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Speaking of old......

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Speaking of old......

Postby briansII » September 18th, 2014, 11:08 am

On my usual Weds. evening spey session, I decided to go "old school". I've acquired some older gear and put them together to see how things worked back in the day. For perspective, I took along a more up to date outfit.

Gear list. Sage 8150-4 Graphite III(RP? era Generation III). Hardy Marquis, Salmon 2. English made, ribbed brass foot. SA Mastery Spey, long belly(75' head).

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After spending considerable amount of time trying to dial in this setup.....or more accurately dial ME in, I can appreciate the skill level the fishermen needed to fish these long rod and line combos. The length and taper of this line requires good technique and timing. At my current skill level, I can get a decent cast(90 -100') off, but it is NOT easy. There is little forgiveness in this line. Casters better than me have been fishing these long....and longer lines for generations.

Funny thing about the rod. When I cast/flex it I can feel and almost hear a creak. Kinda like me when I get up in the mornings. Different than me, after it flexes, it recovers well. Not nearly as much bounce as I would expect from a rod this long. It definitely feels heavy in comparison to my other speys, but I like this rod. The original owner tells me it's been bent on more than a few steelhead. It has a cracked ferrule, so at some point it will go back to Bainbridge for a tuneup.

Also like the reel. It's dinged up, the original brass foot is too big for most modern rods, but the springs are stronger than it's younger, Korean sister. I imagine this reel has seen it's share of different waters through it's life. I plan to show it a few more.

I stayed late, and cast my 14' 8wt Meiser. I used the new, Gaelforce 63' line. This is a combo that even I can cast ok. Easier, and more forgiving to cast. I can cast it well with touch and go, or skagit casts. Best of all, it's fun.

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New vs old. Tradition battles contemporary. Logical winner is new, but if we were "logical", would we be fly fishing?

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Re: Speaking of old......

Postby NorcalBob » September 18th, 2014, 12:48 pm

Very cool!!! I tried long belly lines, but I drove a few too many hooks into my keister and quit!!!! :doh:
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Re: Speaking of old......

Postby midger » September 18th, 2014, 12:54 pm

Nice review. I don't know squat about spey rods and I'm probably best to keep it that way as I'd hate to have to buy another 50 reels/rods. ;)
"Should you cast your fly into a branch overhead or into a bush behind you, or miss a fish striking, or lose him,or slip into a hole up to your armpits-keep your temper; above all things don't swear, for he that swears will catch no fish."
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Re: Speaking of old......

Postby flybob » September 18th, 2014, 2:51 pm

Like Mike, not into the spey thing....but I LIKE what you did, I find it all very interesting.
"The accomplishment of flyfishing is all about the experience of diversity......and the occasional element of surprise."
(rmg/2012)
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Re: Speaking of old......

Postby briansII » September 18th, 2014, 3:45 pm

NorcalBob wrote:Very cool!!! I tried long belly lines, but I drove a few too many hooks into my keister and quit!!!! :doh:


It's definitely the most challenging casting I have ever done, but I plan to stick with it. Since true, long belly lines have fallen out of fashion, it's not easy finding them. I picked up two used lines in the classifieds, and searching for more. Not giving up my short lines though. They are fun, and easy to fish.

midger wrote:Nice review. I don't know squat about spey rods and I'm probably best to keep it that way as I'd hate to have to buy another 50 reels/rods. ;)


Yeah. More reels does sound awful. ;) BTW, I'm betting there's and underground bunker somewhere between SoCal and Idaho, with containers full of circular, metal objects.

A couple simple spey cast on your switch rod could be helpful on your fishing trips. Ask Sasha for the instructional video I loaned him....what, a year or two ago? ;)

flybob wrote:Like Mike, not into the spey thing....but I LIKE what you did, I find it all very interesting.


The traditions of fly fishing is interesting to me. Not that what I did on Weds is going back to the roots of spey. Far from it, but it gives me a little insight on what guys had to do to get their flies out to the fish. It's not as easy as they make it look.

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Re: Speaking of old......

Postby Sasha » September 18th, 2014, 4:26 pm

I went new on my Meiser, no other reason than I liked the new reels a bit better from a technology standpoint.
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