Home Forums Fishing Flyfishing Steelhead Rod - Sage XP

CoalCracker:

With a 14 to 16 ft rod in hand, there is not much need for high sticking. Yes, a Spey assembly is slightly heavier, but about the only time I hold mine with one hand is when one is swinging near surface flies (across and down presentations), and my arm is hanging straight down gripping the handle at its balance point. If high sticking, I have one hand just above the reel and the second on the fighting butt. Folks just don't handle them the way one does a balloon stick trout rod. In the lighter weights with today's materials, they are not all that heavy. One might surf around, and look at the specs posted by the various makers.

Retail prices do frighten me, but like said, I enjoy doing builds for about 1/3 of retail.

Must admit I don't do much nymphing for steelhead. I do two to three weeks of float trips between early August and mid-Sept for our summer runs when they'll come up and run down near surface swinging flies. Typically fish a 3 to 4 hour session morning and evening when canyon walls are shading the water. Mid-days are for gin and tonics or loading up and moving camp down river. If some event turns the water cloudy or during bright mid-day sessions, nymphing is the way to go while swinging sink tips comes in second.

For the last three seasons or so, our Pacific runs have been in the toilet. This was the first season since about 1977 that we did not do our traditional float trips and I'm suffering withdrawal. Might get a few sessions in on our Grande Rhonde river prior to a scheduled elk hunt in about 3 weeks.

Twenty years ago out here, one noticed the rare individual using a Spey. Now a single hander sticks out like sore thumb, and all assume he is a trout fisherman. Seems we were only about 100 years behind the Europeans.


Have a good one and best of luck,