Line for Sage Xi2

[spike-2]

I just bought a 9wt rod and would appreciate your suggestions for liines that match with this rod. I will be using the rod for salmon here in MI and stripers in RI. The only other lines I have or have used are the Wulff TT in 8 wt the SA Mastery Striped Bass Floating in 10 wt (works well with a Winston XDLT), Airflo Saltwater Tactical spooled but never used and a 450 grain Orvis Depth Charge which I had a hard time with (probabaly more my casting ability (or inability).

I would greatly appreciate your comments and suggestions.
Thanks
Dave

[peregrines]

Spike-2

You may want to try your 10wt SA M SB Floater on your new 9wt to see how it loads up. I suspect I do the reverse of what you do, mostly striper fishing and some steelhead.

I use a 9wt SA M SB floater for steelhead on my 9wt rplx-i. Not ideal perhaps for stealth using comparatively small steelhead flies, but it works well enough, and I like it for throwing deceivers for stripers. I also use a sink tip from time to time for steelhead.

For stripers, I guess it depends how you fish for them. From shore, a floater or a cold water intermediate would be the way to go. Mono slime lines are great intermediates in the summer, but tend to get wiry in the cold water and air temps in fall, so go with something with a dacron core. (Rio and others offer some newer cold water mono lines that solve this but I haven't used them.)

If you're fishing mostly from boats, I'd go with a sinker like a Rio 350 or an SA Custom Tip.

If you're going to be doing both boat and shore stripers, and had one line, an intermediate cold water would be my choice.

Another option, but one I haven't tried yet, is the RIO coldwater versi tip system with a floating, intermediate and type 3, 6 and 8 sinkers, if you're comfortable with interchangeable heads. It seems like a great steelhead set up and would give you a range of options in one line ... the trade off being the heads may not be the ideal for throwing big flies ... say over 2/0,... but I'd be interested to hear what others who have used them have to say about that.

hope this helps.

peregrines

[eponymous]

I have had the 9 wt Xi2 since it hit the market. Fabulous rod.

Just purchased a Rio Outbound Clear Intermediate line - WF-9-I. I have overloaded the rod in the past but once I got used to it found a 9 wt was typically fine. That said the Outbound series is a tad heavier than most and I have to say I think the rod sings with this line. I do a fair bit of my striper fishing in RI so our haunts will be similar.

You could do a lot worse that this line.

e

[roguefly]

This is a broad question... Are you fishng moving water, stillwater? How deep do you need to get?

[eponymous]

If he is fishing for salmon in MI and stripers in RI he would be fishing moving water or he better expect not to catch anything. Can't speak for salmon, but for stripers an intermediate is a good all around line though a floater and a good sinker will cover it all. If he only has a floater he will still catch fish.