Now this could be a stupid question but i will ask anyway!

To set the scene, I fish with 9ft Sage XP or Z-axis rods depending on the wt and my friend uses 10ft Spring Creek rods. I guess you could say that these are opposite ends of the scale in pricing but how do they compare in use....

Well... I was out fishing with him this weekend and he was struggling with casting so he asked me to try his rod.. I was shocked to find the spring creek so much easier to cast and in terms of the distance, the line just flew out and felt as though it was powering through the rings. I managed to get around 30% extra distance with about 50% of the effort compared to my rods?????

I have no idea what line he had on but it was a WF same as mine. Would the line make this much difference?

Does this sound like my casting style is not suitable for XP or Z axis? (fast tip action)

or could it be something else?

When did you last clean the line you are using?

Frank

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Frank Williams APGAI

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Its unlikely to be your casting style, more likely your timing. Have you thought about a lesson? Not dear and would increase your enjoyment of fishing and casting your own (and other) rods a lot. I've a had a cast with an XP and it feels like one of the most intuitive rods to cast with you could own. The alternative is to have someone watch you (from the side) whilst casting toensure you are applying the forward stroke when the line has fully unfurled behind you.
There are many more experienced and professional casters on here that will be able to give you more thorough advice. Jon

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or swop rods need to swop the lines too, frank is most likely right.

there is of course no reason why a more expensive rod should necessarily cast further.

While you're at it, clean the rod rings and the rod blank

Andrew

Try increasing the line weight one above the rating printed on your sage rods- they'll bend deeper. Or introduce a haul when you're casting with your current line; it'll have the same effect. I use #7 lines on my #6 XP for this very reason. Worth a try if you feel you're not getting the most out of an expensive rod?

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Sorry to disagree but if you need to overline a sage XP you are not casting correctly, I have enough XP,s to start my own shop and they all cast the line as stated on the butt of the blank with no problem at all. I also think that if the original poster is having trouble with his basic casting stroke a haul will only make things worse in the long run.

arjxh56, I am not sure what the action of the Spring Creek rods are, but if it is more mid flex than tip flex it could be that the amount of stroke and arc you are using is causing a tighter loop with the Spring creek than the XP, that is presuming you are not altering the way you cast between the two rods. Were you casting tighter loops with the Spring Creek?
If a rod bends less it needs less movement to cast a tight loop so it could be that you are casting wider loops with the XP.

Ps I suggest that if you clean your line and its no better a lesson would be useful. A couple of hours with an instructor will cost you about £50 and will improve your casting and therefore your fishing no end.

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Cheers Frank

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Frank Williams APGAI

See Classified for;

Flouro Drop Style Indicators ¦ French/Czech nymphing leaders ¦ Hi-Vis tippet for indicators ¦
Kamoufil leader material ¦
Stroft ABR & GTM

Sponsored Kilimanjaro climb

No need to apologise, we can agree to differ! The bloke who suggested I try it in the first place seemed very au fait with sage rods, so I'm merely passing on a suggestion that might help. Over-lining is subjective anyway, and what it will do is alter the action of the stiff rod arjxh56 uses, and make it behave like the more through one his friend has. Listening to what arjxh56 is saying, that seems to be what he's looking for. Unless I misunderstood him.

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Pierian Springs? Is it fly only, likes?

Does this sound like my casting style is not suitable for XP or Z axis? (fast tip action)

or could it be something else? [/QUOTE]

Similar vein to this. I was about to give up on a 9' 6# Greys Missionary and try it with a 7# line, i just couldn't load it or cast straight with it. It was my first rod; I'd since bought a little 7' 3/4# Zr2 then a 10' 8# Aura, both of which I can cast far better with. I was out on sunday with the Greys, struggling and a guy I'd never met before started chatting. I handed him the rod and you can guess; line flew out dead straight, effortless. "Nice," he said, "Just stick a one second pause onto your back cast and you'll be fine." And off he went. You can guess, he was spot on. So if I can get that much improvement from a thirty second exchange, I can imagine what acasting lesson will do.
Hope you sort out.

Thanks all...

The lines are new this season but i will clean them with whizz lube or similar and also the rod/rings to see if this improves matters.

I have also left a message for my local instructor and will arrange a couple of hours casting tuition to see if he can spot where i am going wrong. Hopefully this will improve my technique if nothing else.

In terms of XP rods, I have used these ever since i started fly fishing.
I have not really tried anything else as the instructor i first had lessons with told me they were fantastic rods and if the price was right, i couldn't go wrong.
I then proceeded to kit myself out with a variety of XP & Z-axis rods for all occassions. Maybe this is was a mistake?

Saying that, I LOVE my 9ft 3wt.. It feels fantastic