Rods and reels

Hey rt, great decision on the rod if your looking for a combo salmon/steel stick. I threw a 7 weight cortland precision salmon/steelhead w/f on a thomas and thomas 10' 7 weight switch last winter and it casted great. Now, my 11' 7 weight temple fork switch does not throw that line well at all. IMO, different rods line up better with different lines sometimes. I find on average I prefer to overload my rod one line size larger; but again, not always. Sorry to confuse the crap out of you, for two handed roll casting the cortland precision salmon steel may fit your rod. I mostly fish house of hardy lines myself in a weight forward or double taper...goodluck

Also, beulah makes a great shooting line with a 30' shooting head. This line casts very well and after time its pretty shocking how much line you can actually shoot while roll casting. But, I don't prefer how front heavy the shooting head is in the water as the line goes right to a running line from the head. I find it disturbs my presentation and limits my ability to mend when a lot of line is out. On the other hand, if you are straight line swinging wets on the downstream, this is a great line. I've thought of attaching a smaller tapered floating head to it to see if id like it better, but I only go so far with equipment sometimes. Good luck

youll have to excuse my spelling and typing , hydros wor wonders.lol...
since cabela's has so many product lines i'm not sure what model your talking about but just my advice id avoid the combo packages if possible.. if you can wait and shop around you can find good deals toward seasons end..
cabela's RLS reels are not very good imo. i know people who have used them ..
for the price range your talking about you can get an orvis, used to be the battenkill mid-arbor iv, but they have changed to something else i see for around $125.00.. a very good mid priced reel imo that has a seald drag and all stainless steel gears & clucth bearings.
and like said if you wait the rods will be discounted later on.. it will show you just how high the mark up price is..
i got a st.croix avid 8wt for about $80.00 and a sage fli 8wt for about $100.00 .
as for line.. man we are not throwing double hauls on the sr so i just buy cabelas cheap wf and yes one size larger then rod wt..

my total set up including backing ran about $300.00 for what i felt a higher quality..

hope this helps and is not too confusing..

Tuna's right in the double hauling aspect for back hand casting. For me, I primarily roll cast on the salmon river. I find with roll casting the line has to be better matched to the rod rather than back hand casting. And I do cast over 40' often in many spots. Everyone is different though... I have too heard nothing but great things about the new orvis reels. Good luck...

I use a SA reel for Salmon,it has a good drag and holds the line and that's all you need.My rod is a custom 8/9 weight 9.5' that I bought from Richie at the Yankee Fly shop in town 18 yrs ago,fought lots of fish with that setup.Line is a WF one step up from rod.

Rt, how do you plan to fish with your set up? That is the most important question.are you going to 2 hand cast mostly? Im probably going to be up in 2 weeks. If you're around id be willing to meet you at the trestle with a few of my rigs and we can give it a go. IMO, an 11' switch leans more towards 2 handed roll casting. Let me know.... I have a 10' and 11' switch in 7 weight. For the heck of it I can bring down the 13' 7 weight and 14'3" 9 weight and we can hurl some serious rope, and maybe a cold one or two ;) just let me know when you'll be up again. It would be my pleasure...

Well I usually post whenever im heading up so if any of my trips coincide with yours give me a hollar. I'll gladly meet you anywhere on the river.Two hand with a switch is not like a true two hander. Even for shorter casts it makes it effortless and once you start getting up in 11' caliber, itmakes line control and manageability a pleasure while drifting. But at the same time, its still not TOO long.

Thanks-
      I am not completey sold on the two hand thing but do want to increase my typically unimpressive roll cast.
     Now that am getting more and more into 'real' fly fishing and not just sneaky flossing I want to be able to have a decent float through the strike zone- am not getting it with the gear that I have now so figured a longer rod would help that.
    Have watched in the FZ and on the river and seen the guys with long rods getting much more time 'in the zone' and want to emulate those casts. Have seen long rods guys get much more zone time than shorter rod guys.
  I did a lot of watching cause wanted to eliminate myself from the equasion and see what others were getting out of their gear.
    Yes I hook up often enough but would like to try something new and different too- this just seemed like 'the next step'.

In reality, if done properly, a two handed cast is effortless and not so wearing. Also most switch rods are light as a feather these days. For walking the paths, just put your fly on your first stripping guide and simply break the rod in half and real up the slack. Im gonna have to agree with it being a pain landing fish with longer noodle rods, but not so much with the fly rods. Keep in mind that thisis my opinion and everyone has difeerent ways of doing it. Tight lines.

it's all good RT - different strokes for different folks..

I thought the same thing when I bought my long rods.

Just keep in mind - the grass ain't always greener on the far side of the river, those long magestic casts look great on a magazine cover - but I don't think it ups a person's chance for hook-ups.

A few careful steps at a time and working the imaginary grid system, IMO, is the best strategy to cover the water.

One downfall of the long rods is that a guy will often ignore the close-in holding spots of the fish - somewhat akin to watching the fish that swim behind the ball-waders.

