Anyone use Allen Fly Rods?

[William Horowitz]

Hi Everyone,

Has anyone had experience with Allen fly fishing gear? I am looking to buy an 8 wt. set up for the coming Shad season and that company caught my eye. Also looking for tips on what line to buy, I am still at the novice fly fishing level over here. 

Thanks!

Will 

[Rob Snowhite]

Allen makes some solid reels. I haven't cast one of their rods since they came out on the market so I can't vouch for them.  They also have some discounts if you search hard enough. 

For line, sink tip from shore, full sink from a boat.

Sent from my iPhone

--
http://www.tpfr.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tidal-potomac-fly-...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tidal-potomac-fly-rodders/6e7c9aee-6c84-4662-93bd-87fa68dc8125%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Steven Butler]

Love my Allen 5 weight Compass combined with ATS reel, I use it all over the area. Great intro setup for someone reasonably sure they want to get serious with fly fishing. If you're still in the very much trying out fly fishing phase you can definitely find cheaper intro options though.

[TurbineBlade]

Rob is spot-on.  most of the folks seem to go by boat, and in that case I'd go with one of the nicer, integrated shooting heads (~30 fast sinking head connected to an intermediate running line).  Those get down extremely fast and give you a very nice "straight line" to feel bites from shad.  Beth and I did very well last season using the 250 gr lines on 7/8 weight old, ugly fiberglass rods. 

Gene

[TurbineBlade]

Meant to add that some of the less expensive "full sinking" lines (other than the integrated shooting head types, like the orvis depth charge) tend to "bow" as the line is heavier further back, and instead of a straight line from rod > fly, you get a sloppy snake. 

You can't feel fish bite through a sloppy snake.  Now there's a maxim you won't hear outside of this forum! 

Gene

[William Horowitz]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I think I am going to pull the trigger and get the 8wt. Compass rod with an Alpha III reel with full sink line (and pray I can get some of those fetchers rentals). 

On Wednesday, February 17, 2016 at 11:48:11 AM UTC-5, William Horowitz wrote:

[TurbineBlade]

If not, get yourself a small plastic bin and a bungee cord or two --

If you've never fished a full sink line on foot, you'll find out why you need one in about 90 seconds. 

Gene

[Parker]

I have two older model Allen rods that are great. Plus the company is really solid. I once poked a blue crab with my Allen rod while fishing the Chesapeake and the crab snipped the top 6" off my rod. Allen sent me a new rod no questions asked and I've learned my lesson about messing with the wildlife. 

On Wednesday, February 17, 2016 at 11:48:11 AM UTC-5, William Horowitz wrote: