mini "shootout": sage, hardy, st croix

[luckydude]

Just came back from a little trip to Lassen and I'm getting ready to go float the south fork of the Flathead. So I was out in the pasture casting the candidates for taking along.

Hardy Zenith 5wt 9' w/ Lamson LP 1.5, Rio Wf5F
Sage RPL 5wt 9' (~20 years old) same reel/line setup
St Croix Legend Ultra 4wt 8.5' Lamson LP 1, Rio WF4F
St Croix Imperial 4wt 8' Lamson LP 1, Rio WF4F
Sage Vantage 3wt 7 Forbes Magnesium, RIO WF3F

All the lines were less than 4 years old, in good shape. All had 9 foot leaders plus some tippet.

What I was trying to see was how well they cast at a distance. For me, that's about 55' not counting the leader.

Winner, with no comparison, was the Hardy. It feels heavy to cast but the rod and line feel like one continuous fluid thing, all connected. Don't know how to describe it other than fluid.

The Sage RPL 5wt held up surprisingly well for a 20 year old rod. I was ready to sell it before this, I think I'll keep it as a backup. A hardy it ain't but it's a decent rod.

The Sage Vantage 3wt was my second favorite rod to cast, it's so light, especially with that 2.2 ounce reel. Unless you are going into the wind, the 3wt cost me around 9 feet. Pretty amazing it could do that well. Into the wind, the Hardy smoked everyone.

The St Croix's are really weird to cast after casting the other ones. They are far more whippy and require me to change my casting style. I can get used to it but it's a hiccup after casting one of the other ones. I think these are going to become rods for the wife and kids. I've got several of them and the shorter they are the better I like them, which is a pattern I've seen. You can get away with a cheap short rod, works fine in the brush, but when you want some distance the blank really matters. Wow! News flash, eh?

Anyway, if I were made out of money I think I'd have the Hardy in 5 and 7 weight, Sage Vantage in 3, and be looking for a 3wt in 7.5 or 8'.

I had (have when it gets back) a Sage Z-axis 5wt 9' and it was not as powerful as the Hardy, that thing is a bullet. The sage felt lighter to cast but didn't push the line as much.

I'd be interested in hearing from other people what they like, I'm easing back into fly fishing and like most old people, have more money than time and like tools that work well. The Hardy works well for me but what works well for you?

[LNelson]

It is fun casting a bunch of rods of different tapers side by side. It gives you an idea of how diverse tapers are and how one might fit your internal cadence more so than others. I have had the opportunity to cast several hundreds of fly rods over the years. Mostly graphite, but in recent times my attention has turned to fiberglass, both modern and vintage. Only a very few have made such an impression on me that I would never sell them. The rod that will be buried with me is a Thomas and Thomas Special Dry Fly 8ft 4wt from the 80's, nothing developed since has improved upon it. Another rod that I wish I owned is a Harry Wilson Scott F79 yellow fiberglass. More recent rods that have caught my attention are the Sage SP 8'9" 5 piece extra tip series and the Z Axis 6 and 7 wts.

[luckydude]

The thing I noticed is that I divided the rods into 2 groups, the ones I liked to cast and the ones I didn't. It appears that I like fast rods, but the Hardy is fast with a soft tip. That rod is amazing in your hand, you feel like everything is connected.

The St Croix's, which I used to love, just don't cut it. They are not bad, in fact, I moved from the Sage RPL to a St Croix Ultra Legend as my primary rod. You can get used to how they cast and short distance they are quite pleasant. But I was trying to see how I could hit the target at a longer distance. The faster rods won.

Another thing I noticed (bear in mind I'm no casting expert, in fact I suspect 80-90% of you are better than me) is that when I was casting the Hardy the loop maintained itself. When I was casting a lot of line with the St Croix's the loop frequently collapsed towards the end of the cast and wrapped back on itself. That might be all my technique (lack thereof, though I am teaching myself the double haul, I've been single hauling on the backcast only for decades) but whatever, if the rod helps, the rod helps.

I can't say enough good stuff about that Hardy. I'll go out and play with the Z axis when that comes back from Sage but I'm pretty sure the Hardy will be my goto 5wt for years. Decades probably. I doubt I'll buy a replacement for that rod in my lifetime.

[LNelson]

The collapse you are referring to is a tailing loop usually caused by over powering the forward cast. When casting rods of different tapers and starting with a very fast rod it is easy to keep the same tempo when switching to a slower rod and ending up overpowering that rod. In short, you need to adjust the casting stroke accordingly. Just for a test, try casting the St Croix first and then switch to the Hardy and see if you notice a difference.