I used to own a Gillum Lt Salmon, 8'6" 2 pc for 8 wt line. Casting 100' was common but I could not break 120', my friend runs a fly shop and builds bamboo rods and he could cast it just under the 135' of the line it held. When I went to Camp Sherman in 2005 I met David Roberts a fly tyer and guide, he is an elegant caster so we asked David to cast Boom (the nickname for the Gillum) he didn't take but a few test casts then launched a 157.5' bomb, we were all mighty impressed.