im looking to buy a lighter oufit for river fishing thinking about a greys gs2 or gs with a greys gx500 reel.

are they good?
should i go for 8.6 or 9ft?
#4 or #5 line?
does anyone know if the 4/5/6 spools will fir the 6/7/8/ reel?

have also has shahespeare recommended can anyone tell me which is the better rod

I'll stick my relatively inexperienced neck out here mate just to get this started. If it's a medium sized sort of river, say 20-25 yds across on average; then 8'6 5# would do you nicely. Save your dosh for the line though, Rio Gold or other top end lines will make a world of difference. The little Shakeys are great rods, what you'd save on the rod spend on the line imho

Shakey on e-bay 8ft bids at £9.50 and a fiver post 15hours left great little rods i have one for river work.

shakespeare odyssey xt 2.25m 3 piece fly rod | eBay

or

http://www.lathams-fishing.co.uk/ody...-pid13434.html

£26

I just bought a Shakespeare Trion XT 9ft 4 weight at £39.99 from John Norris; cracking value. I echo the thoughts above regarding getting a good line, check out Barrio and The Pitsford Pirates lines too.

Of course rivers come in all shapes and sizes, but 8 - 9ft, 4 - 5wt is in the right ball park as an all rounder.

A

I have a greys gs2 in 7' 6" #3 and a Shakespeare odyssey in 8' 6" #5 and have to say that they are worlds apart, I dont mean in quality just that the gs2 is a very soft actioned rod and the shaky is like a broom stick compared to it. Personally I prefer a soft actioned rod so I tend to use the gs2 most.
See if you can give both a try first to find out which type youre better suited to.

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“Where the footprints end the fishing begins”

just bought a gs2 9ft #5 from ebay 59.99, thought it was a good deal, brand new.

Nice, like I say mine is a firm favourite when fishing the smaller rivers/streams. Im sure you will enjoy it.

__________________

“Where the footprints end the fishing begins”

That is an interesting rod. Greys and all retailers list it as having a full wells handle. Tell us if they are all wrong? I suspect it has a reversed half wells.

Get outside and try it and report back.

Rusty