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[Spawn Sack]

The misses and I were at the tackle swap yesterday and she bought herself and fly rod and reel. The rod is an 8wt 9ft Lamiglass single hand. The reel is a Ross...I forget the model but it's nice with a disc drag.

Anyway the reel has no line and since she has never fly fished I have offered to do a little research/asking and figure out what would be best for her.

The line I had on my reel (until I loist it! ) for my 8wt S/H rod was the Rio Outbound WF8F/I with a 37.5 foot 330g head. I found it pretty good for back/overhead casting but a bit of a pain single hand spey casting. Several guys on this site reccomended getting a spey taper line for s/h rods with a 20ish foot head such as the Wulff Ambush line.

Any advice on what I should advise her to get? I have no idea if she wants to learn to s/h spey cast. Probably not. And I'm sure she does not want to invest in something like the Rio Versitip set up, although that would probably be the best way to go. She just wants something that will be decent to learn on mostly for coho + pinks etc, fishing slower water like the Vedder Canal and so on. Basicially the cheapest line that will be decent in case she decides she doesn't like it and the rod/reel sits collecting dust.

[Sandman]

Get her a clear intermediate line, perfect for slack water salmon fishing pinks and coho, as well good on the interior lakes stripping scuds and dragonflies.  I got a inexpensive one from Wholesale Sports here in Langley.

[flyrod]

Dart and  tackle have Scientic Angler lines on for $15 each. They can counsel you on best line for your use.

[Spawn Sack]

Cool guys thanks for those thips. I think a clear intermediate line would be best too.

So short head lines like the Wulff Ambush better suited for s/h spey cast are not good for beginner casters? I never tried one, but I think that's the next line I'll buy for my s/h river rod.

My reel for the s/h rod mysteriously dissapeared and I have no idea if it was lost or in some beyond bizzare place in the house. Spent hours and hours looking Getting to the point where I'm just going to buy a cheap yet decent reel like the Echo Ion and this time around a short head line to improve my s/h spey casts, which I do alot.

Pissed my reel dissapeared as I'm missing out on some great coho and chum fishing on the fly

[HOOK]

just go buy a dry line and make your own loop in the end if it doesn't have one already. then you can get bulk T material made up for sink tips or buy the Rio tips if you want and essentially make yourself a Versa tip system.

This would be your cheapest route and then she isn't bound to only having the one integrated fly line.


I believe the Wulff Ambush is designed to single hand cast just as well as it will do single hand spey casts. I have not heard any complaints from the few people I know that use that line

[Ian Forbes]

It REALLY depends on where she wants to fish and for what species. I love a clear, medium sinking line for lake fishing, or for moderate flowing, shallow rivers. By "shallow" I mean 3 to 6 feet deep, and NOT pocket water where you want your fly to tuck under overhanging banks. For salmon and steelhead I prefer a long belly floating line, and I cut off the tapered front section. You don't even need a tapered line, but it's hard to find level lines today. Then I make my own SHORT tip sections of fast sinking heads. The heads are no more than 5 or 6 feet long and have to balance with the floating line and the rod's power. There are many different combinations to suit the various situation. In slow moving slough type water you can leave the heads alone and just go with a long leader and tungsten bead head flies.

[RalphH]

Think about getting a floating line which can be had for no more than a few $ up to $50 - or more then use the poly leaders sold by RIO and Airflo - they cost about $15 and are available in everything from floating, clear intermediate to super fast sinking. Just buy them as you need.

[milo]

Cool guys thanks for those thips. I think a clear intermediate line would be best too.

So short head lines like the Wulff Ambush better suited for s/h spey cast are not good for beginner casters? I never tried one, but I think that's the next line I'll buy for my s/h river rod.

For a beginner caster, the Ambush is hard to beat. It is also the bomb for those bushy or slopped areas when a roll cast is your only option. I tried my friend's Ambush line the other day on the Vedder with my single hander 8-weight rod. I could shoot it 50 feet out with a simple water-loaded roll cast.

If you don't want to spend too much money on a clear intermediate line, I have one that is mint (used maybe once or twice) that I can part with. It is a Cortland Clear Camo in 8-weight. You can have it for $40 bucks.

[Spawn Sack]

Thanks a lot Milo, and every one else, but she bought a line last Saturday from Fred's in Abby. I've just been too busy to get on the net the last 4-5 days to check this thread. After a lot of humming and hawing she ended up buying the VersiTip 2 in 8wt. Seems like the way to go although it's a lot of $ up front.

The reel I had on my 8wt rod mysteriously vanished a month or so ago and it has not turned up yet so I've writtien if off as lost I'm getting into spey fishing this winter and just bought a $400 Galvin R-12 so I can't be bothered replacing the single hand reel+line now as I probably won't use it until next fall...and if I do get an itching to s/h I can just borrow her rod/reel as it's very similar to what I fish

I had Rio's Outbound WF8F/I on the reel. I liked it but found it to be a chore for s/h spey casts. Next time around I think I'd go with the Ambush line as I rarely want to bomb a cast and do mostly s/h spey casts. I do want to learn to double-haul for the odd time I want to get some big distance.

Thanks for the tips guys so far she likes the VersiTip system and has been using the clear intermediate mostly. She caught her first salmon, a doe chum, on the fly the other day on a roe fly tied by Every Day.

PS: if anyone has a decent disc drag reel suitable for an 8wt (9ft) s/h rod they're looking to sell lemme know. I'm planning to buy an Echo Ion new for $100ish but if I can get something as good or better for cheaper I'm game.