7 vs 8 wt for PDX area winter steelhead?

[Yard Sale]

Over the last couple years I've managed to turn my collection of Echos into a selcetion of Burky and Meisers. They've also grown a foot or two in the process. I was fortunate enough to find what I was looking for second hand, so basically half price.

One rod I haven't found, and might need to pay full price for, is a 12ish foot 8wt. I despise throwing short lines but sometimes its a necessary evil and this would be the right rod for it.

 

[clarkman]

I despise throwing short lines but sometimes its a necessary evil and this would be the right rod for it.

what's a uh, "short line"?

 

[Yard Sale]

what's a uh, "short line"?

Under 25'?

 

[clarkman]

oh damn....that's short AF.

oh wait, you're also one of those long rod folks.... nevermind...lol. Honestly, I love fishing the super short stuff on my SH rods, and yet I still sometimes wish I had a longer-ish head to throw on those rods since I don't actually own any THers any more. I wouldn't mind getting back into that for those handful of times I fish those larger streams.

 

[SurfnFish]

regarding short casting and an early lesson..decades back showed up on the Trinity River by the hatchery, guys bombing casts left and right..see this tall (turned out he played pro basketball in Europe for a decade) angler just hanging out, walk over and talk to him, tells me ..'those guys are all standing on the fish, they'll clear out in an hour or so."
The anglers split, tall angler handed me a Yellow Sally he had tied, we stood in ankle deep water and stuck bow after bow in 2' of water 20' in front of us.
Never understood anglers who showed up and started launching vs just gradually 'mowing the lawn' starting right in front of them

 

[Yard Sale]

oh damn....that's short AF.

oh wait, you're also one of those long rod folks.... nevermind...lol. Honestly, I love fishing the super short stuff on my SH rods, and yet I still sometimes wish I had a longer-ish head to throw on those rods since I don't actually own any THers any more. I wouldn't mind getting back into that for those handful of times I fish those larger streams.

Oh trust me, I've spent my time in the short line game. I think it peaked with the TCX and a skagit switch which I think is like 17' or so. It just felt like bait casting(which I also like) rather than spey casting. I fish a SCOUT(15'?) on my one hand spey and love it! For bass I love to fish my bass/musky line, which is basically a head with an intergrated running line, spey style. And with the long lines I'm not necessarily throwing further out. I've been moving more and more to dry line or light tips so I've been fishing steep angles for a super slow swing.

In all honestly I fish a FIST when I need to catch a fish. But man, it feels like people get pissy when somebody fishes something besides a skagit now days....

 

[clarkman]

In all honestly I fish a FIST when I need to catch a fish. But man, it feels like people get pissy when somebody fishes something besides a skagit now days....

oh crap, now we're gonna be inspecting each of our setups in between runs?....

All of this controversy is just too much....maybe I'll just throw an egg pattern.

 

[the_grube]

sage X 7130 with a RIO short head spey (7/8 ~520gr I think), 15' of s-6 for the tip with something like a scandi candy fly covers just about all my winter fishing. It casts short just fine (not pretty until you get most of the head out) and reaches out to near triple digits if I'm hitting it right. If I need a f'ugly half chicken or a barbell fly I have an 8116(sage One) that likes about 525gr of skagit and will toss flies bigger and heavier than I care to fish. BTW: I don't really perceive any advantage of fishing tighter to the bank with shorter rods. It's the shooting head that matters; if anything a longer1 rod holds more of that skagit head off the water and allows a shorter D-loop.

 

[Yard Sale]

oh crap, now we're gonna be inspecting each of our setups in between runs?....

All of this controversy is just too much....maybe I'll just throw an egg pattern.

What controversy?

I get it. You are itching for me to be an elitist because I like to fish a certain way. As I posted above, I've fished every which way(yes, including glo bugs under an indicator) and I have no hate for that. Its all good in my book. I simply said how I like to fish. Why is that an issue? Weird...

 

[clarkman]

What controversy?

I get it. You are itching for me to be an elitist because I like to fish a certain way. As I posted above, I've fished every which way(yes, including glo bugs under an indicator) and I have no hate for that. Its all good in my book. I simply said how I like to fish. Why is that an issue? Weird...

Well that landed wrong....

 

[Jake Watrous]

Well that landed wrong....

Shoulda made a joke about FISTing.

 

[Yard Sale]

Well that landed wrong....

Sorry, too much family time for the holidays. I do need to get out of the house...

 

[Rob Allen]

Sorry, too much family time for the holidays. I do need to get out of the house...

IF, I can ever get moved, I have a burkie 8128-4 you can try.

 

[O' Clarkii Stomias]

IF, I can ever get moved, I have a burkie 8128-4 you can try.

8128-4 is kinda the "Swiss Army Knife" of two handers.

 

[SurfnFish]

A Guideline 12'6 8 wt Le Cie remains my fave DH of all I've used. Paired with a triple density Guideline shooting head it was a rocket launcher

 

[Dustin Chromers]

What controversy?

I get it. You are itching for me to be an elitist because I like to fish a certain way. As I posted above, I've fished every which way(yes, including glo bugs under an indicator) and I have no hate for that. Its all good in my book. I simply said how I like to fish. Why is that an issue? Weird...

Come on. It's ok to hate "fly fisherman" fishing under a bobber. In fact it's required of actual fly fisherman that fish anadromous species. The very premise of what it is to be an actual steelhead angler relies heavily on the hate of gear fishing fly wannabe anglers with their trans bobber tactics. Sure they argue there are more than two ways to do it but we all know that is just fantasy and they will never be what they claim because fly angling for steelhead doesn't include a bobber. That's just extra stuff that doesn't exist in the steelhead anglers world. Next they will be advocating for shot and then all civilization will collapse along with runs. That's the real reason steelhead runs have collapsed. It has nothing to do with ocean conditions.

 

[the_grube]

A Guideline 12'6 Le Cie remains my fave DH of all I've used. Paired with a triple density Guideline shooting head it was a rocket launcher

I have the guideline 4d head and tips. Great line, but I think I bought a bit heavy for my 7wt... something in the grams to grains calculation eclipsed my maths skills. Or maybe I was trying to justify buying an 8wt spey rod.

 

[Yard Sale]

IF, I can ever get moved, I have a burkie 8128-4 you can try.

That would be awesome!

 

[DerekWhipple]

I have the guideline 4d head and tips. Great line, but I think I bought a bit heavy for my 7wt... something in the grams to grains calculation eclipsed my maths skills. Or maybe I was trying to justify buying an 8wt spey rod.

What did you get? The euro/scandi rating usually is under-lined. The 4d 7/8 is 448gr, and the 8/9 is 525 not really an 8 or 9 unless you've got a switch rod. Depending on what you've got, I might be interested in taking it off your hands.

 

[the_grube]

What did you get? The euro/scandi rating usually is under-lined. The 4d 7/8 is 448gr, and the 8/9 is 525 not really an 8 or 9 unless you've got a switch rod. Depending on what you've got, I might be interested in taking it off your hands.

I think I went with the 8/9@525 grains, that's what I was going for. I'll have to try that line again and check the grainage on the box. I'll probably hold on to this line. Even if it is heavy for my 7wt, an 8wt is in the not-too-distant future.