Slower action rods?

[Fishin LA]

Im a big fan of medium/slow action rods and was wondering of anyone had a good recommondation. They just feel right when i cast them and I was told the sage launch would be a good idea. I know there discontinued and definatly on the cheaper side. I have hearde some people hate them, but they also don't like the slower action style. Anyone have some thoughts of what i should get???

[rayfound]

Wow, that is a very broad question. Maybe some more details are needed... like length and weight you're looking for, the types of fishing, Budget, etc...

[RichardCullip]

Absolutely nothing cheap about them but I love my Winston BIIt's (8ft 3wt and 9ft 4wt). Great for casting dry flies and I especially like the bend-to-the-cork action when hooked up,

[rkfiske]

Absolutely nothing cheap about them but I love my Winston BIIt's (8ft 3wt and 9ft 4wt). Great for casting dry flies and I especially like the bend-to-the-cork action when hooked up,

Richard, which one were you throwing that day on the Kings? That bent quite nicely on those fish!

[darrin terry]

I've got two Sage Launch rods. A 4wt and a 6wt. One thing they are not is slow. Maybe a med-fast, on the fast side. Not super stiff, but no where close to slow.

I like them, but have other rods I prefer in both line weights.

[RichardCullip]

Absolutely nothing cheap about them but I love my Winston BIIt's (8ft 3wt and 9ft 4wt). Great for casting dry flies and I especially like the bend-to-the-cork action when hooked up,

Richard, which one were you throwing that day on the Kings? That bent quite nicely on those fish!

The 8ft 3wt. it's a bit short and light for serious nymphing but it's my favorite rod right now so I use it a lot.

[castaway]

I am going to guess your not looking for sllllooowwww action rods... but more medium action.

I use medium action rods and find them a joy to cast

Sage ZXL

St. Croix Avid series (cheapest mentioned so far)

(sage Launch is much faster than both the rods listed above... broomstick-fast compared to the above)

or if your looking for slooowwwww.... go fiberglass. Mcfarland, steffen brothers, and hardy for modern fibeglass rods... all are very nice and slow... hard to cast at first if your used to medium to medium fast graphite.

[Rob909]

I've got two Sage Launch rods. A 4wt and a 6wt. One thing they are not is slow. Maybe a med-fast, on the fast side. Not super stiff, but no where close to slow.

I like them, but have other rods I prefer in both line weights.

I'm kind of with Darrin on this.

I have a 5 wt. Launch and I too say that it is NOT slow. Sage calls it Medium-Fast, more on the medium side IMO.

But a decent rod for sure.


Rob

[FlyinFish]

They are definitely out there for a good price right now. The 9' 5 wt has been tempting me. Sounds like the best deal out there for $130...

[midger]

One man's medium is another's fast. The Launch is not a medium in my mind. If you want a medium/slower in Sage, the then the Light Line series, SPL series, VPS Light series, SLT, and it's replacement, the ZXL are mediums. The RPL's, SPs, and VT2s are stiffer, followed by the TXL (actually a pretty fast rod, but because of the lighter lines it's pretty forgiving for a stiffer rod), the XP Series, RPL+, Z-Axis, and their stiffest, the TCRs (like casting a telephone pole, but you can sure get a lot of distance out of them on double hauls) and the TCX which replaced the TCR. I'd put the Launch nearer the XPs than the medium actioned rods mentioned earlier.

Now if you were a rodbuilder, you could get you a Batson RX6 blank and build your own. These make up into true medium/slow action rods and one of my favorites is the 7'9" 3 weight, but I've built them in 4, 5, and am currently doing a 7 weight one. You can build one for around $80-90. Check out Angler's Workshop for the blanks.

http://www.anglersworkshop.com/items.aspx?catid=2266

Another rod that is a slow/moderate action and priced at around $180 is the TFO Finesse series. I've got a 8'9" 4 piece in a 3 weight, and built a 7'9" 3 weight for a friend. Really sweet rods. The Winston early IM6s are a medium as are the WT series, but the WTs aren't cheap.

If you want slow, look for a fiberglass rod like a Diamondglass, Lamiglass, or one of the other fiberglass rods others have mentioned. The best way to tell what you really like is to cast as many different rods as you can IN A FISHING SITUATION. Parking lot casting or the old "shake it in the shop" will tell you very little about how well you will ultimately like a given rod, but fishing it for a day on a stream will give you a lot of info, especially if you have a couple you can change with so you can get actual comparisons.

[anacrime]

Shoot dna a PM. He's a Med/slow rod caster. I think he throws a Winston bIIx, or whatever it's called. And he casts like a freakin dream too

[Sasha]

If you want slow you could always go glass or boo.

[Papasequoia]

Absolutely nothing cheap about them but I love my Winston BIIt's (8ft 3wt and 9ft 4wt). Great for casting dry flies and I especially like the bend-to-the-cork action when hooked up,

Richard, you dog, you went and bought two? I remember when we were on our drift trip with David and you tried out my BIIt 3wt and loved it so much you said you were going to buy one right away, and you did. But I didn't know you were going to get a 4wt too! We need to fish together again so I can try that one.
I have one 3wt rod (the Winston), that is my favorite, go to, use it all the time, why didn't I start fishing medium weight rods years ago, rod. I almost never use my super fast Sage Z-Axis anymore. (Change that to never since it has been a couple of years now. Wanna buy it?) The only other rod that I own and use (yes, just a grand total of three) is a 6 wt. Sage Launch. Compared to the Z-Axis it is really slow, but compared to the Winston it is fast, so I guess the medium-fast rating they gave it is in the ballpark. I do like it a lot, and whenever I break it out I wonder why I don't use it more, because it casts very well. However, these days it is relegated to streamer fishing or very, very windy days on the Upper O. Anyway, I am obviously not a rod buying fanatic, so I haven't compared/fished a lot of different rods. But I gotta tell ya, that Winston is sweet, sweet, sweet. [On the other hand, you can replace the word 'sweet' with the word 'expensive' and that sentence would still be correct.]

[Fishin LA]

thanks for all the info guys! Im going to test some of the rods suggested and hopefully i like one of them. Im looking for a 9ft 5 wt.

[rayfound]

Another rod that is a slow/moderate action and priced at around $180 is the TFO Finesse series. I've got a 8'9" 4 piece in a 3 weight, and built a 7'9" 3 weight for a friend. Really sweet rods.

OK, now I don't know jack compared to Midger when it comes to rods and what not. In fact, I know very little... my list of rods that I have ever cast is EXTREMELY short.

One of those rods, however, is the 8'9" TFO finesse. Now, I like the rod well enough, but I always hold back a bit from giving it a great recommendation to people because to me, it feels a bit clunky. What I mean is, it feels heavy in the hand to me. I don't have any actual weights to compare it to, and its the longest, heaviest rod I fish (until I hopefully try out my 8-wt this weekend!)... but it just feels a bit "Off" to me... largely the weight issue.