Post by heron on Aug 22, 2010 14:15:55 GMT
You always know when a line trial has gone well when your stripping arm is spent when you get home, but your dominant arm feels fine.
This is my experience with the Nextcast Fall Favorite 45, one of the "next generation" short spey lines that have been turning life upside down lately on American rivers.
I weighed the lines, all were within 10 grains of spec. All were exactly ten grains heavier, which was super cool.
5/6- 510 gr
6/7- 560 gr
7/8- 610 gr
those weights may sound a tad heavy, but read on.
I fished the line under combat conditions, waist deep on the Cowlitz from river right with an upstream breeze. The evening before I cast them from river left at my favorite line testing place. No, not Kamchatka, the Tank Crossing on the Nisqually....
They were cast under a number of different conditions:
snake rolled, doubled, poked, wrapped, singled, spiraled, multi-spiraled, snap-t'd, etc. plus a few the breeze invented for me.
underlined, overlined
small flies, bigger flies, leadeye bunnies
mono/poly leaders
varying % of top/bottom hand power
with cigar/without cigar
before/after brandy flask
...rigorous conditions, I know- but I believe in thorough testing. ;D
BLUF (bottom line up front): buy them, you must have them.
I put the 6/7 on my 13057 Meiser hybrid, the backing knot was in my droploop in a dozen casts. Right about then, I started putting defects into the casts to see what I could get away with.
I put the 5/6 on my 5/6 Deer Creek, guys were standing on the bank saying things like, "you sure have a purty cast". (Seriously, two guys said that.) Backing knot was about five handle turns from out. Not bad for a 12'6". These are 110' lines with a 15' leader.
I put the 7/8 on my 1407 S rod, there were little sounds coming from the boat guys and they started steering clear. Knot was in the guides, and there was a roaring delta, especially with a poked cast.
Needless to say, I was tenting my waders big time. I tried, (and didn't try) to blow casts, and rarely failed to get a turnover (tip diameter approximately comparable to Vector, another revolutionary shorthead). I tried absurd angle changes, underpowered cach hands, the whole nine yards...and they still turned over. There was less wiggle in the top leg than with most lines; tracking was true with straight layout.
When underlined, the rods all still responded well, sort of a scandi on steroids deal from the tip... and the loops still went out, albeit with less authority and distance. I think the line ratings are dead-on accurate for the Meiser-designed tapers I cast them on. The grain measurements belie the belly balance, they feel nowhere near the weight they measure out to. Weight distribution is the real advance in these lines, I think.
Like the Vector, these lines are ideal for the skagit/scandi/skandit caster who wants to broaden horizons a bit and edge into the world of casting bellies more than three rods' length, strip a bit less, and enjoy summer more fully; they are also for the more experienced shorthead caster who wants maximum distance, positive turnover and castability in challenging conditions. Fish short or fish long with the same line.
Castability is at a whole new level of performance than what we've become used to in 'Merrika. A few less hundedths of diameter would be welcome in the running line, but I say that about every line I ever cast.
As an aside, I brought a full-on newb to the river last night, a very nice young man who's been using an AFS to learn on for maybe three sessions. With a little coaching, he was making fishable casts with the head on the 6/7 FF45, and shot some line. That says a lot right there.
Nextcast also makes a Fall Favorite mid/long line of 70 ft, 130 total length. That line, on my 15' 8/9, throws the long bomb!
any body on the right side of the Atlantic casting these lines yet? I'd be interested in your experiences.
thanks, Bob
This is my experience with the Nextcast Fall Favorite 45, one of the "next generation" short spey lines that have been turning life upside down lately on American rivers.
I weighed the lines, all were within 10 grains of spec. All were exactly ten grains heavier, which was super cool.
5/6- 510 gr
6/7- 560 gr
7/8- 610 gr
those weights may sound a tad heavy, but read on.
I fished the line under combat conditions, waist deep on the Cowlitz from river right with an upstream breeze. The evening before I cast them from river left at my favorite line testing place. No, not Kamchatka, the Tank Crossing on the Nisqually....
They were cast under a number of different conditions:
snake rolled, doubled, poked, wrapped, singled, spiraled, multi-spiraled, snap-t'd, etc. plus a few the breeze invented for me.
underlined, overlined
small flies, bigger flies, leadeye bunnies
mono/poly leaders
varying % of top/bottom hand power
with cigar/without cigar
before/after brandy flask
...rigorous conditions, I know- but I believe in thorough testing. ;D
BLUF (bottom line up front): buy them, you must have them.
I put the 6/7 on my 13057 Meiser hybrid, the backing knot was in my droploop in a dozen casts. Right about then, I started putting defects into the casts to see what I could get away with.
I put the 5/6 on my 5/6 Deer Creek, guys were standing on the bank saying things like, "you sure have a purty cast". (Seriously, two guys said that.) Backing knot was about five handle turns from out. Not bad for a 12'6". These are 110' lines with a 15' leader.
I put the 7/8 on my 1407 S rod, there were little sounds coming from the boat guys and they started steering clear. Knot was in the guides, and there was a roaring delta, especially with a poked cast.
Needless to say, I was tenting my waders big time. I tried, (and didn't try) to blow casts, and rarely failed to get a turnover (tip diameter approximately comparable to Vector, another revolutionary shorthead). I tried absurd angle changes, underpowered cach hands, the whole nine yards...and they still turned over. There was less wiggle in the top leg than with most lines; tracking was true with straight layout.
When underlined, the rods all still responded well, sort of a scandi on steroids deal from the tip... and the loops still went out, albeit with less authority and distance. I think the line ratings are dead-on accurate for the Meiser-designed tapers I cast them on. The grain measurements belie the belly balance, they feel nowhere near the weight they measure out to. Weight distribution is the real advance in these lines, I think.
Like the Vector, these lines are ideal for the skagit/scandi/skandit caster who wants to broaden horizons a bit and edge into the world of casting bellies more than three rods' length, strip a bit less, and enjoy summer more fully; they are also for the more experienced shorthead caster who wants maximum distance, positive turnover and castability in challenging conditions. Fish short or fish long with the same line.
Castability is at a whole new level of performance than what we've become used to in 'Merrika. A few less hundedths of diameter would be welcome in the running line, but I say that about every line I ever cast.
As an aside, I brought a full-on newb to the river last night, a very nice young man who's been using an AFS to learn on for maybe three sessions. With a little coaching, he was making fishable casts with the head on the 6/7 FF45, and shot some line. That says a lot right there.
Nextcast also makes a Fall Favorite mid/long line of 70 ft, 130 total length. That line, on my 15' 8/9, throws the long bomb!
any body on the right side of the Atlantic casting these lines yet? I'd be interested in your experiences.
thanks, Bob
