toward an 8/9 with skagit setup. I would like the rainshadow blank but does anyone have one that I can cast? I would hate to get it and be unhappy with it.

pm sent

[steel_beaver]

I have an Echo 7/8 which is a good summer rod and will do fine on averaga size winters. The larger winters and the nooks will give u a good ride for your money so the 8/9 might be a better option. Echo is more of a medium action rod so it feels like a 7 wt,where some of the faster 7/8 rods will feel like an 8 wt or even a 8/9. So u can't really go on just the weight rating. Try looking at the grain windows of the rods. Bob meiser has really good comparisons on his website between rod grain window and the size of fish. Google it and reed it then you will know what ballpark of a rod u need. I think that a 7/8 or 8/9 fast action rod with a window of 550 to 750grains should cover most situations. I personally like rods around the 500-550 mark but I don't chase nooks too much.

Finaly look at the TFo Deer creek rods. I hear they are about as good as u can get for $330. They are a little faster than the echo too and I would recommend a faster rod for sink tips ( u need to get deep for winters and nooks).

Good luck

[Kevin2023]

Bob meiser has really good comparisons on his website between rod grain window and the size of fish.

I didn't see any info like that on his site. Could you pm me a link to it?

[driftboat05]

Seeing all these videos online is making me interested in getting started in spey fishing. I know there is alot of info available out there but I wanted to know what everyone here thinks. I would like as much feedback on these rods or blanks as possible. I want a rod capable of handling some summer steel, mostly winter steel, and be able to handle an incidental chinook. Most of my time is spent fishing the sandy and clack. The most important feature to me is comfort for all day casting. I saw the loomis 15' IMX on the for sale board but it will probably be gone before I find employment or get my tax return.

Rainshadow
F1308/9-4 Dark Blue Gloss 13'0"4 8/9 spey 0.5755.5 Med-Fast 4.75 oz. $102.16
F1409/10-4 Dark Blue Gloss 14'0"4 9/10 spey 0.6405.5 Med-Fast 7.00 oz. $147.11

Cabela's LST
LST1389 13' 4 8/9 B $215
LST14910 14' 4 9/10 B $220

Beulah
8/9 11' fast action $460
9/10 11' fast action $465

Echo
8136-4X 13'6" #8/9 $270
9140-4X 14'0" #9/10 $270

If any of you have any experience with these rods or blanks please give me some feedback. I would like to keep the entire setup under $500. If you think there is another rod out there that I should look at please throw your suggestions out there for me. This is just a starting point. I know the spey clave is a great place to try out rods but I was hoping to get one before then.

Would an 8/9 or 9/10 be bested suited for what I'm looking for?

[driftboat05]

contact driftboat05@crestviewcable great information for you.

[Kevin2023]

:gotmail:

[steel_beaver]

Sorry, I guess he only has the grain window for some of the rods. You might have to work a little harder to get all the info together... the grain windowsyou can find on the Rio website:

http://www.rioproducts.com/photos/file/2009%20Spey%20line%20recs.pdf

Then go to Bob's website and read the descriptions for each of the rods. You will most likely be looking at 7/8/9 or 8/9 rods. He describes them in detail and at the bottom he says "this rod is good for 5-20 lb fish". This of course is not an exact science, but it might be less confusing for a begginer. For example if he says that the 14' MKS 7/8/9 is good for fish from 5-20 lbs... that would probably cover 90% of the fish you will be targeting. Then go to Rio's website and look at the grain window... if it says 500-700 then most (not all) other rods with simillar windows should work for you.

You can go to other manufacturer's websites as well and look at rods, and then compare them to Rio's line reccomendation. This helps a lot because a 6/7wt from Sage might feel like a 7/8 wt from ECHO (both rods might have simillar grain windows).

Once again... not exact science but it helps.

[SSPey]

I fish spey rods ranging from 5 through 10 wt. I use 5 to 7wts on summer steel, 7 to 9 wts on winter steel, and 8 to 10 wts on chinook. For focusing on winter steelhead, I'd suggest an 8 wt. It is possible to fish for winters using a 6 or 7 wt, no doubt, but over a long day on bigger water, the 8 weight handles heavy sinktips and big flies with much more authority. In 5 years, when you really improve casting, then a lighter rod may work. Then there's those big nates in heavy winter flows that will cause you trouble if you don't have a nice long exposed gravel bar to chase them down. Many places you must simply muscle a fish when you can't chase it down. I also won't hesitate to use an 8 wt in summer when the wind is kicking, or I need distance.

the echo 13'6" 8/9 is currently being closed out many places, great deal, and a fine winter stick. Certainly not the only one out there, but currently available at great bargains

[Kevin2023]

Then there's those big nates in heavy winter flows that will cause you trouble if you don't have a nice long exposed gravel bar to chase them down.

That was my reasoning for looking at 9/10 wt. I have bad knees and sometimes chasing a big fish just won't be easy for me.

will similar length and weight rods from competitors be able to handle the same size fish as bob claims or is it on a case by case basis by manufacturer?

[SSPey]

transferring the grain window only goes so far. Even within a manufacturer, there are variations in fish fighting ability. Some rods are designed to be tip cast, and have stronger butts than their rating indicates, whereas other rods are designed to be full flexing, and they're not a bit stronger than their rating implies. An example is the Loomis rods - their "Dredger" 8/9 wt is a very soft rod, whereas their "Stinger" 8/9 wt is much more beefy in the butt.

in my own quiver, I have one spey rod labelled a 6 wt that is plenty strong for most salmon, and another 8 wt spey rod that would be worthless with the king of fish. It really depends on the particular rod.

another thought ... would you use the same single hand fly rod or gear rod for both 25-35 lb chinook and 8-15 lb steelhead? Personally I wouldn't ... and I don't expect anything different from a spey rod. If you want to err on the side of caution, then get the 9 wt rod for salmon, but be prepared to be underwhelmed when you hook into mr steel.

[Kevin2023]

Good point. It's hard to think straight when you've only had 3 hours sleep over the past few nights.

[Nuchal Rouge]

If possible try out the rods with the reel on them and the appropriate line, this will help you tell if they feel tip heavy or not. If they are tip heavy you will get tired faster. If they feel good and light then you can cast all day no problem. If you can wait the Spey Clave would be a great place to figure it out. :twocents:

[speydude]

Since this sounds like it will be your first spey rod, you will most likely want one rod that will be versatile for most situations, for both winter and summer fish, at least until you get your golf bag full of spey rods.

If you get too big and beefy of a rod, you won't enjoy fishing it for summer runs. If I could only have one rod, I would pick something in a 7-8 wt in a medium to medium fast action. I enjoy a slow rod as much as the next guy, but these scandi heads with the med-med fast actions are kinda nice and will give you the extra backbone that you're concerned about.