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Allen Olympic Spey

Spey 
5K views 34 replies 14 participants last post by  Ian Broadie 
#1 ·
Looking at the Allen Olympic Spey rod in a 6 or 7wt. Anyone have any experience with it? I would be using it for swinging for Steelhead, My current 8wt Loop seems a little too stiff for the size of fish in the river. Looking for something with a bit softer flex to it to even out the fight. My concern with going to the 6wt is that it would be too light of a rod for steelhead. i currently use a 6wt switch for bass fishing and could not imagine using it for the medium sized river for larger steelhead.
 
#2 ·
Hi Mort, and welcome to the Asylum. ;)

Think you may posted up a similar question 'elsewhere,' so this may just be a repeat of what you've already read. Rod choice is dependent on three major things. (Yes, yes, there are others too.) Size of and flow rate of the water, size of the fish you expect, and the size of the fly you want to chuck. Is a 6 or 7 too light for normal Steelhead fishing? Not in the least ... save for you're on the Skagit or Thompson (well, BIG WATER). There you need a rod with lots of 'umph.'

Normal flows, etc., you'll find that a 6wt is fine for lower water work (summer/fall) and you'll need to 'bump it up a bit' come winter/spring. With that in mind .... you can only go with one new rod ... take a 7. You can handle one hell of a fish on a 7wt 2hander.

Simi rule of the thumb is a given weight on a two hander is (roughly) two line weights over the same number in a 1hander. And by looking at the grain weights used to load one vs the other, that appears to have merit in most cases.

Fred
 
#4 ·
Hi Mort, and welcome to the Asylum. ;)

Think you may posted up a similar question 'elsewhere,' so this may just be a repeat of what you've already read. Rod choice is dependent on three major things. (Yes, yes, there are others too.) Size of and flow rate of the water, size of the fish you expect, and the size of the fly you want to chuck. Is a 6 or 7 too light for normal Steelhead fishing? Not in the least ... save for you're on the Skagit or Thompson (well, BIG WATER). There you need a rod with lots of 'umph.'

Normal flows, etc., you'll find that a 6wt is fine for lower water work (summer/fall) and you'll need to 'bump it up a bit' come winter/spring. With that in mind .... you can only go with one new rod ... take a 7. You can handle one hell of a fish on a 7wt 2hander.

Simi rule of the thumb is a given weight on a two hander is (roughly) two line weights over the same number in a 1hander. And by looking at the grain weights used to load one vs the other, that appears to have merit in most cases.

Fred
Great info Fred. Thanks.
 
#6 ·
I like that rod a lot as well and it's probably the darling of the line.

I also have the 12' 5wt and the 13'6" 8wt and enjoy both quite a bit. As a note the entire line is a touch on the soft side but not so much as to make them "noodley" which makes them really nice Skagit rods.

The 5wt can handle steelhead just fine so, depending on the size of the river, you shouldn't go wrong with either the 6 or 7 wt.

Thanks,
 
#12 ·
I just built a 6wt for a lady friend tested it out on the snake and grand rhonde. I didn't have the correct scandi line for it but it fished decently with the one I had (AFS 7/8 wt) I tried a bunch of skagit short heads from 420-600 grains and didn't like any of them, I felt the rod was too soft and the head was too short. I'd say the 6 wt is definately a skandi stick, perfect for summer runs on dry lines. I imagine it'd also excell fishing lighter longer skagit lines. I think I'd really love it for mousing too.

here's a shitty pic of my build
 
#18 ·
Repeating myself here, but when you settle down on 'which rod' the next guy you want to call is Steve Godshall here in Medford, Oregon. Steve builds custom cut lines for 2handers (gather he may do the same for one handers). There probably isn't a 2hander built that he doesn't have the true spec's on same. What gets painted on the blank has damned little to do with much. Had the chance to see his reference book (all self generated numbers) and it had hundreds of rods listed.

That "7" could be a 6.8 or a 7.3 and line wise it makes a heck of a difference. Add to that he works in where you fish (type of water), what fish you'll be chasing, and your casting style. You and I have exactly the same rod, would be unusual if you and I got the (exact) same line. Best yet, it will not cost you a dime more than something off the shelf.

Lines can be ordered as 'just a head,' as a full line (with colour changes so you know the casting point vis a vis the rod tip), etc. On one of mine, knowing the rod length he spliced in a complete colour change in the top13-9 of the shooting line. Next cast? Just bring the 'orange bit' down to the cork. No looking at the rod tip, no fuss, just strip in to 'there' and let her rip.

fae
 
#20 ·
Repeating myself here, but when you settle down on 'which rod' the next guy you want to call is Steve Godshall here in Medford, Oregon. Steve builds custom cut lines for 2handers (gather he may do the same for one handers). There probably isn't a 2hander built that he doesn't have the true spec's on same. What gets painted on the blank has damned little to do with much. Had the chance to see his reference book (all self generated numbers) and it had hundreds of rods listed.

That "7" could be a 6.8 or a 7.3 and line wise it makes a heck of a difference. Add to that he works in where you fish (type of water), what fish you'll be chasing, and your casting style. You and I have exactly the same rod, would be unusual if you and I got the (exact) same line. Best yet, it will not cost you a dime more than something off the shelf.

Lines can be ordered as 'just a head,' as a full line (with colour changes so you know the casting point vis a vis the rod tip), etc. On one of mine, knowing the rod length he spliced in a complete colour change in the top13-9 of the shooting line. Next cast? Just bring the 'orange bit' down to the cork. No looking at the rod tip, no fuss, just strip in to 'there' and let her rip.

fae
Good post Fred!

