Every manuf. of rods has their own ideas of rod action and cork length for both lower and upper cork. Some Trout Spey rods are full flex and bend into the cork, other flex mainly in the upper half and are faster action. A nice casting rod should have a relatively stiff tip and bend initially in the middle 1/3 of the blank. The stiff tip is necessary for picking up the line and repositioning for Spey cast set ups. A soft tip or fast action will struggle and be less responsive.
We also have the very confusing number system on rods.
One popular rod in the east is Mystic and labeled 11'3" for 4wt,, most of us who have cast and own the rod much prefer a 2wt Scandi line on the rod.
The discontinued Echo DH 4119 is labeled 4wt,, all of us who own the rod much prefer a 5wt Scandi 300gr.
My Echo 3106 Glass likes a 180gr Scandi while the Echo SR 3106 likes 240gr.
The only standard we have is line weight in grains,,, the rod labels are only a starting point for you to select a line weight for your individual casting style.
There is no right or wrong line for an individual rod,, it is what ever you prefer.
How do we determine the line for a rod,,, cast the rod and observe the line roll out,,, to heavy and the line will drop early or plow with the tail dropping to the water much too early. Too light and the rod will cast off the tip and have more critical timing to obtain good distance, you can still cast the rod however, not as efficiently.
This is why when someone on the spey boards asks "what line do I use with xxx rod" we get a large range of recommendations.
Short underhand power applications generally like lighter weight,,,, full upper hand stroke with larger loops and wide forward arc like heavier weights.
Another manuf. disconnect is the shorter rods in 6wt, 7wt and 8wt like a much lighter weight line than the longer rods.
Example is typical 11-'11'9" 7wt rods like a Scandi of 390gr while a 12.5' - 13.5' rods typically like Scandi 450gr. similar ratios with 6wt and 8wt.
Trout Spey lines and rods, my personal experience is to base the rods on Scandi lines, again personal casting style and preference.
5wt = 300gr-330gr
4wt = 270gr-280gr
3wt = 240gr
2wt = 210gr
Micro Spey - 140gr-180gr
When changing over to Skagit the lines are approx. 30gr-50gr heavier.
Note the MOW tips have a floating line section and I add that to the Skagit line weight, the sinking portion is not included.
One company calls their 3wt and 4wt rods Micro Spey,, another inaccurate marketing label. The term Micro Spey was introduced by Ed Ward several years ago when he used 3wt and 4wt SH rods and added a short lower grip. After reading about his experiments, we played with those ideas for years by cutting up old salt water and Spey lines and made Skagit heads 14ft-16ft long. Last year RIO and OPST introduced the Skagit Trout lines and recently several others are available.
Regards,
FK
We also have the very confusing number system on rods.
One popular rod in the east is Mystic and labeled 11'3" for 4wt,, most of us who have cast and own the rod much prefer a 2wt Scandi line on the rod.
The discontinued Echo DH 4119 is labeled 4wt,, all of us who own the rod much prefer a 5wt Scandi 300gr.
My Echo 3106 Glass likes a 180gr Scandi while the Echo SR 3106 likes 240gr.
The only standard we have is line weight in grains,,, the rod labels are only a starting point for you to select a line weight for your individual casting style.
There is no right or wrong line for an individual rod,, it is what ever you prefer.
How do we determine the line for a rod,,, cast the rod and observe the line roll out,,, to heavy and the line will drop early or plow with the tail dropping to the water much too early. Too light and the rod will cast off the tip and have more critical timing to obtain good distance, you can still cast the rod however, not as efficiently.
This is why when someone on the spey boards asks "what line do I use with xxx rod" we get a large range of recommendations.
Short underhand power applications generally like lighter weight,,,, full upper hand stroke with larger loops and wide forward arc like heavier weights.
Another manuf. disconnect is the shorter rods in 6wt, 7wt and 8wt like a much lighter weight line than the longer rods.
Example is typical 11-'11'9" 7wt rods like a Scandi of 390gr while a 12.5' - 13.5' rods typically like Scandi 450gr. similar ratios with 6wt and 8wt.
Trout Spey lines and rods, my personal experience is to base the rods on Scandi lines, again personal casting style and preference.
5wt = 300gr-330gr
4wt = 270gr-280gr
3wt = 240gr
2wt = 210gr
Micro Spey - 140gr-180gr
When changing over to Skagit the lines are approx. 30gr-50gr heavier.
Note the MOW tips have a floating line section and I add that to the Skagit line weight, the sinking portion is not included.
One company calls their 3wt and 4wt rods Micro Spey,, another inaccurate marketing label. The term Micro Spey was introduced by Ed Ward several years ago when he used 3wt and 4wt SH rods and added a short lower grip. After reading about his experiments, we played with those ideas for years by cutting up old salt water and Spey lines and made Skagit heads 14ft-16ft long. Last year RIO and OPST introduced the Skagit Trout lines and recently several others are available.
Regards,
FK
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