The spey -tards look down on EVERYONE that are not trying to tie up 70yds of river with their assine ways.

so here goes..
first if your using an ugly stick rod and a 5 wt reel you’ll notice a HUGE DIFFERENCE.. lighter ,faster rod will be like night and day.. the reel, well smooth drag and better balanced will be night and day all which will improve your casting and control of the rod and line..

as for the reel, the Orvis iv is a 7/8 wt and I would not put more then an 8wt line on THAT reel. the v reels are just too big and heavy imo..

don’t know what your looking to gain.. more line out ? means less control, more drag and better chance for that big belly to foul hook a fish.. you want to fish the water in FRONT of you , that’s where your fly should be at it's deepest point.. lets say you are 50' away from another angler, you make a 2 o’clock cast at 40'.. your target area is about 20' directly in front of you not 40' downstream.. that’s where I have a problem with those water hogs who think they need to put out 80' of line.. where the heck are they trying to fish ? in front of the next guy ? or just trying to belly up their line ?


ok off track..
it's all about getting your fly to the target zone and being able to control what you have out not how much line you can cast out.. a standard 9' rod is plenty for the salmon river..

roll cast..
absolutely a roll cast is necessary on the sr but I will back cast anytime I can over a roll cast.. esp. salmon where almost all my casts are back cast. I can pick up my line quickly and make a far more accurate cast to a fish,, a back cast is 100 times more precise than a roll cast..

drake I’m with you on most of your points, I have long noodle rods 13'> that collect dust in the closet.. but your point about the 2 handed .. really I found it less fatigue to cast.. learned that when my right arm was shot last spring.. killed me to cast the single but was cake to cast the 2 handed.. even then I felt like a fool using a 13'6" rod and making a 20' cast to the fish I was fishing to.. there was just no need..

my suggestion rt is , if your comfortable with what your using I would just upgrade in quality not size or length. as said with a better rod you will feel the difference and be more confident.. if you buy low grade equipment, not saying you wont catch fish, but it will hamper the skills I believe you are trying to achieve..

ok that killed me to type.. more hydros please....

ORIGINAL: hot tuna

but your point about the 2 handed .. really I found it less fatigue to cast.. learned that when my right arm was shot last spring..

I never fished a two-hander flea-flicker, based my opinion on my experiences with the long noodle rods - so forgive me for making an ignorant assumption.

For me, it's not just the casting, just holding the darn thing up all day will wear you down - especially if the rig is not perfectly balanced.

The long handles on the pin rods enable a person to tuck the butt end against your elbow/body which helps. Maybe the two handers do the same thing - I don't know.

Hey tuna, at this point it would bemuch easier shown than explaining. But I can give it a shot. 1. It allows you to have more line control while having more or less line out. For your questioning of hook set, I find I have to closely keep my eyes and attention on the line. That's just part of the game. Hand to line coordination is key. I will say though, with reduction of line dragging, I find when one strikes they set themselves as long as you bring the rod in the opposite direction(downstream) from the fish. And a glorified hook set is not necessary. This is the opposite to my spin gear techniques as I cross the bastards eyes when I set the hook with a spinning rod.
2. Even when fishing close seems; every foot longer yourrod is results in atleast triple the length of your end drift when high sticking as long as you keep lowering your rod tip as it goes down stream.
3.when fishing further out when high sticking; you can let your fly start to swing 2/3 through your drift until its straight down from you; and I can't tell you how many strikes I've had while my line was either on a 60 degree down stream or straight down from me.
4. It just suits me well. I find myself being able to have more oppurtunities to throw different presentation methods with a longer fly rod. Keep in mind though, I have fly rods ranging from 6'-14'3"; and I still use my 9 and ten footers often.

Keep in mind also; my presentation methods I mention cater to my steelheading more than salmon fishing. God I love steelhead

ORIGINAL: draketrutta

ORIGINAL: hot tuna

but your point about the 2 handed .. really I found it less fatigue to cast.. learned that when my right arm was shot last spring..

I never fished a two-hander flea-flicker, based my opinion on my experiences with the long noodle rods - so forgive me for making an ignorant assumption.

For me, it's not just the casting, just holding the darn thing up all day will wear you down - especially if the rig is not perfectly balanced.

The long handles on the pin rods enable a person to tuck the butt end against your elbow/body which helps. Maybe the two handers do the same thing - I don't know.

the long butt is great in the same aspect, but the only similarity. A noodle rod bends to the cork almost, a two hander bends to the mid body only which enables you to steer the fish and have much more control while putting less pressure.

Guys, sorry for rambling with multiple posts here; just figured id put my 99 cents worth in to it since people started asking

I love my 11' 7 wt. It 's a single hander with a fighting butt, but has no long foregrip or butt extension.  It will single hand spey 70-80 feet without even thinking about it with a steelhead taper. . But most of the time , I use it  to nymph with and throw mends and control the line.  It protects 6 lb. tippet, but will put the wood to fish when in crowds and I'm using 3x . I've fished 2 handers and liked them for big rivers, but like smaller , lighter rods better. I'd like to find one similar in an 8 or 9 for sharks, but I think I'll have to stick with a 9'. Do people chuck and duck for salmon, or is it a waste of time, since they are higher in the water column most of the time?  I won't use it, unless it's near or below zero and I'm having a really bad day.    It is ridiculously effective. So is Euopean nymphing which is very similar.
 
Charlie