I'm looking for a 6 or 7 weight streamer rod. I'm leaning towards the Scott radian, 6 foot without fighting butt, however I'm open to suggestions. Replacing a sage one 6 weight that was stolen.
Love my 9' 6wt Radian, one of the first graphite single-handers I've been excited about in a long time. I have the fighting butt model, but the reel seat is a beauty on the non-fighting Radians.
That's my dilemma. I like the technical benefits of the fighting butt, and it's salt water worthiness.
I love the look of the reel seat on the non fighting butt model.
I see myself realistically fishing salt 3 or 4 more times before I move to Montana. It's just really not my thing. Can't figure it out and get skunked 9/10 times.
If I cast this rod 1000x a year, I might need the benefit of the fighting butt 10x.
I'd rather be able to enjoy the beauty of the rod and seat on the other 9990 casts.
I'm trying my hardest to refrain from making fun of you here Nate....
Do you look at the reel seat when casting?
If you have a fighting butt you can use it to keep the reel and that beautiful reel seat off the ground when you place the rod down anywhere. That would keep the rod beautiful longer.
I find the fighting butt a bit bothersome when casting/landing a fish because it sorta gets in the way. I keep 'feeling it' on my wrist. Plus I do not use that much because I am palming the spool when playing a fish - even with a reel with drag. Probably just my style of fishing...
Depending on where you're planning to fish, a 6wt is on the small side for a dedicated streamer rod. There's a reason fighting butts are included on most streamer rods. If you're talking size 4 buggers on small rivers then a 6wt is fine, but if you're talking big articulated stuff with sink tips, big water, and wind then I'd be looking at 7-8wts (with a fighting butt).
Go 7wt. I bought severals 6wts looking for the perfect streamer rod and now I'm looking at 7wts because they make casting streamers that much easier. Also doubles as a carp rod should you hit up some MT reservoirs.
I'll grant you the "wind" clause in 6 vs 7wts for streamers specifically. My 6wt Scott STS and Loomis GLX Classic will handle any reasonable fly I need. Tossed 4" dual rabbit winged articulated with ease, accuracy, and lightness in hand all day yesterday.
For a dedicated full on streamer rod I would advocate a 7wt. Their an entirely different class of rod and will cover other heavier 'big game' pursuits. For a Trout specific crossover stick though.. a 6wt fresh water style build is hard to beat.
These things do a decent job protecting a butt cap. Admittedly a compromise but better than nothing.
It's all personal preference, try to go cast a few rods side by side . I use a 9'6wt sage one with a rio 15' sink tip line and it throws everything with ease but I feel like the sage one 6wt fishes closer to a 7wt .
Stick with 9ft for a streamer rod. No advantage going longer, and many would argue it would be a disadvantage. I personally think 8ft 6in is the perfect length for a dedicated streamer rod.
Depends on the size of the streamers you plan to throw. I have a Zenith 7 wt and while I really love the rod it's not what I reach for when tossing big uglies.
The meridan is a nice rod And I have casted it and then after seeing the shootout I thought it and the zephrus were better than the #8 rods on the list. But I also think the zenith is much better then the new zephrus , but that's just an opinion.
Haven't been able to cast the radian , but I've heard it's sweet .
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