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Gary Champion
Cornwall-based Gary
has fly-fished for 40
years and became a
casting instructor
13 years ago. He
holds the AAPGAI
Master qualification
in all disciplines and
is part of the AAPGAI
assessment team.
He also holds the
American FFF Master
instructor qualification
and fishes for salmon
in the UK, Ireland,
Canada, Iceland,
Spain and America.
Jim Curry
Jim is a fly-fishing
instructor from Ilkley,
Yorkshire and partner
in the Halstead and
Bolton Sporting
Agency. He has
taught fly-casting for
more than 20 years
and is an AAPGAI
Master instructor
and part of the
AAPGAI assessment
team. Jim fishes for
salmon and sea-trout
throughout the UK,
plus Iceland, Norway
and Argentina.
Airflo Airlite
Nan-Tec
£289.99
A three-piece 9/10-weight rod
with overfit joints. Natural
carbon blank and black
whippings. Two stripping
rings, nine snake intermediate
rings and a hayfork tip ring.
23 in cork/composite cork
handle. Downlocking screw
reel fitting with two locking
nuts. Keeper ring. Cloth bag
and cloth-covered tube with
handle and carrying strap.
Guideline Exceed
(13 ft 7 in)
£289.99
A four-piece 9/10-weight rod
with overfit joints. Olive blank
and whippings. Two stripping
rings, nine snake intermediate
rings and a hayfork tip ring.
21 in cork/EVA handle.
Downlocking screw reel fitting
with two locking nuts. No
keeper ring. Cloth bag and
cloth-covered tube with
carrying strap.
throughout its length, gradually
bending into the butt section as force is
increasingly applied. A tip action means
that most of the flex occurs in the rod’s tip
and the lower section doesn’t flex easily.
Generally, the progressive action is
favoured as it is most likely to be able to
cast lines of all types: from short
shooting head to full sinker.
With the proliferation of salmon
fly-lines in recent years (shootings heads,
skagits, multi-tips and spey tapers of
many different lengths), our testers
believe, in common with many other rod
designers and casting experts, that AFTM
line-weight ratings have limited use when
matching the correct line to a doublehanded
rod. There is simply far too
much variation in the casting weights
of different lines that share the same
AFTM line rating.
A more accurate rod rating, they
argue, is for fly-line head weights to be
measured in grams or grains, which
though more elaborate, ensures a better
match – surely desirable given the
cost of modern lines.
The lines used in this test were:
speylines – Carron Jetstream 65 ft
10 wt and 65 ft 9 wt; shooting heads –
Rio AFS 38 gram, MacKenzie DTX 42
gram, and Guideline Shortcut DC hover/
intermediate 36 gram, each with Airflo
Ridge Extreme 30 lb running line;
sinking line – Snowbee Scandinavian
Spey ultra fast sink, 40 gram.
To be a true all-rounder and alternative
to the 15-footer, the 14 ft rods must be able
to roll up a full sinking line.
GAry’s comments
This rod has a progressive action. It is
perhaps a little stiff for my taste
but flexes deeply down the
blank and recovers quickly.
It coped with all the lines we tried,
whether shorter, gentler casts or more
aggressive strokes. It feels nice in the
hand; balanced. A nice cork handle and
matt-black finish. There’s only one
drawback: it’s a three-piece rod and
therefore less portable.
Jim’s comments
I would be very happy to fish with this. It
is very user-friendly, comfortable to cast
and I would recommend it to my clients.
You don’t have to work hard or fight it like
you do with some rods. I can create nice
tight loops and I can be accurate and
precise in the delivery. It is good with all
the lines, although may lack just a little
power with the sinker.
I like the slim handle.
Airflo
tel: 0871-911-7045;
web: www.airflofishing.com
GAry’s comments
The Exceed is not as tippy as previous
Guideline rods. It’s a nice rod but I get on
best with it when I lengthen and slow
down my stroke. I don’t like it as much as
Jim does, although with it I can still cast
a good long line with nice loops. When I
try a shorter stroke normally associated
with a shooting head I get a bit of bounce
in the tip section. It is very good with the
sinking line, probably because the longer
stroke required smoothes things out.
RECOMMENDED
Jim’s comments
This rod fits me like a glove. I liked it
instantly. It suits my longer stroke.
Accelerate smoothly and don’t push it too
hard. It’s responsive and offers plenty of
feel. I was able to create nice loops with
the spey lines and it was equally good
with the shooting heads. Rolling up the
sinker was effortless.
Guideline
tel: 0780-2508-483;
web: www.guideline.no.en
www.trout-and-salmon.co.uk April 2012 77