Brand: CND

Model: Specialist Series Northfork

Length: 13'3"

Line Weight: 8

Action: Traditional - Moderate

Lines Tested: CND Gravity Point 7/8, Sci Angler 6/7 & 7/8 short heads (the old shorter bellied ones), Scierra MWF 13'-13'9" 8/9.

Cosmetics: Light olive green IM-8 blank, fugi strippers followed by stainless snakes and finished with a titanium tip top. Excellent quality cork with a long traditional fore grip. The reel seat is a double locking silver machined aluminum. I love the cosmetics of the rod, beautiful and very well made.

Review: The Northfork is an excellent well rounded rod. I see the Northfork as a winner for the angler who's looking for a

versatile medium water rod. It's perfect for the Great Lake tribs, and rivers on the west coast like the Umpqua, Deschutes, etc.

I used the 6/7 sci angler short head on it and really liked it. The short head lines tend to be heavy, so I like to underline with them. The 7/8
short head was a bit heavy, but cast well. The CND Gravity Point 7/8 and Scierra MWF lines were perfect on it.

The taper is more powerful then the solstice series. However it is still has a traditional feel. It loads beautiful and with the IM-8 graphite,
recover quickly. A fantastic spey. If you have questions about this rod please email me at andrew@eastcoastspey.com I will be happy
to help.

Brand: GUIDEline

Model: LeCie & Watergrip reel SL

Length: 12'6"

Line Weight: 7/8

Action: European Underhand - fast

Lines Tested: GUIDEline 8/9 DH shooting head, 5/6 Windcutter, 6/7 Sci Angler Short head

Cosmetics: Dark blue blank with single foot guides and two standard stripping guides. 12” front grip 4” rear grip with a unique modern aluminum up locking reel seat. The reel is made of aero space aluminum with a unique vented design and a good size drag knob for easy adjustment.

Review: I first heard of GUIDEline when I attended a spey clave and overheard some of the rod reps talking. They mentioned beautiful, powerful rods, great lines and reels. So

Brand: CND

Model: Solstice

Length: 14'3"

Line Weight: 7/8/9

Action: Traditional - Moderate

Lines Tested: 6/7 & 7/8 Sci Angler Short Heads, Hardy Mach I 9/10, CND 7/8 & 8/9, Rio Mid Spey 7/8

Cosmetics: Dark hunter green IM-8 blank, fugi strippers followed by snakes and finished with a titanium tip top. Excellent quality cork with a long traditional fore grip. The reel seat is a double locking silver machined aluminum. The rod is simply beautiful.

Review: This is a fantastic all around spey. The solstice series with its' IM-8 graphite and traditional taper, loads easy and deep, yet recovers extremely quickly to deliver laser loops. My favorite dry line on the rod is the Hardy Mach I 9-10 (the Hardy Mach I 9-10 is lighter

then the average 9-10 spey line). This combo is one I could cast all day without even fishing and never get bored. The Sci Angler Short
heads are also excellent matches for the rod. The 7/8 is perfect and is a line I would recommend for the rod. I also like the SA 6/7 on it.
The 6/7 stiffens the rod up and for a caster who is comfortable getting a load out of a light line, this is a fantastic crisp feel. The CND and
Rio Mid speys are excellent longer bellied lines for the rod.

In terms of casting tips, even though the Solstice is considered a dry line rod, it handles tips with ease. In fact my opinion is that it's an
excellent tip rod. I like cutting the SA short head lines 14' back from the tip. This is an excellent match for the rod. It also delivers skagit
heads extremely well. Any questions about this rod and the lines to go along with it please feel free to email me
at andrew@eastcoastspey.com

Brand: G. Loomis

Model: Roaring Fork Greaseline

Length: 14'

Line Weight: 8/9

Action: Traditional - fast

Lines Tested: Hardy Mach II 9, Partridge 75’ 9/10, SA Short head 7/8, Rio windcutter 8/9/10, Rio Mid 9/10, Carron 9/10, Scierra 9/10 shooting head, CND gravity point 8/9

Cosmetics: GREASED LINE GLX - The Greased Line GLX is crafted with our proprietary GLX graphite along with the finest components available today. Featuring Hopkins and Halloway guides and exquisitely crafted Portuguese cork handles, fitted with a special composite core end-cap and fore-grip. Our exclusive offset-oval sculptured barrel reel seat, each with an ivory style insert engraved with a fly graphic.

