winston boron IIX and sage slt
 

so after fishing a tfo 6 wt. and a sage ds2 3 weight for quite a while,
i finally wanted to step up to a great 5 wt. i've fished a friend's slt
and loved it (subtle but backbone, yada yada). so i called the flyshop
and they said to try the winston boron IIX vs. the sage. i'm going into
the flyshop sometime this week and hope to do that, but isn't the boron
IIX supposed to be a fast action rod? is winston just giving this
salesman a bigger commission or something? anyone ever looked at a
boron vs. the slt?

thanks,
hjs

On 2 Jan 2005 19:28:18 -0800, "HJS" wrote:


so after fishing a tfo 6 wt. and a sage ds2 3 weight for quite a while,
i finally wanted to step up to a great 5 wt. i've fished a friend's slt
and loved it (subtle but backbone, yada yada). so i called the flyshop
and they said to try the winston boron IIX vs. the sage. i'm going into
the flyshop sometime this week and hope to do that, but isn't the boron
IIX supposed to be a fast action rod? is winston just giving this
salesman a bigger commission or something? anyone ever looked at a
boron vs. the slt?

thanks,
hjs

Not too many people here own one of these, let alone fished both so
you're not likely to get much in the way of worthwhile opinion. Which
one is best is strictly up to you -- at this price point, who else's
opinion would you trust anyway?



Peter

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On 2 Jan 2005 19:28:18 -0800, "HJS" wrote:


so after fishing a tfo 6 wt. and a sage ds2 3 weight for quite a while,
i finally wanted to step up to a great 5 wt. i've fished a friend's slt
and loved it (subtle but backbone, yada yada). so i called the flyshop
and they said to try the winston boron IIX vs. the sage. i'm going into
the flyshop sometime this week and hope to do that, but isn't the boron
IIX supposed to be a fast action rod? is winston just giving this
salesman a bigger commission or something? anyone ever looked at a
boron vs. the slt?

thanks,
hjs

Not too many people here own one of these, let alone fished both so
you're not likely to get much in the way of worthwhile opinion. Which
one is best is strictly up to you -- at this price point, who else's
opinion would you trust anyway?



Peter

turn mailhot into hotmail to reply

Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

"HJS" wrote in message
oups.com...

so after fishing a tfo 6 wt. and a sage ds2 3 weight for quite a while,
i finally wanted to step up to a great 5 wt. i've fished a friend's slt
and loved it (subtle but backbone, yada yada). so i called the flyshop
and they said to try the winston boron IIX vs. the sage. i'm going into
the flyshop sometime this week and hope to do that, but isn't the boron
IIX supposed to be a fast action rod? is winston just giving this
salesman a bigger commission or something? anyone ever looked at a
boron vs. the slt?

Judging by postings on other message forums, the Boron IIX may be the latest
"go to" rod for anyone wanting to move up to a premium rod but the SLT is no
slouch. Winston definitely hit a home run with that one. My wife gave me a
IIx for our anniversary but I've not had a chance to do anything except lawn
cast it. It felt "different" than my SLT, but not as fast as a Sage XP.

The IIX and SLT are great rods in that they are med-fast to fast action rods
that load fully with 10' of fly line out or 60'. Can't go wrong with either.

wayne, that's an awfully nice anniversary present. can't help but
wonder how it is that your wife knew to get you a boron IIX. it's not
the easiest hint to drop. incidently, i was thrilled to pieces when my
wife pulled out a diamondglass 3 wt last week for christmas -- except
for the fact that i already have the ds2 3 wt that she and my local fly
shop didn't happen to know about. so i sent it back for a 5 wt reel
(i'm kinda regretting letting go of that rod which was really really
sweet). and now i'm dreaming of the rod. one thing i do know about the
winston: the grip seems slender. i like the beefier grip on the sage
rods. any ideas whether winston would make one up with a fatter grip if
i end up liking the cast of that rod?

it's a good point, peter. but to be honest, i'd guess i'd trust your
opinion given the number of rods you reportedly have. the only reason i
ask is that on paper these rods seem like they'd be real different and
not the kind of rods you'd mention in the same breath. needless to say,
it's the steep price of these rods that makes me want to ask as many
questions before i cut into my mortgage money.

