Jump to content

What's the pick of 'value' rods these days?

Rate this topic


JRT

Recommended Posts

On 3/27/2022 at 6:23 PM, Mike Oliver said:

Sorry not aware of them. Let us know what you think please.

Stickman blanks are made in Spain - rods built in Hungary.

Owner of Stickman used to be partners with Paul Arden (Sexyloops) a decade ago.

 

Hey Mike,

I bought a Sexyloops blank - #8 - to try - and to compare to my CTS'

Had to try it with all the good things coming out of Sexyloops.

Will take it to RI in May to test.

Herb

Edited by HL
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, HL said:

Stickman blanks are made in Spain - rods built in Hungary.

Owner of Stickman used to be partners with Paul Arden (Sexyloops) a decade ago.

 

Hey Mike,

I bought a Sexyloops blank - #8 - to try - and to compare to my CTS'

Had to try it with all the good things coming out of Sexyloops.

Will take it to RI in May to test.

Herb

Herb, researching a new 8wt build. Could you give me the blank wt of the sexyloop and the CTS X....thanks

Edited by surfrat59

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, surfrat59 said:

Herb, researching a new 8wt build. Could you give me the blank wt of the sexyloop and the CTS X....thanks

Hi surf...

The CTS Affinity-X blank weighs 1.9 Oz.

The Sexyloops blank is already built - so can't give un-built weight.

I will say, however, that the Sexyloops rod has a noticably heavier swing-weight built with the same components.  More like the CTS Affinity-X #10.

But, this is to be expected - one of CTS' claim to fame is their light swing -weight.

The Affinity-X #8 is faster than the Sexyloops.

Affinity-X #8 has a firmer mid / butt section(s).

The Sexyloops #8 has a less firm mid / butt section(s).

 

None of the above makes one a better rod than the other - except perhaps the swing-weight.

 

Paul Arden (Sexyloops) purposed the more flexible mid section on purpose to provide a slightly different action than you would eperience with the CTS X series.

 

Except for the higher swing-weight of the Sexyloops - and, I guess, the much higher price of the Sexyloops - I think I will enjoy using it.

Herb

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 08/04/2022 at 4:36 PM, HL said:

Stickman blanks are made in Spain - rods built in Hungary.

Owner of Stickman used to be partners with Paul Arden (Sexyloops) a decade ago.

 

Hey Mike,

I bought a Sexyloops blank - #8 - to try - and to compare to my CTS'

Had to try it with all the good things coming out of Sexyloops.

Will take it to RI in May to test.

Herb

Herb,

 

I kinda understand that. But you have your own specials which are a bit special.

These days I don’t have much truck with slow rods or even medium fast unless for speciality fresh water rods.

The new Sage R8 looks very interesting but until I get my hands on one I will reserve judgement.

One day honestly I will build that 9’ I think it was a 9 wt you gave me. My life has been turned upside down this past two years and time has been at a real premium.

Now that is a really quick stick.

 

mike.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Mike Oliver said:

Herb,

 

I kinda understand that. But you have your own specials which are a bit special.

These days I don’t have much truck with slow rods or even medium fast unless for speciality fresh water rods.

The new Sage R8 looks very interesting but until I get my hands on one I will reserve judgement.

One day honestly I will build that 9’ I think it was a 9 wt you gave me. My life has been turned upside down this past two years and time has been at a real premium.

Now that is a really quick stick.

 

mike.

Mike,

I like to build on other manufacturers blanks as a comparrison to the CTS'.

Like Dan Craft, before he "retired", Gatti (Italian), Sage, T&T. NFC.

But I rarely, if ever, fish them.

 

The custom blank you have is an FSA909-4.  It is slower than the Affinity-X.  But much more powerful.  Just like your TH Special Custom - you have to put guides on it to know it's true capability. It does have to be uplined, however.

Herb

Edited by HL
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok Herb I understand that problem only too well. I just have to know to.

This equates to increased knowledge and brings huge added value when discussing blanks and rods with potential customers. This acquisition is not cheap as you and I both know. My retail weakness is for rod blanks. Speaking with Guide Flyfishing who are the distributors for Sage in the UK blank lead times are not possible to predict currently. I do hope that Sage continue to make blanks available. At this stage of my life I am not prepared to rebuild a brand new rod to how I really want it.

