Need Advice On A Rod/reel Combo

[bigalcal]

I have been putting money away since September and in the spring I want to buy a higher end rod and reel for around $1000. I do most of my fishing on the Upper Oldman, Gap area as well as the Crow and Upper Elk. I do mostly dry fly but I am venturing in to some nymphing as well. I need something that can throw out a fly in the wind as it can get a "bit" breezy in these areas. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance

 

BBB... I'm counting on you!

[birchy]

http://www.orvis.com/store/product_choice....subcat_id=14458

[JMasson]

The Orvis Zero-Gravity series are beautiful rods! I've cast the 5 and 4 wt. models and would love to own one.....maybe in the future. Anyways, they're awesome and I'm sure the Helios is a great rod, as well! Put some kind of sweet bling on it for a reel.

 

James

[rusty]

That's easy - a Sage 390 Z-Axis with a Sage 3200 reel. Super light, looks great, fishes fabulously. I have the 390XP and 3200 and I think it's the best small-medium stream combo you can get. It's the only rod I fish on the rivers you mentioned - and you can even use it for tossing dries on the Bow in the evening (that is, Al, if you ever actually fish the Bow ).

 

The 390s are wonderful light nymphing rods, with or without indicators. I even fish small weighted streamers with them. It would be a good rod to fish on lakes as long as the wind doesn't howl. I caught an obese 25" rainbow on mine a few years ago.

 

You could save a few bucks by going with a different reel, but the 3200 is so light and pretty that I think it's worth it.

[Guest bigbadbrent]

Rusty beats me to it, and give you the exact rod i would have said. The rod and reel i'm bringing in for myself, to fish all of the rivers i fish (bow, oldman, highwood, livingstone etc) is a 590 Z-axis with a 2550 reel.

 

390 Z-axis, absolutely perfect for that area, maybe a 4 or 5 weight if you're looking for something with a bit more beef for the big cutties and the big hoppers in the wind. I know i love bringing my 4 with me to The Gap, but it rarely gets used cause of our mutual friend, "Nate".

 

The 3200 is also a great choice, i'd recommend it if you're looking for a click n prawl drag, otherwise i'd recommend a sage 2450 reel (disc drag). Seriously large arbour, seriously light, and absolutely good looking.

 

I wouldn't want anything with a slower action then the z-axis (aka the helios) just cause the faster action makes life easier when tossing indicators or hoppers in the wind

 

 

You're looking at nearly exactly 1000 for all that

[bigalcal]

It's nice to get replies from friends (Russ) and acquaintances (BBB). I knew I could count on you. I was looking at that rod, but, I wasn't sure about the reel. Any comments on the Winston Boron?

 

FYI Russ....Still haven't fished the Bow...I here there are fish there!

[Tako]

Sage 376 ZXL gets my vote.

You got that kind of money, you buy Sage or Winston. But I'm a Sage guy. For that type of fishing, a 3wt is perfect, and the reason I personally wouldn't go for the Z axis is because it's a nine footer. And a nine foot three weight just seems awkward to me. I like my 7'6" 3wt. I could be tempted by the 8'6" but the nine footer just seems monstrous for a 3wt.

 

Reel? I know less about reels. But I hear and see good things about the Loop Evotecs....or be simple and get the Okuma SLV. I freakin love mine.

[rusty]

Brent makes a good point about the 2540. It's a full ounce and change heavier than the 3200, but it has a really nice drag system. I've had a 2560 for two years and I love it. The 3200 has little or no drag. I put a 3300 clicker on mine to help somewhat.

 

You can get that 2540 in a really lovely green color too - it would match wonderfully with the Z-Axis blank.

 

Tako, the 9' is really nice if you want to fish larger water or nymph without indicators. Give one a cast if you get a chance and I'm sure you'll be plesantly surprised. The extra length is also a bonus for fishing boatmen or leeches in lakes.

[Glenbow]

I love my Orvis TLS, I have a 4wt & a 6wt. I would also recommend the GLoomis Streamdance GLX as I can hardly believe what that rod will do. For reels, I love my Battenkill Mid & my Trions. Great reels and not big $$. I fish much the same water as you list above, and my set-ups work perfectly. I can't even cast to the capabilities of the rods I own.

[lonefisher]

now I don't wanna be the one person who goes against sage so I won't but I would really really suggest going and casting these rods. Sage, zaxis, zxl, and SLT as well as the G loomis eastfork and streamdance GLX, whisper creek, and max glx. I would be at all surprised if you found the slightly lower cost high end rods like the SLT, and Eastfork are ideal for the majority of the fishing on creeks like that. I find big money on rods seems to be better spent on big water rods. With typical small stream rigs like single dry, hopper dropper, single or even a small team of nymphs and ultra light indi I can't say I usually notice a huge difference between a pricey rod and a really expensive rod........ If you were asking for a good Bow river nymphing rod or streamer rod I would be more inclined to go immediately to the top end......Also slower rods do have their place especially as a learning tool as I found it was easier to learn things like air mends and presentation casts on a slower rod with a slightly longer stroke and slower line speed these thing are argueably more important, But I would just go test em thats the biggest thing and i would test em with flies or rigs (maybe bring your own) that you would usually find yourself using.... Sooner or later a rod is going to say to your hand "don't putta me down I'ma you new Rod, Kapish? Forgetaboutit"

[rusty]

"don't putta me down I'ma you new Rod, Kapish? Forgetaboutit"

 

Sounds like that fake Luongo interview on Fan 960 the other day. "87 Firefly with the Edelbrock intake manifold."

