Spey Rod Favorites 2010

[toolman]

Had the opportunity to cast many different rods in 2010. Mostly all of them were nice to cast, (with a couple of exceptions) and a few were very, very nice, yet different from the other. Here are a few of my fav's.

A very unique rod that I cast recently, is the Loop Epic 9140 Med/Fast, which is now labeled as the Evotec series. The Epic, which I believe was only released for a short period of time, in Europe, has a hex shaped top grip and an adjustable reel seat like the Opti Power Spey. We lined it with a 480 grain Compac Scandi and fast sink Polyleader. Very crip, light, responsive rod that can shoot a country mile. I hope the current Evotech 9140 MF has the same awesome mojo as the Epic.

Recently, I lined up my Scott McKenzie DTX 8130, with a 540 Compac Skagit w/11'-T-14 tip to see how this rod would throw the junk. It responded to the task with authority. Very smooth, light in hand, powerfull and effortless.

Other 2010 favorites, well I'm still lovin' my Loop Goran Andersen 6120 and Guideline LeCie 9126, but I would also include the Sage TCX 7126, Meiser MKS 13'6" 7/8, Meiser 7130 S-Series and Guideline LXPe Switch rod series.

What were your favorites of 2010?

[SilverDoctor]

Haven't tried the Scott McKenzie yet but heard a lot of good things. Meiser Classic and S series are impressive (I own a classic). Opti spey had interesting action and very crisp. Did try the Loop Goran and loved it. Looking forward to seeing rods and maybe playing with rods at the show.

 

 

 

Had the opportunity to cast many different rods in 2010. Mostly all of them were nice to cast, (with a couple of exceptions) and a few were very, very nice, yet different from the other. Here are a few of my fav's.

A very unique rod that I cast recently, is the Loop Epic 9140 Med/Fast, which is now labeled as the Evotec series. The Epic, which I believe was only released for a short period of time, in Europe, has a hex shaped top grip and an adjustable reel seat like the Opti Power Spey.

We lined it with a 480 grain Compac Scandi and fast sink Polyleader. Very crip, light, responsive rod that can shoot a country mile. I hope the current Evotech 9140 MF has the same awesome mojo as the Epic.

I lined up my Scott McKenzie DTX 8130, with a 540 Compac Skagit w/11'-T-14 tip to see how this rod would throw the junk. It responded to the task with authority. Very smooth, light in hand, powerfull and effortless.

Other 2010 favorites, well I'm still lovin' my Loop Goran Andersen 6120 and Guideline LeCie 9126 and I would have to include the Sage TCX 7126, Meiser MKS 13'6" 8/9 and Meiser 7130 S Series and Guideline LXpe Switch rod series.

What were your favorites of 2010?

 

[BruceKruk]

My Carron 17ft was my go to rod for 2010.......go big or go home!

[toolman]

I'm going big for 2011.

[Brookie2]

I was lucky enough to be able to cast a few rods in 2010 as well from Sage, Beulah, Snowbee, Pieroway and Loop. I am still lovin' my Loop rods though...9132 Yellow, 9140 Multi, 7132 Multi and most notably my goto stick an 8124 Opti (my fav!). Another rod that spent a bunch of time in my hands this year was a 510 Pieroway Metal detector, a super sweet and smooth rod (the coolest looking spey on the market imho!). My wife mainly uses her GASS 9126 and the 510 Pieroway as well. I would really like to get my hanks on a Loop Evotec there Toolman, especially the the 12 or 13'6 8wt!! Good to hear that you like the big 14 footer. Have you tried any double handers from Vision? I would like to get my hands on one of those as well....as you know one can never have too many spey rods!!

[SilverDoctor]

Ah so many rods and so little budget.

[toolman]

I would really like to get my hanks on a Loop Evotec there Toolman, especially the the 12 or 13'6 8wt!! Good to hear that you like the big 14 footer. Have you tried any double handers from Vision? I would like to get my hands on one of those as well....as you know one can never have too many spey rods!!

 

I spent a bit of time with the Evotec 8136 that a friend of mine is using and it is unique. I liked it better for Underhand casting with a Scandi head than for Skagit use. I also forgot to include my Opti 8124 and the Guideline LeCie 13'7" 7/8 to my list of fav's for 2010. I also test casted a couple of the Metal detector rods this year as well, the 400 Switch and the 510 with matching Skagit heads, which were decent. Other notable mentions would be a Burkenhiemer 13"7" 8/9 (pretty sure this was the rod size), and GLoomis NRX 9130, but I did not spend enough time casting these sticks to give a proper evaluation with different line systems, but I liked them both. Have not had a chance to cast any of the Vision rods yet, but there may be an opportunity at the Fly Expo if Courtney brings a few along.

