Cutting spey lines.

Have any of you tried your hands at this ?

Ive been using a 14' Orvis rod which has a somewhat soft action but

is a bit heavy, and recently got my hands on a new Powell 1409. This is

lighter but also faster so I was wondering if I should start dissecting

my line (Rio windcutter) removing 6-12" at a time until the action feels

better.

That is a pretty radical solution. Do you know the line weight recommended
for the rod, and the weight of the line? If you do, you can covert these
into grams, and see what portion of the line would equal the recommended
grams for the rod. Rio publishes all the specs for it's spey lines on its
web site.


"Svend Tang-Petersen" wrote in message
...
Have any of you tried your hands at this ?

Ive been using a 14' Orvis rod which has a somewhat soft action but

is a bit heavy, and recently got my hands on a new Powell 1409. This is

lighter but also faster so I was wondering if I should start dissecting

my line (Rio windcutter) removing 6-12" at a time until the action feels

better.





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On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 14:53:45 -0800, Svend Tang-Petersen
wrote:

Have any of you tried your hands at this ?

Ive been using a 14' Orvis rod which has a somewhat soft action but

is a bit heavy, and recently got my hands on a new Powell 1409. This is

lighter but also faster so I was wondering if I should start dissecting

my line (Rio windcutter) removing 6-12" at a time until the action feels

better.



Nope, don't take that approach at all. Two basic problems - spey
lines, underhand shooting heads, Skagit lines, DT lines, long bellied
lines, short bellied lines, and whatever other kind of lines intended
for use on two handed rods have no uniform rating system. Unless you
know a particular line works on a particular rod, your guess is as
good as anyone else's. Never cut before you have gone through some
exhaustive testing on the waters you intend to fish with it.

Problem No. 2 is related to the Windcutter floater itself. Rio's
long-winded rating system is very confusing if you're new to it. The
WC 9/10/11 is really a 10 wt. with a grain weight of 650 spread over a
54.5 foot head (compare this with the AFTMA rating of 280 grains over
30' for a regular 10 wt.). The bulk of this weight resides in the
rearmost 20' section of the head with the tip section being quite
light. A slow rod might be able to cast only 40' of a WC but a faster
rod of the same rating will need the whole head out of the guides to
get a decent load. Slow rods also can benefit from a lot of top hand
in the power stroke but faster rods need a crisper, underhand stroke
and a higher stop. Add all of this together and your problem may be
more complex than a bit off the tip will cure.

I take it you Orvis is the TLS 14' - 9 wt. Correct? I have cast the
14' - 9wt. Orvis Clearwater (which I believe is the same blank
assembled off-shore) but not the Powell. The Orvis worked fine with
an Airflo Delta 9/10 so it'll be OK with the WC 9/10/11 as well. Both
it and the Powell should manage a 9/10/11 OK. Rio, on its site,
provides the line recommendations for the Orivs but doesn't mention
the Powell. I'd try the Powell with the entire head outside of the
guides to see if it loads OK. If the full WC is too light, then I'd
suggest the Airflo Delta Long 9/10 (preferred) or the Rio Midspey
9/10. If it's too heavy, then you're better off taking a 10' section
out of the middle step of the Windcutter (starts at 15' from the tip)
then creating a set of loops so you can join it together for the
Orvis, but use just the tip and belly for the Powell.

The Windcutter multi-tip version has these two loop points in this
section so, not only can the total grain weight of the head be
adjusted, but the length can also be modified to accomodate some of
the Skagit and Scandinavian type of casts that rely on shorter lines
to work. I like the multi-tip WC for this reason but I wouldn't touch
a WC floater with a barge pole.

If you plan on going out for another line and you don't want to spring
for a multi-tip version (and I do recommend them), then consider the
Airflo Delta instead. Its taper is less radical than the Windcutter
so it's a more fishable line over a broader range of distances and the
amount you cast can be easily adjusted, depending on the needs of the
rod. For example, when casting my 9 wt. Daiwa using a Delta 9/10, I
pull the end of the head down into the guides to my top hand, but when
I cast the same line on my Trilogy 9/10, I leave the entire head
outside of the guides. The Trilogy needs a bit more of a load so this
adjustment provides the adtional weight needed. However, this sort of
adjustment is not as easily accomplished with a Windcutter since it
compacts so much grain weight into the last 20'. Finding the sweet
spot with a WC can be a major PITA as a consequence. Its Goldilocks
zone is friggin' narrow. The Delta will also easily accept the use of
10' Polyleaders while the WC will totally wimp out and won't turn them
over. The WC has to be cut back to make use of Polyleaders or other
sinking tips.

Unfortunately, most sales people in fly shops don't know their ass
from their elbow when it comes to two-handers so they recommend the WC
as some sort of "beginners" line (it's usually the only one they know)
and can potentially screw their customer without meaning to. Unless
you know what kind of fishing the client will be doing and you have
first hand experience with the rod and the line, offering advice is a
dodgy business. Most of us rely on the Rio spey line recommendations
chart on their site but even that can be screwy. Their rating for my
Daiwa 9 wt. was spot on but they were completely out to lunch on my
Daiwa 11 wt. which makes we think they tried one rod in the series and
guessed on the rest. It didn't fill me with confidence. Their
guessing also cost me nearly a $100.00 in the purchase of the wrong
line (and given the current exchange rate, that's getting damn close
to a $100.00 in real money!!!!)

What we spey anglers have done in response, is to organize spey claves
across the land where we get together, not to fish, but to cast. We
need time on the water with a line and a rod before we can be sure
it'll do the job. At a spey clave, we get to try our hand at all
sorts of combinations. Back in October, I tried a few Hardy Gems with
their Mach 1 lines and didn't like them at all -- I thought they were
high priced junk. I then tried the 14' 9/10 with a Delta 9/10 last
month and, though I thought it better, I still didn't like it. I then
tried it with a Delta Long 9/10 and fell madly in love with it. That
extra 10' of head had transformed the rod into a lightweight cannon --
the other lines weren't working it as they were too light. As a
consequence, the rod felt very heavy to cast as it had to be thrashed
to get any distance. It's amazing sometimes, the difference a small
adjustment can make. An overloaded rod is hard to cast well, while an
underloaded rod needs to be thrashed to get distance. Both will feel
heavy. In contrast, a well loaded rod will cast 90'+ with very little
effort and will tolerate a broad range of styles and mistakes.

Good luck

Peter

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Thanks Peter.

Hi Svend,

I would also consider emailing Simon Gawesworth at Rio for some insight on
your situation.




--
Bill Kiene

Kiene's Fly Shop
Sacramento, CA, USA
www.kiene.com








"Svend Tang-Petersen" wrote in message
...
Have any of you tried your hands at this ?

Ive been using a 14' Orvis rod which has a somewhat soft action but

is a bit heavy, and recently got my hands on a new Powell 1409. This is

lighter but also faster so I was wondering if I should start dissecting

my line (Rio windcutter) removing 6-12" at a time until the action feels

better.