It was nice to get on the water again, even if it was only for a couple of hours. The nearby lake is stocked full of trout, but the real reason for visiting was to try out the switch rod and AFS spey line.
The RIO AFS Outbound has a 37' head with the real loading at the back of the section. The long taper to the front is a lengthy 29'. At the point where the running line starts, the line turns from green to black. A nice easy way to see where the loading point is for the line when spey casting.
The combination worked well. Even if I think the rod could of used a slightly heavier line. This particular AFS was 300 grains. I think something closer to 400 would of done the trick. However, with this weight, I could easily 1-hand overhead cast without any fatigue. This is perfect. One could continue to overhead when they have the room, or zip out line in a spey cast when tight conditions persist or take advantage of what makes this type of casting so special. Less time false casting, and more time fishing.
I was able to easily overhead with 10-20 feet of line out of the rod, the whole head, or anywhere in between. No problem. Shooting line was a breeze and if the head was nearly or completely out of the rod, line would rocket off the tip. The only thing to be aware of, is that you have to slow down a little bit if you are used to 8 or 9 foot rods. This almost 11 footer needs a little extra time.
Spey casting was easy too. It took me a little playing around to figure out where to place my D-loop anchor. However, after experimentation, I could spey cast 70 feet without much difficulty. After a little more time with this combination, I'm sure I could hit 100 feet without problem. The head also allows me to spey short distances too. Something I was a little curious about because of the long taper this line has. In fact, with that 10' RIO versileader on the front, I could cast just the leader and a short bit of line no problem.
Next week will be a trip to the American for some Shad fishing. Hopefully I'll catch some fish and can report on how it performed in that area.
The RIO AFS Outbound has a 37' head with the real loading at the back of the section. The long taper to the front is a lengthy 29'. At the point where the running line starts, the line turns from green to black. A nice easy way to see where the loading point is for the line when spey casting.
The combination worked well. Even if I think the rod could of used a slightly heavier line. This particular AFS was 300 grains. I think something closer to 400 would of done the trick. However, with this weight, I could easily 1-hand overhead cast without any fatigue. This is perfect. One could continue to overhead when they have the room, or zip out line in a spey cast when tight conditions persist or take advantage of what makes this type of casting so special. Less time false casting, and more time fishing.
I was able to easily overhead with 10-20 feet of line out of the rod, the whole head, or anywhere in between. No problem. Shooting line was a breeze and if the head was nearly or completely out of the rod, line would rocket off the tip. The only thing to be aware of, is that you have to slow down a little bit if you are used to 8 or 9 foot rods. This almost 11 footer needs a little extra time.
Spey casting was easy too. It took me a little playing around to figure out where to place my D-loop anchor. However, after experimentation, I could spey cast 70 feet without much difficulty. After a little more time with this combination, I'm sure I could hit 100 feet without problem. The head also allows me to spey short distances too. Something I was a little curious about because of the long taper this line has. In fact, with that 10' RIO versileader on the front, I could cast just the leader and a short bit of line no problem.
Next week will be a trip to the American for some Shad fishing. Hopefully I'll catch some fish and can report on how it performed in that area.
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