I was able to spend some time with the developer of Ballistic lines this past week and became a convert. I was in search of a correct line for a Sage X 14 foot eight weight rod that I have owned for 2 years but used only once. The lack of use was directly related to the fact that the rod did not work as well as a 13' 6" Sage One I have been using for years prior to buying the X rod.
It had been 3 years since I had first met Lee Davison and circumstances brought him back to Alaska once again this year. He had with him the complete line up of his mid Spey and long belly lines all on reels so it was a simple process to get the right line on the X rod. His choice was from his Launcher series and he hit it right on the first line. He demoed the line for me on the rod for a while then handed it to me, this could be said to be a little intimidating because this fellow is a genuine Spey casting champion. I was not as efficiant as he with the combo but once over the stigma that a pro was watching I got into the groove with the combo.
Prior to this I had counted on the rod using the same Super Scandi lines I use on the 8 weight One but there was something missing. Just a week ago I was discussing the rod / line quandary with the area Hardy Rep while testing the new Hardy rods on the river as we fished for kings in vain. I had guessed at the time that perhaps the problem could be as small as 50 grains of head weight in either direction. The line I got from Lee is the 540 grain having a 47 foot head and those 60 grains unlocked the rods potential to the extent I will be using it this evening.
Of course I have designed a new one of my strange weighted leaders to compensate for the fact that I will be casting the floating tip not a 15 foot sink tip but I expect the rod will work fine once I make whatever technique changes are required to compensate for my leader
If you have not looked to the Ballistic Flylines you may find something there to meet your own special need rod. I tried out some of his single hand lines as well casting from a 9 foot Loop rod and can give them the thumbs up also. He makes a range of longer bellied lines also but for the conditions I face regularly here I am limited to the 45 to 50 foot head lengths due to casting weighted flies and leaders. For those who typically fish in lower water conditions or for species that can be coaxed into the upper strata of the rivers channels casting his Vector series lines delivers pure casting pleasure.
I made this post as a heads up type thing in case readers are not at all familiar with the brand and because this man strikes me as a very sincere person who is doing what he loves to a very high standard. I plan to slowly change over many of my lines to his designs as the year goes on. If you contact Ballistic don't be shy, tell them Ard sent you that direction.
It had been 3 years since I had first met Lee Davison and circumstances brought him back to Alaska once again this year. He had with him the complete line up of his mid Spey and long belly lines all on reels so it was a simple process to get the right line on the X rod. His choice was from his Launcher series and he hit it right on the first line. He demoed the line for me on the rod for a while then handed it to me, this could be said to be a little intimidating because this fellow is a genuine Spey casting champion. I was not as efficiant as he with the combo but once over the stigma that a pro was watching I got into the groove with the combo.
Prior to this I had counted on the rod using the same Super Scandi lines I use on the 8 weight One but there was something missing. Just a week ago I was discussing the rod / line quandary with the area Hardy Rep while testing the new Hardy rods on the river as we fished for kings in vain. I had guessed at the time that perhaps the problem could be as small as 50 grains of head weight in either direction. The line I got from Lee is the 540 grain having a 47 foot head and those 60 grains unlocked the rods potential to the extent I will be using it this evening.
Of course I have designed a new one of my strange weighted leaders to compensate for the fact that I will be casting the floating tip not a 15 foot sink tip but I expect the rod will work fine once I make whatever technique changes are required to compensate for my leader
If you have not looked to the Ballistic Flylines you may find something there to meet your own special need rod. I tried out some of his single hand lines as well casting from a 9 foot Loop rod and can give them the thumbs up also. He makes a range of longer bellied lines also but for the conditions I face regularly here I am limited to the 45 to 50 foot head lengths due to casting weighted flies and leaders. For those who typically fish in lower water conditions or for species that can be coaxed into the upper strata of the rivers channels casting his Vector series lines delivers pure casting pleasure.
I made this post as a heads up type thing in case readers are not at all familiar with the brand and because this man strikes me as a very sincere person who is doing what he loves to a very high standard. I plan to slowly change over many of my lines to his designs as the year goes on. If you contact Ballistic don't be shy, tell them Ard sent you that direction.
