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My New Baby...and How Much Backing??


rusty

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speyrod.jpg

 

That's my new Beulah 12'7" 7/8 and Islander LX4.0. I also picked up a Beulah Elixir to match - it's a 435gr. 35'.

 

Question: what should I put behind the line? I am reluctant to rig up gelspun as I've seen too many sliced up hands.

 

Worst case scenario, I suppose I could spool it on backwards and rig up enough 30# dacron to fill the reel. Is there a better way?

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Guest bigbadbrent

The 4.0 holds a WF10 and 200 yd of 30lb.

 

You'd probably be looking about the same for the 7/8..maybe 150-175 of 30.

 

 

While you don't like gelspun, you're using it for salmon....the more backing the better, but you should be ok without it.

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The 4.0 holds a WF10 and 200 yd of 30lb.

 

You'd probably be looking about the same for the 7/8..maybe 150-175 of 30.

While you don't like gelspun, you're using it for salmon....the more backing the better, but you should be ok without it.

 

I can tell you from personal experience that the Elixir lines don't match anywhere close to a WF line for capacity. My Nautilus 10 lists 250 yds of 30# dacron for a WF10 line. The Elixir 6/7 (380 gr.) went on that reel with 200 yds of 20# and it was a perfect fit with 20' of running line chopped off. The Elixirs are more like Skagit lines as they have fairly thick shooting heads.

 

If you don't want to mess around with trial and error, you could try emailing Islander or Beulah to see if they have any experience with your line/reel combination. When I emailed Beulah, Bruce Berry got back to me within 24 hours (though he didn't have any experience with Elixirs on a Nautilus).

 

EDIT: You could also try seeing if anyone at Speypages has put that line on a reel with similar capacity to your Islander. At the very least that would give you a rough starting point for the backing.

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Guest bigbadbrent
I can tell you from personal experience that the Elixir lines don't match anywhere close to a WF line for capacity. My Nautilus 10 lists 250 yds of 30# dacron for a WF10 line. The Elixir 6/7 (380 gr.) went on that reel with 200 yds of 20# and it was a perfect fit with 20' of running line chopped off. The Elixirs are more like Skagit lines as they have fairly thick shooting heads.

 

If you don't want to mess around with trial and error, you could try emailing Islander or Beulah to see if they have any experience with your line/reel combination. When I emailed Beulah, Bruce Berry got back to me within 24 hours (though he didn't have any experience with Elixirs on a Nautilus).

 

 

Yikes

 

break out the gel-spun :P

 

Your best bet is to do your idea Russ

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Yikes

 

break out the gel-spun :P

 

Your best bet is to do your idea Russ

 

Yeah, with the Elixir lines if you think the reel has just enough capacity, get a bigger one. I thought an Elixir 5/6 for my switch rod would fit on a Danielsson 6nine no problem. Chopped 20' of running line and only managed to get 75 yds of 20# on it. Even then the line rubbed the frame when it was reeled in all the way. Wasn't willing to wreck the line, chop more running line, or reduce the backing so I ended up getting a bigger capacity reel for it.

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Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I've emailed Beulah and we'll see what they have to say. I bought the rig from Courtney and he may have a good idea as well when he gets back (let's hope he's not driving right now).

 

The whole reverse spooling idea is not exactly fun, but it sounds like it might be the way to go.

 

It's more than somewhat ironic that the worst weather of the year comes in not 48 hours after I picked her up, but once this lets go I've got about a half dozen spots picked out to work with the new puppy. Cliffs of Doom anyone?

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Guest bigbadbrent

Russ, make the scottish man do it, he likes running the spooling machine for practice....hell, makes the day go by faster so we're happy to do it (ask regdunlop, gets a line put on for a right hand retrieve, realises he meant left, so had to switch it all back.....i like doing it too..)

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It's more than somewhat ironic that the worst weather of the year comes in not 48 hours after I picked her up, but once this lets go I've got about a half dozen spots picked out to work with the new puppy. Cliffs of Doom anyone?

 

Sounds like we'll soon have enough in Calgary to do a clave. Maybe the next nice Saturday we should do another big stick gathering like we had a few weeks ago...

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Yeah, it would be cool to watch some of the more experienced guys strut their stuff. I only spent a half hour trying it out and I already find myself walking around the office practicing in the air. Some people must think I'm nuts.

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Yeah, it would be cool to watch some of the more experienced guys strut their stuff. I only spent a half hour trying it out and I already find myself walking around the office practicing in the air. Some people must think I'm nuts.

 

The last gathering we had helped me out a lot. Not just casting techniques but also info about things like polyleaders and so on. Look into the Rio Modern Spey Casting DVD and Simon Gawesworth's Spey Casting book. Both great resources for learning casting and correcting faults.

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We have been discussing the possibility of having a Loop Spey School, in May, hosted by Loop Casting Clinicians, Brian Niska and Francois Blanchet. Both of these gentleman are incredible casters/guides/fisherman. Brian has the highest level of casting certification in Canada and is a Federation of Flyfishers(FFF), Master Fly Casting Instructor(MCI) and Two Handed Casting Instructor(THCI). Frank is also a FFF Certified Casting Instructor (CCI) and one of the cleanest Two Handed Casters in the business.

This day clinic will be limited to 8 participants, with the two instructors and at a cost of around $150/person.

Anyone interested?

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We have been discussing the possibility of having a Loop Spey School, in May, hosted by Loop Casting Clinicians, Brian Niska and Francois Blanchet. Both of these gentleman are incredible casters/guides/fisherman. Brian has the highest level of casting certification in Canada and is a Federation of Flyfishers(FFF), Master Fly Casting Instructor(MCI) and Two Handed Casting Instructor(THCI). Frank is also a FFF Certified Casting Instructor (CCI) and one of the cleanest Two Handed Casters in the business.

This day clinic will be limited to 8 participants, with the two instructors and at a cost of around $150/person.

Anyone interested?

 

I'm already signed up for Gordon's clinic in April. If it was a bit later than May I'd be up for it. That way it would give me enough time to put into practice what he taught me and be ready for some more advanced stuff or casting corrections. Francois is quite good. I told him about a casting problem I was having so he grabbed a single-handed rod and took me to the casting pool. He had it diagnosed and fixed within 10 minutes.

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I would do both Schools and learn a ton of stuff. Having your casting evaluated by expert instructors will make sure you don't have too much time to pick up bad casting habits and this will really accelerate your skills. I attend every Spey School I can and I'll be at both of them.

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I would do both Schools and learn a ton of stuff. Having your casting evaluated by expert instructors will make sure you don't have too much time to pick up bad casting habits and this will really accelerate your skills. I attend every Spey School I can and I'll be at both of them.

 

Any other details? Gordon's sessions are $120 per person with a single instructor and class size of 5. For $150 per person and two instructors how many students and how many hours?

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We have been discussing the possibility of having a Loop Spey School, in May, hosted by Loop Casting Clinicians, Brian Niska and Francois Blanchet. Both of these gentleman are incredible casters/guides/fisherman. Brian has the highest level of casting certification in Canada and is a Federation of Flyfishers(FFF), Master Fly Casting Instructor(MCI) and Two Handed Casting Instructor(THCI). Frank is also a FFF Certified Casting Instructor (CCI) and one of the cleanest Two Handed Casters in the business.

This day clinic will be limited to 8 participants, with the two instructors and at a cost of around $150/person.

Anyone interested?

 

I would go in. Consider me in if it's a go.

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