I am looking for a 7 or 8 weight, 9"6-10" length blank for steelhead, something reasonably priced and hopefully rather lightweight. I'm not really sure where to start looking since there are quite a few choices out there. I was curious as to what are your favorites and why?
thanks, Tom.

Tom,

The Affinity MX is avaiable in #7 and 8 and the desired length. This blank is perfect for your purpose, I use it for pike, salmon and searun brown trout and I'm very satisfied with it.

Eddie Bouma
Eat, Sleep, Flyfishing!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/03/2006 01:26PM by Moderator.

Check out the Dan Craft FT908-4 or FT1008-4 for a fast action 8wt. I've really enjoyed the steelhead rod I built on the FT908-4 blank and REC guides.

I used to reccomend St Croix Avid 3F968 9'-6" 8wt. but now it only comes in a 4 pc model. I'd run a 7wt. strictly for low water steelie and a 8 wt when the river rises or for an all around Fla. Salt /Salmon weapon

I fish in BC,Canada and use a 10ft 7wt(works better with a 8wt line at close to mid range) Dan Craft SIG V for my light duty steelhead/salmon rod,and a 10ft 9wt Loomis GLX as my heavy duty,big water rod.That said,I am starting to switch over to 2 handers as a steelheading rod on medium to large waters.Either the Dan Craft FT(either the 10ft 7-8wt or the 9ft 6-8 wt blanks,depending on your needs),or if he still has any left,the 10ft 7 or 8wt SIG V(PHENOMINAL single handed rods for the price) would make a great choice,and give you a very light weight,high performance blank for a surprisingly low price.I like my SIG V as much as my GLX and it's certainly as light and as fast recovery.

I haven't tried one but I would bet the Rainshadow RX8+ in the 9ft6 length 7-8wt would be great too.A bit more $ than the Dan Craft blanks,but still much less than the big name blanks and everyone raves about the RX8+.Other options are the St Croix SCIV and SCV blanks.The SCV blanks are a bit more $,but still less than a comparible Sage or Loomis blank.

You might be lucky enough to find a 9ft6-10ft 7-9wt Sage XP blank around somewhere on sale too if you look hard enough.They are going awful fast though.I recently picked up a 4pc 9ft6 6wt blank,that came with a nice black brushed aluminum rod case & rod sock for $200US,so there are deals out there.

The Dan Craft 10 ft Sig V rods are real hard to put down once you've fished one. The FTs are a little slower and heavier, but will take more knocking around and also can be built as a switch rod for versatility. Another blank that is a fine fishing weapon for steelhead is the 10 ft Rainshadow RX7. Nothing fancy, just a well behaved blank that just about anyone can pick up and catch fish with. Very versatile.

I've used the Dan Craft FT1008-4 for the last 2 seasons and cannot say enough good about it. It's slightly slower than his 9' FT's, and A) is soft enough to handle Trinity steelies to 10 pounds on 4x tippet, B) can sling a fairly substantial hunk of lead, and C) held up fine when I overpowered one of the first casts I made with it and crashed a heavily weighted size 2 comet into it. Plus, Dan's a great guy to deal with.

Wayne Chubb

What Tony said...the 9'9" SigV series are the best steelhead rods I've fished, bar none.


Scott Kinney
The Longest Cast Fly Rods
[www.thelongestcast.com]