My experience applies only to Atlantic Salmon in Europe, and it is a fact for most anglers that salmon caught for the last twenty years weights between 2 and 7 kilos. Very few people got a 10 kg fish or more. So, it comes to be difficult to justify heavy lines (over 9#, for example), and fly's weight will not make a significant difference in the casting (between a 7# or a 10# line, for example). Too, longer casts which are not possible with an 8 feet rod can be envisaged with an 11 feet one, and for most of river sceneries, it will be perfect. Furthermore, I know more anglers looking rather for precision and fly presentation than for distance. All this comes to say that I consider pertinent to fish with an 11 feet double-handed rod (good mid-size average between a classical 8 feet and a 14 feet double-hand one), with an 8# line. We call this a "short-Spey" and it seems it joins your own experience and recommendations as well. What's next ? Well, my guess is that we will face two independent trends: 1/ rod suppliers (USA, EU being more traditional) will propose more "intermediate" rods around 11 feet, and they will focus on the action (towards fast/very fast actions from mid-actions), and 2/ more lines between WF and DT, with new dynamic properties, "pure" sinking lines will probably disappear in a decade and more progressive intermediate lines will be available in he market. But these are my thoughts, not omens. Tight lines.
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