Using heavy weight fly gear from a tube

[Tartantuber]

Need a new fly rod for piking from the tube and am thinking of the Shakespeare Expedition travel rod since have heard good things about them.

Question is:- they are available in 8 & 10 weights - would the 10 be a bit heavy to fish from the tube all day? I don't fish massive flies but some do recommend a 10 weight outfit for pike, although my last rod was a Ron Thompson 7-9 and performed fairly well.
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[flygoddess]

A ten isn't that much heavier than an eight is it? Either one is going to wear on you from fishing it all day, but personally I can't imagine the 10 being that big of a casting difference.
I understand you wanting big guns and I say go for what is going to give you the confidence to muscle from time to time.
I used an eight to fish for wipers, and it did great, but I don't think a 10 would be out of the question.
Do you not feel an eight can land a Pike? Eight is a pretty big gun and used for Salmon and Steelies in river currents.
It is all about the playing the fish and fighting with the BUTT of the rod letting the tip do all the work. And think twice about bracing the rod higher up with the free hand, when pulling a fish. That causes more breaks than anything.
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[Tartantuber]

I've never fished with a 10 wt. even from the bank so can't even imagine what it'd be like in the tube. From what you say it's not very different to an 8? Over here in UK & Ireland some do fish really big flies on 10 wt. outfits for pike with success. Reason for this is size of flies(8-9").

Although I haven't tried it I may do so in future. This got me thinking of the heavy outfit.

OTOH some tubers here reckon a 10 is too heavy to fish from a tube all day. I will be fishing only for pike all day so this may be important.
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[IrishFloatTube]

I've been investigating this over the summer and have a few tentative conclusions/theories which I'll post here for discussion.

One thing about fishing a #10 line .... it compares with a medium weight of lead used in continuous casting. So parallels can be drawn once you know what the equivalent spinning weight would be:
10 metres/30' of no 10 line = 20g/.75 oz.
25 metres/75' = 50g/ almost 2oz.
So this is heavy spinning gear in another form.

Continuing the spinning comparison a bit more:
Casting frequency is greater than spinning/baitcasting.
The final cast is the same, (one final cast per retrieve) but the false casting to lengthen line prior to a final shoot represents extra casts to be made.
If you roll it onto the surface, false backcast back to aerialise it and shoot a bit out, and shoot hard on the forward, that is one rollcast, one backcast and the final cast. Triple the casting work of a spinner/baitcaster.
If you need one more false cast it is quadruple the casts of a spining rod.

Developing the ability to shoot long lengths is highly desirable. It reduces false casting greatly, since the false casts are all about getting more line aerialised, and if you can shoot both forwards, and backwards you do fewer false casts.
This means double haul is the best casting style,because this technique gets the most line out fastest.
If you retrieve it in close, for following fish, a shorter no 12 shooting head could be better than a longer no 10 shooting head which weighs the same, because the shorter SH can be got outside the tip ring quicker, ready to shoot again.
A fast sinking line will be better than a thicker floating line with more air resistance, and fly streamlining assumes importance, from the point of view of conserving energy by less casting.

Having a lower (below the reel) handle extension is desirable to spread the load, dividing it between both arms if one begins to tire, but the day is not over. It will also keep the spinning reel clear of obstructions while fighting fish.
The extension could be removable, although on my rods it is fixed. That would be handy, just pop it on whjen you hook one, or when you want to do 10 mins double handed to give your arm some rest, but without stopping.

For medium range 15-25 metre/yrd casting, a very good trick is to place a wrist strap around your wrist and the rod below the reel, and this moves leverage onto the forearm from the wrist, a major improvement.
On many occasions I have velcroed the storm cuffs of my jacket tight to make an instant wrist strap for the lower fly rod handle. This works very well and increases distance with single handed casting heavy lines by stiffening the arm holding the rod at the application of the power stroke. Without it a little give at the wrist at that moment will reduce distance.

I had an interesting conversation with Del Canty during the summer on the subject of extra large flies for big fish and casting them, and he put me wise to waterproofing of the fly. This means making large flies that shuck the water off on liftoff.
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[macfly55]

have you looked into TFO's min magnum rod.. its a shorter rod (touted to be great for the tube). .. it is a little stiffer so it can handle heavier lines/flies and bigger fish such as pike etc... even though it is a little heavier it is also touted to be a very good rod for smaller fish such as trout and bass.. line for it is between 300 - 400 grains .. just might be a vialble option for your..

here is a picture of a fish caught by one of TFO's staffers (Brandon) using the mini magnum..

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MacFly [cool]
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