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headscan

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Posts posted by headscan

  1. The sharkskin is one of the best single hand spey lines out there, due to the extremely long head.....

     

    A good caster will excel, no matter what manufacture's line is on the rod...don't get so caught up in brand names. Practice your casting, then worry about your fly lines.

    Odd, I thought the Sharkskin was the worst single hand line I've spey cast. Do you mainly use touch and go casts with it or waterborne anchor? I mainly use waterborne and found that the Sharkskin didn't have enough "stick" so I kept ripping my anchor off. Perfect example of how much peoples' preferences vary and why you should never listen to just one person's opinion and try everything for yourself before buying.

     

  2. If I could only use one rod to fish the Bow I'd go with a 9'6" 5 or 6 weight. The only reason I'd go 6 over 5 would be for chucking streamers easier. In spring/summer/fall I mainly use my two-hander with a skagit for tossing streamers and use a 4 weight single hander for dries or a 7 weight for heavy nymph rigs. And lethfisher, keep in mind that spey casting is not so much about distance as it is about efficiency. And you can just as easily spey cast a single hand rod with most lines.

     

    I love my two-handed rods, but I'd never give up my single handers either.

  3. The way I interpret it is that the hunter/fisher does not pay the landowner for access. Instead the landowner gets paid by the program for allowing the hunter/fisher access to their land. In the case of the fisher, it would just be to cross their land to access the water that is still governed by the high water mark rule. My question is where the money to pay them will come from? Ultimately it will be us, either through our tax dollars or license fees would be my guess.

  4. Yup, cheeler nailed it. You need the full head of the shooting head outside of the rod tip to load the rod properly for your cast. If you don't want to shoot line and strip it back in, you should look at a mid-spey line or Windcutter or something similar. Just keep in mind that those lines are going to have a longer head than a skagit or scandi - possibly by as much as 20 feet. You have a couple options for fishing the water that is in closer - either move upstream and swing down through the spot where you want to fish or use a single-hander. Most of the year I carry both a single and double hand rod with me on the Bow so I can cover almost every situation.

  5. Other than the actual switch rod being 1 foot longer, would there be any difference in casting with a 10 ft 6wt with a fighting butt rather than an 11 ft 6wt Switch rod...

     

    I am asking because on the TFO site they have 11 ft 6wt Deer Creek Switch for $339 http://www.templeforkflyrods.com/rods/Switch.html#T

    But you can get a 10 ft 6wt Professional Series for $194 http://www.templeforkflyrods.com/rods/professional.html#T (scroll down a bit to the ones with the fighting butts)

     

    Surely only 1 foot more of rod can't cost $145 can it???? Why wouldn't you just "spey cast" with that 10 ft rod... plus you can use to money you save to get line for it...

    There are probably a few things that factor into the price difference like design of the taper, how many they sell, etc. in addition to the extra foot of graphite and cork.

     

    You can always use a single-handed rod to spey cast with the right line. The single hand lines I have experience spey casting are the Loop Opti Stream, Loop Multi, and Airflo 40+ and they all work well. The 40+ is the recommended line for some switches and light two-handers (I use a 7wt on my Decho 4119 and Beulah 5/6 switch).

     

    If you're looking to get into spey casting, I'd start by either learning to spey cast a single hand rod with the right line if you don't want to spend a lot of money or get a proper two hander rather than a switch (this is mainly personal preference on my part because I'm not a big fan of switch rods). Are you primarily going to use it on the Bow? If so, I'd go down to Fish Tales and ask if they still have the Decho 4119 or 5122 demo rods and start by trying them out. They're medium action rods, so if you aren't crazy about them you can move to something with a faster or slower action depending on your preference. Either that or shoot me a pm and I'd be happy to let you try my 4119 or 5122 next time I head out.

  6. One of the biggest things that stands out to me is the difference between perception and reality.

     

    "I still recall vividly an impassioned performance by the then most prominent guide on the Bulkley who told an MOE convened public gathering he had personally counted over 400 anglers on the Bulkley upstream from Telkwa the day after the “big rains” came. The instantaneous counts under identical circumstance during the creel survey period revealed the maximum number of anglers never exceeded (as best I recall) about 150."

     

    Kind of makes me think of all the threads here where guys are complaining about overcrowding on the Bow. It's also sad that even though they proved the reality was different from the perceptions that launched the AMP, they still went ahead with it.

     

    Actually, one of the issues here is steelhead are also a federally managed fish that spend most of their lives in the ocean and not in BC's rivers and streams.

    Agree 100%. Even though we aren't B.C. residents some of our tax dollars are being spent on steelhead.

  7. Rick, you need to load that hat with a good heavy skagit line and it'll work wonders.

     

    Is it just me or does anyone else have visions of someone with one of those carrot stick rods being chased by a swarm of killer rabbits with huge sharp teeth and a vicious streak a mile wide?

    grailrabbit.jpg

     

    Maybe it's just me.