Reels: Ross BG6, Lamson Spey, Hardy Perfect 4"

Review: I first saw these rods at the Fly Fishing Show at Somerset NJ in 2004. I was impressed! Loomis really pumped up the cosmetics and
brought us a truly classy looking rod. As stated above, quality components, beautiful olive green blank and nice scrimshaw reel seat. When I
picked up the rod you could feel the sheer power as with all GLX rods.

I have had this rod for two years now and have really put her through the paces. She has been too British Columbia, Newfoundland,
Washington and has performed flawlessly. I have put every one of the lines listed above and every one works outstanding. The line that
probably stands out the most is the CND gravity point 8/9. No matter what cast weather it’s a double, single, snake, snap or underhand
she handles all with authority. Tips no problem!

On a recent trip to Newfoundland I was fortunate enough to hammer grilse and salmon to 10 plus pounds and they were all a blast. She has
the power to cast long lines to 100’ plus but is delicate enough to make a 6lb grilse a real joy to fight. I have to say if there were truly one
rod to own, this would be it. Below is a description of the rod from the Loomis web site. The only discrepancies to their description is the
length you can truly reach. If you have questions about this rod email me at jody@eastcoastspey.com I will be happy to help.

Loomis description: Traditional style spey casters have long enjoyed covering water with floating lines, making long casts without retrieving
after each cast. This 14-foot #8/9 is a medium/light rod within this category. It has a comfort-casting zone of 65 to 85 feet, and is light
enough to make playing fish in the 10lb. range a joy. The rod action is moderate, and powerful. Anglers fishing the Gaspe Peninsula in
Quebec Rivers from a canoe may find this model just the answer to cast to both sides with minimal effort. It handles casting all but the
largest flies with comfort.

Brand: Sage

Model: Z-Axis

Length: 13'6''

Rod Weight: 7 1/8 oz.

Line Weight: 7

Action: Traditional - Fast

Lines Tested: CND Gravity Point 7/8, Sci anglers old style 6/7 450 grain short head, Sci Anglers Skagit 6wt 450 grains.

Cosmetics: She has a beautiful dark green/olive blank with olive wraps. The rod is mounted with standard snake guides and two strippers. The top grip is 12.5” long and the rear is about 5”. The reel seat is up locking black with double locking rings. Very attractive in a two handed rod-loving way.

Review: Do you remember the original 7136 Brownie, in my mind it was kind of a love hate relationship. Some folks thought it was a great
rod and some just couldn’t get it to work no matter what line or stroke they tried. I was the later trying different lines, different hand
positions, stroke, speed and so on and every once in a while I some how found the sweet spot, boom she fired perfectly. So even though
I thought she was beautiful I couldn’t cast her so I had to let her go. WOW! This is starting to sound like a Harlequin Novel; I got to get
back on track.

So back to the Z, I got to tell you what a different scenario. I find her a joy to cast and fish. I was fortunate enough to give her a work out
on the Bell-Irving River in B.C. with Wally at Spey/Boundry lodge. The first line I stung on her was an original Sci Anglers 6/7 short head,
floating tip, 12’ leader and a 1 ¾” copper tube fly. Something I thought was going to be an obstacle to cast but to my surprise unfolded
across the water beautifully. On the run I fished her I used snap t’s, single speys and left handed double speys and all performed great.
This line is truly a perfect match and was one of my favorites. At the end of the run I was lucky enough to tie into a pretty bright 12 lb hen
and the rod performed beautifully making this fish feel great. After that battle I would recommend this rod for fish in the 5 to 20 lb range
making it in my eyes a wonderful all around rod but a super great lakes rod.

The next line I tried was the CND 7/8 60’ head with a type 6 tip, 3’ 15 lb leader and a Waddington Prawn. I fished this set up for a couple
of days and worked both sides of the river using all casts including snake rolls. This rod handled them all beautifully, OUTSTANDING! This
is my favorite line on this rod hands down. On singles I stripped the head to the mid section of the rod and had no problems clearing the
line. This set up rocks and I would take it anywhere anadronomous fish lay. As my 6 years old Grandson Gavin would say “Dudes this is
how I roll”. 

The last line was the Sci Anglers Skagit head and although I have not been able to fish it I gave it a work out on the Z. First impressions
were great! Another line that compliments this rod well performing all casts very easily. I would say that 450 grains at the 45 to 50 foot
length balance this rod nicely. I don’t believe you can go wrong.

That’s all I got for now but keep on the look out cause I will have in my possession very shortly a 6126 and 9143 Z’s. As soon as I put them
through the paces I will let you know my thoughts. If you have any comments or question please write jody_Plonski@yahoo.com.
Currently experiencing some difficulties with my eastcoastspey address.