[walker1]

If you could find a discontinued XP go for it. For those waters mentioned, and the Bow, I fish a 8'6 4wt. XP and love it. Matched with a Galvan torque rell and a SA GPX. Probably about 1100 retail and I spent about 750 all in. I plan to fish this combo a lot this summer.

[Badger]

...

[bigalcal]

I was doing some research on the many suggestions and found this review on the Sage 2500 series reels. This guy's a genius!!

 

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5

 

sage reel, October 30, 2007

By cowboybryan from central california

 

 

"i never tried the reel so cant speek much about it other than i thought it looked like it was built cheap!! i sent it back without trying it."

 

 

Glad Cabela's printed it

[Tako]

I was doing some research on the many suggestions and found this review on the Sage 2500 series reels. This guy's a genius!!

 

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5

 

sage reel, October 30, 2007

By cowboybryan from central california

 

 

"i never tried the reel so cant speek much about it other than i thought it looked like it was built cheap!! i sent it back without trying it."

 

 

Glad Cabela's printed it

 

How could you not print that. Priceless.

[NormanMcLean]

It's nice to get replies from friends (Russ) and acquaintances (BBB). I knew I could count on you. I was looking at that rod, but, I wasn't sure about the reel. Any comments on the Winston Boron?

 

FYI Russ....Still haven't fished the Bow...I here there are fish there!

 

I fished a Winston Biit Boron Rod last summer and it is fantastic. I am having a custom 8ft 3wt Biit built for this year. Matched with a ULA Waterworks Purist Reel, about a $1000 combo. Boron is the future.

[CarlSpackler]

I have been putting money away since September and in the spring I want to buy a higher end rod and reel for around $1000. I do most of my fishing on the Upper Oldman, Gap area as well as the Crow and Upper Elk. I do mostly dry fly but I am venturing in to some nymphing as well. I need something that can throw out a fly in the wind as it can get a "bit" breezy in these areas. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance

 

BBB... I'm counting on you!

 

I with the rest on the Z-Axis. It's got enough jam for all of the things that you want to do with it. Try casting the 490 and the 590. For the reel, I would recommend a Lamson Litespeed 1.5. Probably the lightest true large arbor out there and you don't have to go to a spring and pawl drag. The conical drags on Lamson's are smooth and bulletproof.

[WesG]

Althought I will not comment on specific brands as I have only 1 truly high end rod in my arsenal. For the dry fly fishing on the waters that you have mentioned I see absolutly no need to go with a 9' rod and I personnaly would'nt go any heavier then a 4 wt. I usually fish a 7'9 4 wt on these rivers and really enjoy that set up

[LynnF]

Al - why don't you just give me your money and save yourself the hassle of trying to decide?

 

We've got our eye on one of those 4wt Sage Z-Axis jobbies. Talked with a guy at length at the FFE and think we might indulge before the season starts. I sure like Mike's XP - but the Z-Axis feels so great in-hand that I might be inclined to have another favourite. I used to be an Orvis girl.....I may be switching teams permanently now. Mike bought an Okuma reel end of last season and it's the bomb. I love the drag system on it and it sure caught it's fair share of Bow River trout . We'll have to get you out in the boat this year and pop your Bow River cherry.

[gravelman]

If your looking for all around rod go with a 6wt. I have a 690 z axis sage and 2560 sage reel that i fish smaller southeren alberta streams but also use for lake fishing. Good for all situations used size 24 gnats no problem up to big bully streamers.

[bigalcal]

Well, I just went down to Fishtales and test drove a few rods. I tried a Sage Z-axis, a Scott S3 and a G Loomis Streamdance GLX (4wt 8'6) and liked the G Loomis the best. Now to do a little research on the net and see what other people think. Any thoughts? I looked at a Ross CLA 1.5 reel as well.

[Nick0Danger]

For that money perhaps a custom rod should be considered? http://www.gandlflycraft.com/. Personly i would buy a couple rods for 2 grand but personly ive never had the best of anything so have pretty danm good is fine for me LOL.

[lonefisher]

Gotta love the streamdance........ I have the 10 ft 6wt glx..... definately my favorite all around rod..... does it all.

[Hawgstoppah]

For the dry fly fishing on the waters that you have mentioned I see absolutly no need to go with a 9' rod and I personnaly would'nt go any heavier then a 4 wt. I usually fish a 7'9 4 wt on these rivers and really enjoy that set up

 

I'd have to echo that... for all but the bull trout fishing all the rod you need is a 4wt. If it's too windy to fish a 4wt, you won't get a good rpesentation with any outfit, in my opinion. I love my St croix Legend Ultra 3wt, but I think youer be4st bet is to go try a bunch of rods at a shop willing to let you do so, and get the one that feels best and matches best with your casting stroke. you never know, it might be the $150-300 dollar rod that suprises you. And for a reel, I'd highly recommend Islansder.. have had 'em for 8+ years on two different outfits and they have been nothing short of superb (even taking the abuse of 250+ days / reel / year some years that I guided). I have never lost a fish becuase of an Islander reel, something I cannot say about any other reel that's ever graced any of my rods.

[Highlander]

Sage 590-4 Z-axis matched up with an Islander IR-3LA - a perfect combo. Not enough change for a line to go with it though.