It seems Steve has figured out some consistent formula to tailor different lines to a designed rod. That said, a trained hand can cast variety of lines by adjusting different casting strokes... but it's really cool to see many people appreciate the good work from the line wizard! : )
 
#22 ·
You say you don't know why it broke, so why bother posting about it? Rods break all the time due to poor handling and long casting sessions with loose ferrules. Allen has a great warranty and I'm sure they'd like to hear from your friend about any issues with his rod. Mine has been great.
 
#23 ·
You say you don't know why it broke, so why bother posting about it? Rods break all the time due to poor handling and long casting sessions with loose ferrules. Allen has a great warranty and I'm sure they'd like to hear from your friend about any issues with his rod. Mine has been great.
Well I am glad yours is great, but my buddy takes good care of his stuff and he knows how to check and set up a rod. The first time the rod was taken out of the tube by him it broke, just saying. I am not trying to knock allan at all. I dont know about there warranty and I do not have experience with that company. I am sure it is good and I have heard nothing but good things about Allen ( except my buddy). That being said i think a broken rod right off the bat sucks and could be relevant to a person shopping new rods. Take it for what it is worth and dont take an unfavorable review personal
 
#24 ·
Sooner or later rod will break, wether it is under normal use, or abuse. The only rod won't break is the one did not get fished. This is the reason you need a good company to take care of the repair or replace. That's said I still take the potential hassle to fish my CND rod ( no longer provide service on the n.a.). I consider that is the price to pay if the unfortunate finally arrives. So does other vintage rods I owned and fished. There is no complain here...life is too short to not fish good rods! Allen has a great service BTW.
 
#28 ·
I am the poor sap that had the allen olympic break on me. Here are the facts. I purchased this rod from allen about 6months ago, it sat patiently in the case waiting for me to scratch up the dough for a reel and line. Upon completion of said scratching, I signed up for one of the clinics that avid angler does up at ben howard. About 15 minutes into the lesson the tip section shattered for no apparent reason. This had to have been a manufacturer defect or something similar. In all my days I have never had a rod break on me in such a fashion. Of course it was heartbreaking, but Evan Burck from Allen immediately put me at ease.. He responded to my text very promptly, and offered to make it right with no questions asked. The new rod section is on it's way as we speak. I have since read many reviews on the olympic and have found no sad tales like mine. I am chalking this one up to a fluke. These things happen. I have an allen ats 4w that I am very happy with, and I cannot see how Allen could've handled this situation any better. In my humble opinion their customer service is outstanding, and that goes a long way in my book. Shit Happens, right? It is how a company handles situations like this that really matter. Evan was very sypathetic and apologetic and I believe, very genuine.
 
#29 ·
I am the poor sap that had the allen olympic break on me. Here are the facts. I purchased this rod from allen about 6months ago, it sat patiently in the case waiting for me to scratch up the dough for a reel and line. Upon completion of said scratching, I signed up for one of the clinics that avid angler does up at ben howard. About 15 minutes into the lesson the tip section shattered for no apparent reason. This had to have been a manufacturer defect or something similar. In all my days I have never had a rod break on me in such a fashion. Of course it was heartbreaking, but Evan Burck from Allen immediately put me at ease.. He responded to my text very promptly, and offered to make it right with no questions asked. The new rod section is on it's way as we speak. I have since read many reviews on the olympic and have found no sad tales like mine. I am chalking this one up to a fluke. These things happen. I have an allen ats 4w that I am very happy with, and I cannot see how Allen could've handled this situation any better. In my humble opinion their customer service is outstanding, and that goes a long way in my book. Shit Happens, right? It is how a company handles situations like this that really matter. Evan was very sypathetic and apologetic and I believe, very genuine.
Did the rod tip break at the ferrule? If it did one of the most common calamities when learning to cast a two handed fly rod is to loosen the top ferrule while getting the motions down. With the amount of energy stored in a rod at the time of the forward stroke if there is a weak spot (loose ferrule in this case) rather than transferring the energy in to the cast the energy will be transferred to the weakest point, the loose ferrule, and bam broken rod tip.
 
#32 ·
Relax, I don't talk shit on forums and what I posted was very straight cut; I don't like to see people post vague rumors, hearsay, or misinformation about companies I like. It wasn't your rod and you didn't have any relevant info, but your friend cleared it up and is satisfied with the resolution. Simple.

Edit:
I don't feel the need to PM you about your post, nothing more to say as you still believe that your first post was worthwhile. Go back, read your first post, and see if you can discern some sort of public service message of any value. I couldn't and am making the point that a vague warning of "...something to think about" and then your second statement that "... a broken rod right off the bat may be relevant to a person shopping for new rods" is not merited.
 
#33 ·
Relax, I don't talk shit on forums and what I posted was very straight cut; I don't like to see people post vague rumors, hearsay, or misinformation about companies I like. It wasn't your rod and you didn't have any relevant info, but your friend cleared it up. Simple.
1) Rod did break so it was not a vague rumor, or misinformation
2) I said very clearly the I doubt the rod breaking is a problem with all allen rods ("I am sure it is good and I have heard nothing but good things about Allen")
3) you had no relevant information what so ever to the thread, and all you said was about my post.

Now like I said why dont you just PM me so we stop hi jacking this guys thread
 
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