[maxwell]

picked up all sorts of new toys this year and im super stoked on getting a few more!!! rods on the way im excited about are the loop opti power 9130-5 and the evotec mf 8120 some deadly trout stick i got on the way that should be great too are teh loop xact 6126-4 and evotec mf 6126-4!! finally reasonably priced loop troutters!!!!!!

 

my all time favorite stick is still the opti 8124.. can cast that rod all day long no doubt!!!! wether it be with a 510 airflo skagit or loop scandi head in 31ish grains float or full intermediate i just cant get enough of this stick!!!

 

had the pleasure of fishing the pieroway metal detectors alot this year mainly the 510 it is a sweet stick fished it lots for trout on teh bow this year.. i dig a 480 skagit on it or a 31gram scandi.. used it for steelhead lots this year too swinging wets, dries or tossing big bugs with the skagit!!! but i cast the 720 quite a bit too for fun and got one small steel with it! that stick can cast any tip and any fly as far as i want it to go for the most part totally awsome!!!!!

 

glshooter i have the evotec 8136-4 mf and totally dig the stick with a 540 skagit! 570 will be best for most people i think but i wanted too speed the blank up a bit.. never got too cast the `f`blank... i dig the new evotec handles.. its exactly like a hockey stick in shape!!! feels just right EH!

 

a rod i had a blast casting for only a few days this year and will be using alot more in some situations was the GASS 9116 .. used it in squamish for chums.. its my double barrel sawed off shotgun loaded with slugs!!!! lined with a 570 skagit this stick it awsome for big flies and tips in tightplaces!!! such a fun stick to cast!!

 

a few other rods i enjoyed this year were the sage tcx series got too cast a few different lengths n weights n i enjoyed them alot same with the g loomis nrx series!! i just dig the tip flex fast action i suppose!!!! both series are light responsive with tons of power!!!!

 

like silver doc said! wish i had more cash flow too toss around too!!

[dutchie]

My Carron 17ft was my go to rod for 2010.......go big or go home!

 

17 ft , even in a Carron rod , thats just way to big for me Bruce' , so with me '' i'll just go home '' ,

 

i tried a few rods this year , one thats dear to me and special is the Canadian gold medal stick , Meiz's MKS , 13'6 , 7/8wt , I caught and landed to net over 40 steelhead this season on it , everyone who has tried the stick is love'n it , throws big tips and big flies easy , i also enjoyed casting a Guideline lecie , picked it up and my first cast was pushing close to 100 ft , left me with a smile , used johnny's loop while we were up in skeena to try it out as it had the square handle , like the rod , the handle was not my cup of tea ,

 

looking forward to the new year coming and i have new rod to test drive for 2011 on the bow ,

[Brookie2]

picked up all sorts of new toys this year and im super stoked on getting a few more!!! rods on the way im excited about are the loop opti power 9130-5 and the evotec mf 8120 some deadly trout stick i got on the way that should be great too are teh loop xact 6126-4 and evotec mf 6126-4!! finally reasonably priced loop troutters!!!!!!

 

my all time favorite stick is still the opti 8124.. can cast that rod all day long no doubt!!!! wether it be with a 510 airflo skagit or loop scandi head in 31ish grains float or full intermediate i just cant get enough of this stick!!!

 

had the pleasure of fishing the pieroway metal detectors alot this year mainly the 510 it is a sweet stick fished it lots for trout on teh bow this year.. i dig a 480 skagit on it or a 31gram scandi.. used it for steelhead lots this year too swinging wets, dries or tossing big bugs with the skagit!!! but i cast the 720 quite a bit too for fun and got one small steel with it! that stick can cast any tip and any fly as far as i want it to go for the most part totally awsome!!!!!

 

glshooter i have the evotec 8136-4 mf and totally dig the stick with a 540 skagit! 570 will be best for most people i think but i wanted too speed the blank up a bit.. never got too cast the `f`blank... i dig the new evotec handles.. its exactly like a hockey stick in shape!!! feels just right EH!

 

a rod i had a blast casting for only a few days this year and will be using alot more in some situations was the GASS 9116 .. used it in squamish for chums.. its my double barrel sawed off shotgun loaded with slugs!!!! lined with a 570 skagit this stick it awsome for big flies and tips in tightplaces!!! such a fun stick to cast!!

 

a few other rods i enjoyed this year were the sage tcx series got too cast a few different lengths n weights n i enjoyed them alot same with the g loomis nrx series!! i just dig the tip flex fast action i suppose!!!! both series are light responsive with tons of power!!!!

