I was lucky enough get get a first hand look at this new series about 2 months before the official launch date in August, 2019, and immediately know it was going to be special.
The Platinum series has a great run and remained a strong contender in the two hand market for a lot of years. Even as other companies developed newer and lighter materials, the original Platinum held it’s own and was a great option, and probably the best, in the sub $800 price range. Still, over time, it was starting to get dated.
Beulah has been working on this rods development for a couple years before the official launch. Between lengths, tapers, and power range, it takes a lot of work to get things right. The seemed to take the good and bad lessons from the Onyx and put those lessons into the G2. Visually beautiful and they built in an overdrive, which the onyx did’t have. Power on demand.
What they came up with is nothing short of near perfection. Aesthetically, the G2 hit it out of the park. A deep blue blank with matching trim, a beautiful burl reel seat, and silver furniture. It’s perfect. Classy, yet not overdone. The rod is built with a solid titanium stripper guides, and industries finest snake brand guides, the same as found on rods pushing the $1200 price point.
I got my hands on the 13’2″ 7 weight and the 13’8″ 8/9 before going to the Dean, and figured this would be the perfect “sink or swim” test for the new series. If they fail, they will fail catastrophically. Not only in a strength test, but whether or not they are easy to fish for an extended amount of time, and an extended amount of days. It was a big risk, taking rods I have never really had a lot of time on the trip of a life time. There is only one way in, via chopper. If equipment fails, it’s a huge issue that leaves you in steelhead paradise, with nothing to fish with.
I am very happy to report, not only did they all come back in the proper amount of pieces, but they performed flawlessly throughout the entire trip. The 13’2″ 7 weight may be to date in the top (2) – 7 weight speys I have ever fished. Incredibly light in hand, I could hold the rod over rocks, and hold it out to slow down drifts all day with minimal fatigue. The loops I was getting were stupid tight out of the box, and it took all of 5 or 6 casts to adjust fully to the new rod. The feed back you get wile casting is easy to read, meaning, if you blow a cast, you can feel where it came apart easily and adjust accordingly on your next cast. The power band is very impressive as well. When you are waist deep, you can give the rod the power it needs to pull off all the running line from the water, as well as turn the power back a bit when your ankle deep and need to keep a good anchor.
The 7 weight will handle tips up to t-14, but you will get the best performance from T-11 and lighter. The 8 weight will cast up to 12′ of T-17 without breaking down. I never tried T-20, but I would say T-17 is max, you could tell that was about the extent of it. If needed you could grain down the head and put on T-20, but it’s very rare the T-20 is needed or even much more effective than T-17 and a weighted fly in extreme cases.
After playing with a ton of head combos, this is what I found worked best:
7132 Skagit:
Beulah Tonic Switch 525GR
Airflo Scout 510GR with a 12 foot tip
7132 Scandi:
Beulah Elixir Switch 450GR or Spey 450GR with a 14′ floating poly leader
Rio Scandi 3d type II 440GR with a 14′ slow sink poly leader
Airflo Rage 450
8136 Skagit:
Beulah Tonic Spey 575 with a 12′ tip
Airflo Skagit G2 – 570 with a 12′ tip
8136 Scandi:
Beulah Elixir Spey 525 with 14′ floating poly leader
Beulah Aero Head 575 with 14′ poly leader add 3 feet tippet
(with a little practice, the Aero head on the 8 weight will hit the next county)
In short, for a sub $1000 rod, these are top tier. Actually, you can easily spend more on a rod and get less performance. I will easily rate this series in the premium rod category based on performance alone. Price isn’t a factor in my rating system. I have had a few $1000+ rods I could wait to get rid of. The premium rods excel in overall ease of use. The G2 is one of the nicest all around two handed rods to ever hit the market. After 5 days on the Dean, from high dirty water when we showed up, to low and clear on the last day, these rods did everything I needed them to, without a single complaint.