  8. I think most people would attach their name to something even if they didn't believe in it if the proper incentive was there. Someone once said that everyone can be bought, it just depends on the price.

     

    Regardless, this is all academic until we get our hands on these rods to try them for ourselves.

  9. So explain this to me, when loop discounte their Blue Line and came out with the Opti's that meant that Loop did not have any faith in their Blue Lines, and it had nothing to do with better material used or just trying to reintroduce a rod to the market?

    Nope, they probably upgraded the graphite and tapers. Companies discontinue rods and introduce new and similar rods because that's how they get ink in the fly fishing mags. Nobody wants to review a rod that's already been on the market for a couple years. The Sage FLi and Flight is a good recent example of this. I think to an extent in the case of Loop they changed their naming scheme because some people found the colour names confusing.

     

    As I see it, the reason the old Zspey's were discountied was because their partneership with Loop was over for whatever reason, thus most likely Loop had the rights to the design and Zspey had to redesign the rod so they could own the rights to it, not saying this is the truth but how I SEE IT.

     

    As for having the interchangable handles, I don't see this as a downfall but a positive, not everyone is going to like the Zspey, that is just a simple fact, I think by offering the additional handle it makes someone feel more comfortable that if the Zspey is something they don't like then they didn't waste money a something they will not use, also there might be a time when the Zspey handle might not be the best suit thing for the application that the caster might need.

     

    Also when has something ever been designed the first time and was perfect the first time?

    I think Loop discontinued their Zpey line because of low sales. Zpey probably retained the rights to their handle design and Loop kept the blank design. The redesign of the handle was likely done in the hopes of better sales this time around. The major hurdle for Zpey is that fly fishing is full of tradition and traditionalists (look at all the guys who still fish bamboo and fiberglass). Radical changes are usually met with fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

  10. Henrik left Scierra for Zpey something like 6 months ago. I think for the most part these guys just go to the company that'll pay them the most and don't necessarily fish the gear from that company if there aren't any cameras around. Rumour has it Lefty Kreh still fishes Sage rods and not TFO...

     

    I noted the interchangeable handles, but honestly to me that says they don't have enough confidence in the Zpey handles so they feel they need to offer the traditional handle as well. Not saying this is the case, but that's just the impression it gives me. I'll still give one a try if the opportunity ever presents itself.

  11. I just want someone to tell me how to pronounce it properly. Is it like spey only with a 'z' instead of the 's' or "zee-spey" or just "the rod with the funny looking handle"?

     

    And for all of you that said you will try my stick if I get one, no ay man, I took the risk of maybe buying one, so you can too..... LOL, we'll see

    I'll just wait until you go visit Bob's house at the next Spey gathering and cast it then.

  12. Well, the rod is a Loop but the reel is a Nautilus. Just for kicks I tried a Loop Opti reel from another rod on this one and it fit perfectly. Funny thing is, my Nautilus reels fit without any problems on my other Loop rods and this one has the same style of reel seat. Maybe the notches in the locking rings are slightly bigger or something.

     

    Badger, it is a two-hander but a new one (bought at the show). And the Nautilus reel is just a bit over a year old.

  13. Every knot is a potential point of failure, but I've found that my leader to fly knot almost always gives first. If you're tying up your leaders at home, then take the time to get it right and if a knot doesn't look good or didn't feel right when you tightened it, clip it and start over.

  14. Rick, I agree the Skeena AMP is b.s. and is not about conservation. In fact it was never about the fish so much as the "angling experience" for some locals and a few guides with their own interests in mind. The BCSS is a different group and the letter writing campaign is unrelated to the AMP, which is why I supported this campaign and sent negative feedback about the AMP. It's unfortunate that for some reason people posting to this thread are equating the two. Remember that there are steelhead in other systems than the Skeena.

     

    The response form period for the Skeena AMP ended Nov. 30th, but you can still sign the petition against it here:

    http://www.opposeskeenaamp.com/

     

  15. Likewise, the BCSS, when crafting the AMP, should not be thinking about personal gain. I'm not suggesting they are, but again, human nature is human nature and guides are human too.

    To the best of my knowledge the AMP was not crafted by the BCSS. Whistler and uliwon probably have much more knowledge about this than I do since they are or have been associated with the BCSS. I think the AMP was put forth by the MOE based on input from local residents and some guides.

     

    http://flyfishcalgary.com/board/index.php?showtopic=6625

    http://flyfishcalgary.com/board/index.php?showtopic=6401

    http://speypages.com/speyclave/showthread.php?t=30954

     

     

  16. If you make your own, you can make it to your own preferences in terms of length as well as the taper. So if you want something to turn over heavier flies you could use a heavier butt section and so on. Plus, if you're on the water and you have your tippet spools you can build a new leader from scratch in a pinch.

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