Zach Matthews
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Hey Jeff –
That’s very interesting insight. One thing that none of the manufacturers have done, but which they could easily do, is actually have their designers explain in plain English what it is that they make and how they do it.
For instance, if you go to Sage’s website you’ll see a lot of terminology thrown around like “Generation 5,” etc. I’ve never been able to pin anyone down on what that term really means: I think it is Sage’s catch-all phrase for a whole cluster of little tweaks they’ve made in their scrim layout and taper design. Obviously, Sage is super good at what it does or they wouldn’t be on top of the heap.
Shane –
It’s not quite as easy to simplify rod action as this, unfortunately. I don’t even think the guys at Orvis would want you to use their flex index to compare other types of rods without looking at some other factors.
Here’s why: flex and speed are different. You can make a rod that is very stiff but, once bent, slow to snap back to a straight line. That would be a ‘stiff’ rod and a ‘tip flex’ but it would not be a ‘fast action.’ (Generally, it’d also be cheap and heavy: many older graphite saltwater rods fit this profile.)
Conversely, you can make a rod that is very flexible but also very fast. In fact, that has been the holy grail of rod design in the last five or so years: some of the best rods on the market right now are more flexible than their predecessors while *also* being faster at snapping back to a straight line (examples: old Sage XP versus new Sage Z-Axis, G. Loomis’ old GLX versus the newer High Line Speed rods). These are the Ferraris of fly fishing and can be the most difficult to control for a new caster. They’re also very powerful rods while remaining flexible enough to fight a fish properly.
You are correct that Orvis is the only manufacturer offering different flex profiles within the same line of rod. However, this is basically Orvis’ nomenclature rather than a new innovation. Where Orvis might call a rod a Zero Gravity and have it offered in full, medium, and tip flex profiles, a different company would likely just split those up into three separate lines. (For example, Scott’s X2s saltwater rods are mid-flex while the S3S saltwater rods are tip-flex, but their graphite recovery speed is very similar).
Your 9′ 6wt. Sage Fli would probably grade out as a mid-flex, medium-fast rod on Orvis’ scales. It’s in the middle of a wide range of rod actions and a good rod for a new user. The Sage Z-Axis would also be a mid-flex rod for the most part, but it would be much faster in terms of recovery speed (because it uses a lot higher modulus graphite, which tends to snap straight as fast as it can). The Z-Axis would be a lot harder rod for a new caster to handle than the Fli. A Winston BIIx is as stiff and fast a rod as Winston makes, but Winston is known for slow, flexible rods. It is similar to a Z-Axis; flexible but very fast. The TFO Pro is a great rod that can best be thought of as a Sage XP made with slower graphite; it is a tip-flex but not as fast actioned.
Keep in mind too that flex profiles are only good for the rated line weight and an arbitrary amount of line out of the tip-top (probably 30 feet). If you overline a rod, it will obviously bend more with the same amount of line out, because you’ll be putting a higher weight line on it. At the same time, if you carry more than 30 feet of line (or whatever the number is), then again the rod will bend deeper, because once again there’s more weight pulling on the tip (this time because there’s more line out).
My advice to any new caster or learning caster is to use a medium-fast, medium-flex rod. That way, you’ll get familiar with the widest possible range of casts and casting conditions without ingraining muscle memory too far in any one direction. It is possible to use a fast action, stiff rod as a casting crutch, which will make it harder for you to move to slower or lighter weight rods later. On the other end of the spectrum, lots of people who learned on bamboo still complain that graphite is too stiff and fast.
Best,
ZachEric –
I’m no expert at throwing into the wind either, Eric, though I was getting it done ugly by the end of the week.
Hey guys –
This is actually going pretty good and you’ve brought some things to my attention that I wouldn’t have thought of. I like Abel’s huge reel photos on white a lot, for instance.
Now let’s throw out a few fly shop awards. I don’t want to have a Worst category here because fly shops mostly lack the funding the manufacturers have (or should have) for their websites. And thus, the average fly shop site looks like Stephen Colbert’s fake Colbert Nation site (only it’s not a fake). But there are some very good ones. I used to comb through the nation’s fly shop websites to write the Hotspots column in American Angler.
Best Fly Shop Websites
Leland Fly Fishing Outfitters – (http://www.flyfishingoutfitters.com/) Probably the best use of a logo in fly fishing retail anywhere.
Little River Outfitters – (http://www.littleriveroutfitters.com) Less for their design (though I certainly approve the photography, ha) and more for Byron Begley’s quirky, down-home fishing report, which is one of the best blogs on the internet even though it’s not actually a blog.
The Fly Shop of Redding International Travel – (http://www.flyfishingtravel.com/) This is the travel offshoot of The Fly Shop’s main site. The main site I find a lot less engaging but this one is excellent.
Four Rivers Fishing Company – (http://www.4riversmontana.com/) The Twin Bridges fly shop; very nice site.
Zach
It’s Simon Gawesworth’s invention; a spey cast, but obviously useful for one-handed situations too. I use it *all the time* when nymphing.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8_wZb_fVwM[/media]
Zach
Hey guys –
Line fattening is a good idea in theory but you need the angler to remain very still or he will blur correspondingly.