Sage Bolt 590 or Method 590

K-fish wrote: ...provided I'm not curled in the fetal position in the back of the boat after three cans of beer :oops:
 
The SA Trout and The Mastery Expert Distance lines are almost identical. Trout replaced MEDT. MEDT can be found on closeout. I bought a 6wt for 25.00 and a 5wt for 40.00... quite a bit less than retail Trout.
 
Old Man Tweed

My comment about getting the line out faster was more in relation to being able to get the line out there with less false casting not line speed, most people when they are looking for feel in the rod are false casting 2 to 3 times before shooting the line were typically with a fast action rod you can get the line out there with a flick of the wrist (30-40') then obviously when trying to cast 50' plus when you typically start getting allot of feel from a fast action rod there is 2 to 3 fast casts which can still put your line on the water faster than a slower rod .
 
I have reels spooled with 444sl dt6f, 444 peach dt6f, and sa mastery dt6f. Next time I see you, you can try whatever one you want.

 
Moon,
Wait til you toss this thing. I think you'll shoot the reel right through the stripper guide. LoL. For a guy who likes slower rod action, you warmed up to that zenith in about 2 casts last year.
 
Never casted a method or bolt, looking forward to it. If I can cast it 20' less than you I'd be happy. I casted a rod at the show in north Jersey next to a legit caster. He hit the wall at 80' multiple times with a pick up lay down cast. Then he had a little kid hold his hand out from about 60' and put the fly in his hand. He looked over at me and said your turn. My back cast got caught in a speaker LOL. I was humbled pretty quickly.
 
That's funny. I will say that you are an excellent caster. You throw it 70' with the effort most use to throw it 25'. With that said, I didn't know you were cheating up to a 6wt. LoL.

When DaveS and I caught up to you and Mike last fall, we saw you hook a fish and long line release it at what had to be 80' or more. I told Dave, "This guy can cast AND throw it a mile".
 
Krayfish, how's that Method working? What line did you find it likes?
 
I wish I could answer that. I cast it one time on a windy 31 degree day. Only lawn cast and quickly tried a couple of casts with Rio Gold, SA MPX and AirFlow River and Stream. Still have SA Textured Trout, Expert Distance and one other AirFlow line to try. I was hoping to get in a little fishing before I head to NY in 10 days but it doesn't look like it will happen. Probably spend the first float changing reels and playing with line combinations.

BTW, river and stream is a very nice line. Even considered trying a trout taper 6 wt to see how that cast. A lighter headed 6 shouldn't strain the rod and moving a heavier grain line through the wind should make casting at distance easier. That taper should also allow good mending at distance.
 
I appreciate the update. I have an Igniter on order and was curious what you found with the Method.
 
Plan to run through a bunch of stuff on Sunday afternoon. I post my findings afterwards.
 
Brookie,

Got out there tonight after work. Ran through a couple of lines quickly in the rain. Air flo river & stream, Air flo super dri distance pro, SA Expert Distance, SA Sharkwave GPX and Rio Gold.

I was casting up a slight upgrade and had 2-3 mph of wind at my back. Very quickly cast each. Honestly, not a bad one in the bunch. The Air flo lines are VERY good and worth a look. Go to their website and check the line profiles. I think the pro distance is similar to SA Expert Distance. The gold did feel the lightest and took a bit more out to load the rod more.

Edit:.
After looking at the reel chart I have (yeah, my life is that empty), I see the Sharkwave GPX I grabbed was a 6 wt. Makes sense. I'm not that good of a caster and rann the entire line out pretty easily. Felt like cheating. LoL. Might keep it in the boat in case the wind picks up.

Second time touching a fly rod since early October so a little rusty but definitely not a beast to cast like the tcx was. Nice stick. I understand the ignitors are slightly softer in the tip than the method so I'm guessing you're going to have a winner for sure.
 
I appreciate the posted test results.

I don't have any experience with Airflo lines but it sounds like they're worth a look. I have all SA lines to try, except for an old Sage line.

You're observation on Rio Gold was exactly what I experienced with it on my One.

I have Expert Distance I'm going to throw on it first, and from your results it sounded like I might not need to change it. GPX was on my list next if the Expert Distance didn't work.

I caught my first redfish on a TCX so I'm familiar with them.
 
Fwiw, in the quick test, the SA expert distance 5wt was only a little short of the GPX 6wt.
 
That's good to know. I need to do a better job of knowing different line tapers, and head design, and exactly how they affect performance.

 
Got 5 days under my belt with the new setup. Like it a lot. Didn't even get around to changing lines, just stuck with the river & stream.
 
Brookie,
You get a chance to try that new rod yet? I'm going to get back out for a couple of days and try few other lines on that method. I like the match I have on it now but want to see if anything else is similar or even better.
 
I did cast it. I was going to start a review thread and forgot. I tried SA Expert Distance and saw no reason to change. Sorry I can't help on the line experiment.

The Igniter is a great rod for me. It casts great in close, and real accurate. It has way more feel in close than my One yet I can pick up 60' of line, haul once on the back, once on the front and shoot line with ease. It's like Sage brought back the progressive taper. I personally think the Igniter has more feel than the Method and way more than the TCX or even the One yet has more power available. I want to switch all my rod weights over to Igniters now except for the LL.
 
With the reviews ....."you need to upline by 2 weights" or "this thing is too fast to be practical", I was worried that I screwed up like I did with the TCX. With 10-11 outings under my belt, can say that it's a very solid rod. It's way better in close than reviews led me to believe. At distance....boom, it can unload some line. I also let 6-7 other casters try it during the day. Half felt it was ok but REALLY fast. One guy said that he couldn't use it at all. 2 guys thought it was an amazing cannon. I've dubbed it "big red". Still have not gone past the one AirFlo line but hope to switch it up on Saturday.
 
I agree the method and river and stream line are a solid combo. Definitely a cannon. Good in close too. I didn't think it was too fast and I fish slow rods and old DT lines.

I keep looking at 6wt TCRS, they are harder to cast than the Method and don't protect tippet really well or do well in close and I don't know where I would really use one but they are total cannons IMO. If they made a 9' 7wt TCR I'd have one for a streamer rod.
 
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