I need Legeng Ultra advice or feedback

[fishnwish]

All my life I have sworn by the value and power of St Croix rods. My first rod was an Avid and the collection and the love has grown from there. My first St Croix fly rod for bass is/was an Avid 8wt. Love it, but got a bug up my butt to go buy more power for yet bigger flies and longer casts. I own a Lgnd Ultra 5wt and I think I can break a window with my line when I use that rod. (Legend Ultras are said to much more powerful and a faster rod than Avid) So I went to Cabelas and bought a 9' 9wt Legend Ultra and now I need help. I think I know fly rods, especially the ones I own, enough to identify a huge problem. Might not be able to fix it, but i know a problem is there. When in my hands, my 8wt Avid throws a larger fly further with less effort. (Same Reel - Same Brand Line - different spool) I double checked the line weight on the box and it states "9", same WF taper, the 9wt line takes up more space in the same model spool. I feel comfortable that it is a 9wt line and nothing got switched at Cabelas. I can not cast this thing! The result is not a pile up in that the last twenty feet of line smack the water hard in a ball but it simply fizzles from the last third of the line i have out and it falls out of the air in a graceful slack filled pile. If you can imagine my line on the water, the first 1/3 is straight and tight, the second 2/3 looks like an S cast, and the final third is a lose pile WITHOUT any overlaps so its not a pile up. It is a textbook fizzle. What am I doing wrong? Again, i can outcast with my Avid 8wt which is a slower action rod. Should i try the 10wt line? I'll have to get a new reel but if a majority tell me that will fix this, i will trt it. I'm looking for any advice on my casting or equipment.
Thank you all in advance and good luck on the water,
Paul

 

[jaybo41]

It sounds to me as though you should spend time with the new setup and get more comfortable with it. I have found that when using rods of different actions I've had challenges when casting until I get used to fishing with it. One rod is slower, the other is faster so you're going to have to adjust your technique and casting stroke for each rod.

You're comfortable with your Avid, so you've likely had a good bit of experience with it.

This is precisely why I always suggest casting a rod before you purchase it.

Good luck.

 

[JasonS]

I'd have to agree with Jaybo41. Adjust your casting technique to the rod. I know when I switch between my super fast action rod and my medium action rod it takes me a while to get adjusted. Overlining the rod with 10wt might also help, as this will somewhat slow the action of the rod. But if you are gonna have to buy a new reel for that, then I would suggest just practicing first and see if you can work it out.

 

[jayL]

I built a Loomis GL3 and was quick to dismiss it as a crappy rod when it did much of the same. I was using a brand and taper of line that I'd had success with before, so I assumed the rod was just poorly made (by me).

After shelving it for two years, I put a reel with a new rio line on it, and it threw it a mile. I now love that rod.

Perhaps you just had a bad line.

 

[fishnwish]

Jaybo41, JasonS, and JayL:
Thanks... I will give it some more time before I change anything. I bought this rod at night at Cabelas and had my mind made up so taking it for a test drive would have made too much sense and did not happen. If I had used Jaybo41's rule this wouldn't have happened.
JayL:
I am a Scientific Anglers line fan but I have a coworker that goes bassin with me after work and he has 9wt Wonderline from Orvis. I can play musical reels for an evening and it won't cost anything and will quickly answer the line question. I didn't think of trying that until now... Thanks!

 

[abbrod]

fishnwish. You may be having problems due to the manufacturer's rating of the rod. AFTMA fly line standards are based off of the weight of the first 30 feet of fly line in grains. The rod is rated based on the typical and intended use of the rod in many cases. For something rated in the higher line weights it is sometimes implied that you will be making longer casts and therefore may have more than thirty feet of line out from the tip and thus have more fly line weight in motion to load the rod. Many manufacturers compensate for this by "under rating" the rod. You may actually find that a ten weight line works much better on this rod because it may be closer to the true weighting of the rod. This is sometimes hard to explain. I hope that made sense.
Not to be argumentative, but I have to point out to you that one brand of rod cannot be more powerful than another brand if they are correctly rated for the same line weight. The line weight rating is specifying the rods power. I am only bringing this up to try and help. Understanding all the terms that get thrown around will help you to make better choices when buying gear. Very few people understand what power, action, modulus etc.... really mean and often make a purchase with an expectation and end up disappointed. Secondly, to clear up the confusion with rod action, you cannot change the action of a rod as JasonS has suggested. The rod action is the rod action period. What does happen with changing line weights is an increase or decrease in weight of the line which impacts the amount of load that is placed on the rod during casting. Think of it like this. Take a diving board. When two people of different weights(say 150 and 300 lbs) jump from the board, the amount of flex in the board will change, as will the distances the people can be projected but the board itself has remained unchanged. You cannot say that the action of the board changed. You can say however that there is an optimum weight to use with that particular board to achieve the greatest diving distance. Now with that rod you have. Find the weight that works best and you really enjoy fishing with that rod!

 

[fishnwish]

Hi Abbrod,
You're not argumentive at all. I enjoyed the "Power" of the diving board example. I tried my coworker's line to see if I had an issue with my 9wt line and then we switched rods. He didn't put it as elegantly as you, but he too told me to pick up a 10wt. He wants to buy my 9wt line off of me if I fall in love with the 10, so all is not a loss.
Thanks,
Paul

 

[chromefinder]

If it were me, I'd sell the new LU and stick with the Avid. Maybe even buy a new 10wt Avid, there plenty of them around for sale at discounted prices.

 

[FiveWeight]

fishnwish, I can almost hear the frustration in your writing. But abbrod seems to gotten you somewhat calmed down. My hat goes off to abbrod for his knowledge, advice and answer to fishnwish's question/problem. Fantastic! Ladies and gentleman never take the wealth of knowledge we have at our finger tips here on this site for granted. Truly an amazing place we have here. From answers like this post/thread to just things like hatch charts online. I still have index cards with hatch info on them from over the years. abbrod, I doff my cap.

 

[abbrod]

Thank you for the kind words FiveWeight. I agree that this site provides a huge learning opportunity for all as we pool and share our collective knowledge. Thanks to everyone for making this is great resource.