If Nick and I were sitting on your shoulders you would have chronic back pain and be crushed. Nothing wrong with the CT lineup, you have them, you know this is true. It is your money. I can't keep the economy on life support alone!
You could try the G2's in 9'0", but as I wrote earlier, they are sluggish. I recommend that series in 8'8" and 8'4".
Thanks Lugan. I did pick up on what you said, but sluggish is not a well defined term to me. If sluggish means tending even more towards medium action(too much in your case), then maybe it's still in my desired range. Then again, maybe I will rule it out as you did via my blind test. If it ranked high with me, I would find a way to check and see if it has the reserve "punch" that I might need(I think that is where you were going in your reference to being sluggish). This brings up a good point. Do most fly shops accomodate throwing multiple set-ups so that you can really evaluate a "tweener" rod? (I don't want to be "that" guy! But I do want to get it right.) There have been comments posted about all the money one can spend in search of the holy grail. Hopefully, others are benefiting from this discussion along with myself. It could mean less listings in the classifieds however.
thanks for information on the zxl, as i've wondered the same. i love my 389-4 slt, as other's have also mentioned they like this model. when is sage going to come out with more options within the zxl model? a 5 piece zxl would nice. an 8'9'' length in the zxl's would be nice.
I know most of the local fly shops would be happy to let you cast as many rods as you want, they realize that thats one of the big differences between them and the big box stores. You might have to make prier arrangements with some of them if they are in a poor location for testing rods, I'd cast as many as you can. That's one thing I miss about having lots of fly fishing shows.
The way I'd describe it is two-fold: The 9'0" 5wt and 6wt G2 have ever so slightly softer flex than their shorter stable mates, but more important, they also felt tip-heavy to me. They were effective casting machines as far as getting your fly from point A to point B, but just not as much fun to cast as the equally effective and nearly as soft 8'8" and 8'4" rods. The only thing the 9'0" rods did better than the shorter models was roll cast and mend, but you could say that about nearly any longer rod over a shorter rod.
Got it Lugan. Thanks again. mark m... I'll certainly check it out with my local fly shops, but what I really was wondering... Will they be willing to line the same rod multiple times for diverse set-ups, e.g. a dry fly vs. a double weighted nymph rig set-up? You know, in search of the "tweener". Sorry, my ignorance might be showing here. But hey, I am among friends and helpful fly fishers with sage advice to give. (Although a few might be getting grumpy about this time. Probably time to let this thread fade away soon.)
I would have to agree with Scott, taking a reel with line would be a great way to test the rods side by side, with a line you're familiar with, the only down side would be the ground (or parking lot) you would have to cast them on. As far as casting with different set ups, dry, nymph, or even different lines, that might be just about impossible. You'll just have to ask and see how far they'll go get your business. I would just cast with a dry line and and make my decision from that, I think you'll know which one fits you best. Good luck
The other downside is brining a line that is not well-suited to one or more of the rods you are testing.
I recently did a 5 weight shoot out of my own. The end result is I now fish with my new 9' 5 weight ZXL. I threw in a couple of budget rods, the Sage Vantage and the Reddington CPX, to try with a ZXL, a Z-Axis, and Orvis Helios and a Winston BIIx. I was not concerned with price. My goal was to find the rod that felt perfect for me. The budget rods were the first to fall to the wayside. The Helios was lightest, but wasn't nearly as responsive for me. The Winston also seemed to lack a little something. The ZXL and the Z-Axis were quickly the two I narrowed my search down to. They were both amazingly accurate. My casts would go wherever I was looking - every time. The difference as stated is the Z-Axis is a faster, stiffer rod. The ZXL with its progressive taper was a little slower. You can feel the rod load, but the tip doesn't feel like it can't take it. As my friend said, "This aint no noodle." Really it was a dream and It didn't take long to make my decision. I love it.
Haha Ain't that the truth Ed!! Also, if Ed were on one side and I were on the other, there would be no question of "if" you should buy a new rod. The questions would be more along the lines of where in the hell are you gonna store all your stuff???
