Hi Guys,

Anyone suggest a good Double Hander fly blank for fly fishing in the surf for Stripers. Fly lines 10 Wt std WF profile. Rod will be overhead cast . Length around 12 feet to maybe 13 feet.
Anyone had the experience of casting these things in the surf?

Thanks

Mike O.

A search of this site should give you a lot of info.

RainShadow/Forecast, as sponsor at the left carries spey rods.

have a loook R.B. Meiser Rods. Sponsor to the left. Recommended

I think Zziplex do some fast action blanks.
11`1 fantastic balance,very tight loops.I got mine from a weird guy in Birmingham.

Mike:

I have a client who wants a spey rod. I did some searches and came up with the following rods .

Sage: some variety in actions, weights and lengths. Good blanks.
G. Loomis: limited variety.
Lamiglas: Limited variety, good rods. Emphasis on 6 pieces makes transportation easy and building difficult.
Pacific Bay: Limited variety, low end rods, offshore maker
Forecast: Limited variety, low end rods, offshore maker
St. Croix: Some variety in actions, weights and lengths, good rods

If cost is your only driver, select Pac Bay or Forecast. These may be ok for first rods, but not a long term, go-to rod.
If quality is the driver, go with Meisner's or Sage's blanks
I also like the Lamiglas and St. Croix because of their medium cost and good quality.
For my own money, I prefer Sage, Lamiglas and St. Croix.
I have no knowledge of the current crop of G. Loomis rods, now that Gary has sold it to the Japanese. Hearsay has it that the quality has taken a dive into the dumpster. This hearsay I cannot verify, but without putting my hands on a current G. Loomis spey blank, I will steer clear of them.

This is as brutally honest as I can be on Spey rods. Hopefully others can add their comments about what I have left out.

Doug Weber
Weber Rod Works

The Dan Craft 10 ft 10 wt FT blank is used for double handing big King salmon, it ought to hold up under a striper. The price for this quality blank will be a pleasant surprise.

Mike look at the 10 ft 10 wt Dan Craft FT blanks also for this appliacation. Reviews of these blanks built as switch rods are available in the archive using the search feature.

Hi Mike,

Sorry I am late with this reply. I built a double hander 8wt fly rod for surf fishing, I was into the project and had a stroke and it set me back a bit, but I was able to complete the rod. R.B. Meiser was a great help to me and is a very knowledge guy with double handers. I was able to get a Thomas and Thomas 8wt 3piece blank for cost ( a very rare thing). and commenced to build the rod. You have to know what kind of fly line you are going to use, one piece or shooting heads. I went with shooting heads, and I found out that you do not double haul with these type of rods and many false casts are unnecessary, as a matter of fact with the 30ft heat outside the tip one false cast and 100' of line is gone. The 8wt can handle stripers which I fish here on the east coast.The most important thing to remember is that you are going to be using line with a weight catagory of 600 grains on up and a rod that is at least 12ft in length, however once you master these things, they are easy to work with, no many guys in the states use them, but across the pond they are very popular, good luck


Regards,

Frank

I have to disagree with Doug on the Forecast spey blanks. I have built a number of Sage spey rods for customers and have since had several of them try rods built on the Forecast blanks. Not one of them was disappointed and 3 of them have ordered and received these rods. One of these guys who is one of the best fly casters that I know, wanted to trade me the Sage that I had built him for the Forecast. I'm just a beginning spey caster so I have to rely on others for expert opinions. But from the feedback that I'm getting, cost does not equal performence in this case. Does that mean I think everyone who wants a two-handed rod should go with a Forecast? Of course not. But definately do not discount them because of the cost. If you want a rocket, check the Burkheimer blanks. As Doug said, Sage and Lamiglas are also very good.

Jeff Hunter

Guys,

The beauty thing about fly rods these days is that if you do your home work,: It's nearly impossible to purchase a poorly designed one.

There are no doubt fly rods designed now that will meet most any specific application.

This is a good thing in that it offers lots of options to the angler.

But it can be a double edged sword <> Because there are so many options out there, it is sometimes confusing or difficult to choose the correct rod for the specific application.

...And in some applications, the incorrect rod (regardless of the Mfgr.) will simply not allow the angler to effectivly fish their targeted enviornment.

Mikes request is a good example of this.

Mike's looking for a two handed over head fly rod to deliver shooting heads into the surf in pursuit of Fall Stripers off the Mid-Atlantic Coast.

This criteria does make the rod selection very specific:

Not just any two handed "Spey Rod" will do this effectively.

<> Most anglers would logically not choose to use a 4 wt. full flex, tippet friendly, medium fast recovery Spring Creek rod for Roosters or Chinook.

Well....

Nor would the more knowledgeable two handed fly rod beach angler choose to use a medium, to slow recovery, full flex two handed "Spey Rod" to un-plug a full sink 650 grain plus shooting head from the curl or wash <> All while attempting to launch 6" to 7" bait patterns 110' into a stiff wind.

Takes a special rod, married to the proper line to do that....And acquired casting skills.

Loomis, Sage, Forecast, Burkie, Craft, and ( what the heck) Meiser....All have designed superb fly blanks for two handed applications.

Some of the two handed blanks made by these folks will meet Mike's criteria.....Some will not.

The rod builder / angler cannot expect any two handed fly rod to perform ALL two handed applications any more effectively then the single hand fly rod will perfom ALL single hand applications.

Bob Meiser

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the input. and your time It was very helpful and appreciated. I have now been able to find the blank I need from Bob Meiser.

Tight Lines

Mike Oliver