[A.A.]

Wish he made single handers.

He makes a 9'9" switch. That could make an awesome single hander!

 

[SpeySpaz]

I'm still foaming at the mouth waiting to try the Gen III 13' MKS and the 16' Highlanders, Bob says they're "scary light".
I have the 16' 8/9 MKS and it is hard to describe. An incredibly powerful yet forgiving stick and the tip, oh that tip!
Hoo Hoo, we'll be eating beans again for awhile...

 

[A.A.]

I'm still foaming at the mouth waiting to try the Gen III 13' MKS and the 16' Highlanders, Bob says they're "scary light".
I have the 16' 8/9 MKS and it is hard to describe. An incredibly powerful yet forgiving stick and the tip, oh that tip!
Hoo Hoo, we'll be eating beans again for awhile...

Got out for an hour to practice today. I was a little worried before going that I wasn't going to like it, or that my casting would be horrible because I've only used a Spey rod and everyone says casting a switch takes some getting used to. A friend let me borrow Airflo Skagit switch lines in 450 and 480. I tried the 480 today based on Meiser's recommendations. I put 10' of T-8 and a big heavy lead eye intruder type fly. "Scary light" is the truth. My 8.5oz reel was a little too heavy for this rod.
The casting was effortless. I worked out line and ended shooting as much line as I would with my 12'6" 7wt Sage One. The longest I usually fish with my Spey would be 12 pulls of about 2.5' each, then I hold 3 loops under my pinkie finger. Today I was able to cast this amount with ease. That's about 30' of shooting line + 20' head + 10' sink tip + 4' leader = 64' . I'm not that great of a caster, but I can say I could cast this almost as far as my other rod with less effort. Now I get what Meiser means when he says mid flex with fast speed of recovery. That's exactly what it does. You just load it right and the rod fires away. I was having way too much fun with this thing. Maybe I need to line up a little on my Sage to try to get a deeper flex out of it. Don't get me wrong, the Sage One is an amazing rod, but this little 7 wt Meiser switch is crazy good. I can't imagine what these 8-15lb steelhead will feel like on this thing. I'm going to try 10' of T-14 on it next, and also play with the 450 gr Skagit switch. I'm assuming the 480 would handle the T-14 a little better than the 450. But I wonder if the 450 with 10' of T-11 might be the magic combo for this rod. I'll have to pick one up, only have it in 12.5' at the moment.

 

[Robert Engleheart]

Now that you are a Meiser owner, there's no better place to ask these questions than to call the shop, talk to either Bob or Steve Godshall. They know these rods and if you tell them what your goals are, they'll save you a lot of time. Same goes for other brands, but being as they designed and built these rods, why would anyone else have better knowledge of what works or doesn't? Hella nice guys to boot.

 

[Robert Engleheart]

Case in point: I fished the Rogue early February with a guide who showed me the benefits of a sinking scandi (or Skagit) this past February. I decided I wanted one so I stopped at Meiser and met Steve. We discussed the merits of Scandi/Skagit/sink rates, etc. and he said he'd make me up on that evening (it was already 4:30 p.m.). I stopped in next morning at 7:30 and he poured some fresh coffee and handed me a new line, $50. It's sweet, 27' scandi, 402 grains, floating end, tapering to a hover then intermediate sink body. I know this is the best match for this rod, any issues I might have are going to be my fault.

 

[A.A.]

Case in point: I fished the Rogue early February with a guide who showed me the benefits of a sinking scandi (or Skagit) this past February. I decided I wanted one so I stopped at Meiser and met Steve. We discussed the merits of Scandi/Skagit/sink rates, etc. and he said he'd make me up on that evening (it was already 4:30 p.m.). I stopped in next morning at 7:30 and he poured some fresh coffee and handed me a new line, $50. It's sweet, 27' scandi, 402 grains, floating end, tapering to a hover then intermediate sink body. I know this is the best match for this rod, any issues I might have are going to be my fault.

That's awesome! I did bug Bob about the lines once. He pretty much said a short Skagit around 475 would be best. I have heard from a couple people that their line recs are slightly on the heavy side. But I'm sure that is personal preference. At least I know the 480 grain Skagit switch works great. I'll play around a little more with the other combos of lines and heads. River is blown out right now, great time to practice and tweak the setup.

 

[DH Drifter]

Loved reading others comments about the rods, and more importantly, the men behind this great customer service. Yes, I'm a fan of both Bob and Steve and have rods built by both.

Bob's grain windows are wide and I can throw a 510-570 skagit on my 136678 HC without changing my casting stoke. These are very powerful rods and you will benefit from a nice, high, stop.

I have one of Bob's newer 11'9 7 weights I the S series...ridiculous how light, powerful, and enjoyable this rod is to fish. I have a BC Scandi on this rod that will throw poly leaders and some decent T material when needed and is truly a perfect small river steelhead rod.

I enjoy the journey when ordering from these guys...the memories from going down to the shop are precious.

DH

 

[fredaevans]

Yes Roberts blanks come from over seas, but they are his tapers designed by him.

Rods are built out in his shop in Centeral Point Oregon (tad north of Medford). He share a large space with Steve Godshall the best custom line builder in the US. When it comes to the line be ready for a bit of an 'involved' conversation because he builds the line for a specific rod, your casting style, where you are going to fish and for what.

He does have 'total line' systems for a bit over $100.00 but the 'wallet' covers just about any place/thing you're going to fish for.