Never got my hands on a Gatti or Dan Craft. These are blanks pretty much unheard of in the U.K.

You must try the new Sage R8. When I have the cash I would love to try the 9 and 10 wt Ignitor for the surf. I have the 6 wt in this series and it is a fantastic rod. Very very quick and powerful but an easy rod to cast.

mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Mike Oliver said:

Ok Herb I understand that problem only too well. I just have to know to.

This equates to increased knowledge and brings huge added value when discussing blanks and rods with potential customers. This acquisition is not cheap as you and I both know. My retail weakness is for rod blanks. Speaking with Guide Flyfishing who are the distributors for Sage in the UK blank lead times are not possible to predict currently. I do hope that Sage continue to make blanks available. At this stage of my life I am not prepared to rebuild a brand new rod to how I really want it.

Never got my hands on a Gatti or Dan Craft. These are blanks pretty much unheard of in the U.K.

You must try the new Sage R8. When I have the cash I would love to try the 9 and 10 wt Ignitor for the surf. I have the 6 wt in this series and it is a fantastic rod. Very very quick and powerful but an easy rod to cast.

mike

Mike,

You want to try a "Switch" rod??? What is this world coming to???

I don't trust the PR BS that Sage puts out. "R8 Core Technology"???  What the F.. does that mean.

They spawn new rods faster than jack rabbits.

And, not once do they say what modulus graphite they use.

There is no such thing as improving blanks with "nano" and "boron" and "graphene".

It's all in the taper and wall thickness and modulus.

The best actioned Sage, IMO, was the Method.  Very light in the hand and fast.  I owened the #10.

Another Sage I liked, in retrospect, and wish I didnt sell it was the XP.

But we all like new toys.

 

And -you have the absolute best TH rod in your design.  Why trade it for an 11'9" Ignighter.

Herb

PS - had to vent

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, HL said:

I don't trust the PR BS that Sage puts out. "R8 Core Technology"???  What the F.. does that mean.

They spawn new rods faster than jack rabbits.

And, not once do they say what modulus graphite they use.

There is no such thing as improving blanks with "nano" and "boron" and "graphene".

It's all in the taper and wall thickness and modulus.

 

Amen!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Herb nice rant. I loved it. I agree the marketing blurb that Sage come out with makes my stomach lurch. It started for me with the Sage One. To be fair if a rod maker does not wish to disclose their technology or materials used then that is wholly understandable. It is a very competitive world out there. It gets worse when flunkies repeat the same words on their own supposed product reviews.

But just like you can’t hide a bad cast or a good one a very good rod is just that and love or hate Sage they have produced some very nice rods and blanks over many years and bless them made their blanks available to custom builders. Not many premium rod makers do that.

 

Herb don’t fret I have not abandoned my own T H rods. There is no way ever I am going to fish a switch rod in the ocean so rest easy. Can’t think of a worse type of rod.

But for small rivers and low water conditions for Salmon in the U.K. then the Sage Igniter 11’9” 7 wt is a very nice rod. So nice that I acquired one. Their 15 foot Igniter 10 wt is very powerful and quick and really gets hold of spey lines so well. I hate traditional slow bend deeply into the butt spey rods. This rod is not great for the surf too long and still not stiff enough for my own liking. But it was made for rivers and it’s great for that.

I guess to stay alive and stimulate sales the life blood of any company is to release new products. All of them do that as far as I can see.

Just such a shame that they chose to describe their rods in the way that they do.

As pre pregs improve then that will influence rod performance. Carbon and fibre glass are good examples of that. We can produce very fast stiff glass rods but they will have very large diameters and will weigh a lot more than carbon rods.

The great news for guys who can’t afford the latest rods or choose not to will not be too badly disadvantaged if distance is the main perametor as rods from 25 years ago had the capability to reach out beyond 90 feet and more.

Us Anglers have never kept up with rod technology as our casting overall is not as good as it could be. You know the story it is well worn out like a school carpet in the lobby.

Mike

Edited by Mike Oliver
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to register here in order to participate.

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


×
×
  • Create New...