Dan Craft beach rod

[Matthew Joyce]

How is the FT 907-4 as a summer coho beach rod? Would the 1008-4 be a better choice. The 9 footer is a super fast rod, but the 10 footer has the length advantage. How do they compare? I'm up in BC and I would be fishing some of the Vancouver Island beaches.

[Matthew Joyce]

I suppose I should also clarify. I am new to beach fishing. I am guessing the longer rod is used to clear the back cast and cast farther. The 9 footer being more of a cannon, would the increased line speed negate the effect of the missing foot?

[Jim Fitz]

Matt,

I have the 10' 7 wt. 4 piece FT that I mainly built for beach fishing. I have not cast the 9' FT but am certain that you are correct that the FT is very fast and the 10 footer slower, relatively speaking. I posted your same question on rodbuilding.org when making my decision and was given the feedback that the length outweighs the rod "fastness" if you looking to cast farther. That was the 2 cents I received anyway.

I also use this rod on rivers and was wading the Checkamus on Monday.:thumb:

As I built for shooting line off the beach, I went with ceramic guides. I also put on a reel seat that allows a couple of fighting butt options to "switch" to a little spey action.

Also, if you post your question in the rod building section of the forum, you might also pick up some views on Dan's rods in general.

Good luck.

Jim

[Matthew Joyce]

I have the 9 footer already, but a buddy has expressed interest in the rod. I may sell him the FT907-4 and go with the FT1008-4 instead. Interesting about the Cheakamus (I am assuming you meant the river near Squamish, BC). How did you make out? I would consider that one of my favorite rivers, although the Squamish R. has usually been more generous to me. I was going to be up there on Monday myself but I had car trouble. Small world.

How does the FT1007-4 handle sink tips and heavy flies?

[Jim Fitz]

Matt - yes the Cheak near Squamish. I also fished the Squamish on Tuesday. I didn't have much luck. I hooked into what I believe was a bull trout (not all that big) on my first cast on Tuesday and thought - damn, this is going to be a good day. That was my last hookup.

There was a fair number of fishermen on the Cheak. I ran into this older fellow who generously showed me some of the better spots for bulls and most of them had guys working the runs. My main problem is that I only have a Rio Outbound intermedate for the FT1008-4. Great line for the beach, not so much for deeper swift rivers. So I can't tell you how the rod does with very heavy tips. I believe it would do fine. Tuesday I switched to spey rod with a type six tip. Wish I would have had that on the Cheak. It is a big enough river down to justify a spey. Up above not so much so.

A couple of interesting things - I have my license checked by a game warden (or whatever you call them up there) - first time since about 1980. Also, a guy at the Whistler fly shop advised to keep my eyes open on the Squamish. A few grizzlies in the area.

Jim

[DeanHosh]

I used to think longer rods ment casting farther. Then I got a 7.5 rod of Bamboo and was casting 65 feet without much effort. Hmmmm. Then got an 8 foot rod (again Bamboo) and it was shooting out close to 80' consistently and with easy. I went back to my 9.5' loomis, which I thought was great at the time and it was a struggle to shoot 70 feet. So I would be more concerned about the action of the rod than the length.

Cast both. Sometimes fast action rods, depending on the person, are harder to cast as they require more precision in the stroke. Me I need a medium action rod that provides a lot of dampening in the tip but will flex into the butt section just enough to give it that extra power.

Just 2 cents or 2.28 cents CAN.

Dean

[Matthew Joyce]

The Cheakmus is almost always crowded (relatively speaking) at this time of year on weekends and holidays. Last time I was up in Squamish, I had a hit at my feet as I was stripping out my line for a cast, the only hit of the day, in some unlikely water. I've never seen a griz up there but I've seen big bear tracks, though not clear enough to see whether it had claw imprints indicating a grizzly. Also moose tracks, which surprised me a bit.

I've thought about building the 6/7 Forecast spey but I can't afford a brand set up at the moment. Also I doubt the spey would perform well on the beach, but I may be wrong. The FT1008-4 seems like it would serve many purposes. It looks like it would be able to mend line easier, cast farther, at least wading in deep water and maybe even play fish a little better being longer and more limber.

PS we call them CO's- conservation officers.