 

like silver doc said! wish i had more cash flow too toss around too!!

 

Double barrel sawed off eh....I like the sound of that!!!! I'll just have to subdue the wife in order to get one!! lol

[maxwell]

let me know what day u will be at the show and i will bring it u can give it a whirl!!!

[headscan]

Fished a TCX 7126 and Z-Axis 9143 in Alaska for chinook and chum and loved them both. The TCX is pretty much everything you've heard - a little canon. Can't wait to take it out to BC this fall for some chrome. Took some casts with Max's Metal Detector 510 and thought it was a great rod. Smooth as butter. Also at Fish Tales' Spey-o-rama I took the Loomis NRX 14' 9wt for a spin and the Amundson 11' 3wt. Didn't care for the NRX at all but was pleasantly surprised by the Amundson. The NRX had a weird flex to it that I just hated, but I've never yet cast a Loomis spey rod I've liked. The Amundson seems to be a great bang for the buck rod and well suited to trout. Also recently picked up a Z-Axis 6110 which is a blast to cast and fish with.

 

In addition to rods I also played around with the Rio Flight and MOW tips a lot more. The combination works great together and the MOW tips offer interesting versatility for different fishing situations. The Flight casts very much like the Airflo Compact Skagit but one thing that I like better is they laser print the grain weight onto the line instead of using a colour coding system. Nothing like reading the actual grain weight off the head instead of trying to remember which colour is which and figuring out if that's light green or a faded dark green. Also played around with a Rio Skagit Short which feels like a nice alternative for zero back cast room situations. Now that Rio is making kits for all their heads it should be a lot easier to find the right match for your rod.

 

[ogilvie]

I spent a bit of time with the Evotec 8136 that a friend of mine is using and it is unique. I liked it better for Underhand casting with a Scandi head than for Skagit use. I also forgot to include my Opti 8124 and the Guideline LeCie 13'7" 7/8 to my list of fav's for 2010. I also test casted a couple of the Metal detector rods this year as well, the 400 Switch and the 510 with matching Skagit heads, which were decent. Other notable mentions would be a Burkenhiemer 13"7" 8/9 (pretty sure this was the rod size), and GLoomis NRX 9130, but I did not spend enough time casting these sticks to give a proper evaluation with different line systems, but I liked them both. Have not had a chance to cast any of the Vision rods yet, but there may be an opportunity at the Fly Expo if Courtney brings a few along.

Yes,I will have the Vision Cult and the Catapult along...the Vision Cult won best in test amongst 17 of the top rods...second was the Hardy Angel at nearly 3 times the cost. Burkenheimer,Meiser,Scott MAckenzies DTX,SAGGE(Sage),NRX and many others were well down the list...the Cult is actually very nice..light,through action,powerful,good looking,great Skagit mid belly rod,and so much more...These are keepers!

C

[Guest Jeremie]

for my short season with the spey i threw a winston borron IIMX 8140 (if thats the correct term) with a skagit line and tip system, caught my biggest pink ever with it! It threw absolute bombs on the campbell. I also used a z-axis 7/8 11'6 switch that also threw some unbelieveable casts with a skagit cheater head, caught my share of fish on the bow with the winston too!

 

 

[DutchDryfly]

I really liked your GAS 6120 and also my Meiser 1306-S.

But the big surprise this year was the 6-piece Zpey Instinct 13.3 foot #8/9.

Really, really liked it so much that I just ordered the Zpey Z1 switch 10 foot #4.

It will be my first switch and was bought because my ACR 12 foot #3 (spey) is a bit heavy for anything under 20 inches.

[Randyflyfisher]

I really liked your GAS 6120 and also my Meiser 1306-S.

But the big surprise this year was the 6-piece Zpey Instinct 13.3 foot #8/9.

Really, really liked it so much that I just ordered the Zpey Z1 switch 10 foot #4.

It will be my first switch and was bought because my ACR 12 foot #3 (spey) is a bit heavy for anything under 20 inches.

 

I added two new rods to my quiver last year.A Loop Opti Power Spey 14' 9/10and a Goran Anderson 6120.

I fished the Goran almost exclusively for most of the year so the Power Spey didn't see much action.I

all but slept with the Goran.Seems like it came imbued with good fishing mojo for me straight from the factory.The high light for me was last Thanks Giving Monday swinging for steelhead on my homewaters the Grand River.I landed my very first steelhead on a waking fly.I have been fishing two Snowbee 7/8 Scandi Heads a full floating and a full intermediate head.The full floater with a 13'tapered leader and a Waller Waker is what worked the magic for me.

Cheers Randy