best,
hjs

On 2 Jan 2005 22:22:26 -0800, "HJS" wrote:

it's a good point, peter. but to be honest, i'd guess i'd trust your
opinion given the number of rods you reportedly have. the only reason i
ask is that on paper these rods seem like they'd be real different and
not the kind of rods you'd mention in the same breath. needless to say,
it's the steep price of these rods that makes me want to ask as many
questions before i cut into my mortgage money.

best,
hjs

Wayne is one of the few guys here who will have owned and fished these
two rods -- I can think of a couple of others who might have. That's
not a large group if you're looking for a cross-section of opinions.
Anyway, at this price point, there shouldn't be any junkers so it
really is strictly a matter preference. A cheaper rod is going to
fish just as well, so when going for the mortgage breaker, buy the one
that tugs at your heartstrings the most. There's more to these rod
purchases than performance, so if you buy the one in second place in
the heartstring race because a couple of people recommended it, you'll
probably never been fully satisfied with it.

Peter

turn mailhot into hotmail to reply

Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

HJS wrote:

wayne, that's an awfully nice anniversary present. can't help but
wonder how it is that your wife knew to get you a boron IIX. it's not
the easiest hint to drop. incidently,

It was totally unexpected. She was with me when I had bid pretty hard
on one at a conservation auction before backing down and letting
someone else spend their money. She kept the auction list and visited
the local Winston dealer figuring I wanted one. We celebrated 26 years
this past Thursday, not sure what she sees in me but I think she's a
keeper.

i was thrilled to pieces when my
wife pulled out a diamondglass 3 wt last week for christmas -- except
for the fact that i already have the ds2 3 wt that she and my local
fly
shop didn't happen to know about. so i sent it back for a 5 wt reel
(i'm kinda regretting letting go of that rod which was really really
sweet).

Grasshopper, we need to talk. The DS2 3 wt is a graphite rod whereas
the Diamondglass was fiberglass. Furthermore one was probably a
different length. If you are a trout fisherman you can never have too
many three, four and five weights. Going forward the appropriate
response is to keep the rod but politely mention she forgot the reel.

and now i'm dreaming of the rod. one thing i do know about the
winston: the grip seems slender. i like the beefier grip on the sage
rods. any ideas whether winston would make one up with a fatter grip
if
i end up liking the cast of that rod?

Winston offers some customization. I own 11 Winston rods but 5 of them
were custom made by a guy in St. Louis on IM6 and BL5 blanks with
fatter grips but Winston customized two others for me with beefier grip
and a different wood spacer.

I think you will like BIIx, but I also like the SLT and the XP from
Sage. Sooner or later there's no reason to think you can't own one or
more of each. grin

HJS wrote:

wayne, that's an awfully nice anniversary present. can't help but
wonder how it is that your wife knew to get you a boron IIX. it's not
the easiest hint to drop. incidently,

It was totally unexpected. She was with me when I had bid pretty hard
on one at a conservation auction before backing down and letting
someone else spend their money. She kept the auction list and visited
the local Winston dealer figuring I wanted one. We celebrated 26 years
this past Thursday, not sure what she sees in me but I think she's a
keeper.

i was thrilled to pieces when my
wife pulled out a diamondglass 3 wt last week for christmas -- except
for the fact that i already have the ds2 3 wt that she and my local
fly
shop didn't happen to know about. so i sent it back for a 5 wt reel
(i'm kinda regretting letting go of that rod which was really really
sweet).

Grasshopper, we need to talk. The DS2 3 wt is a graphite rod whereas
the Diamondglass was fiberglass. Furthermore one was probably a
different length. If you are a trout fisherman you can never have too
many three, four and five weights. Going forward the appropriate
response is to keep the rod but politely mention she forgot the reel.

and now i'm dreaming of the rod. one thing i do know about the
winston: the grip seems slender. i like the beefier grip on the sage
rods. any ideas whether winston would make one up with a fatter grip
if
i end up liking the cast of that rod?

Winston offers some customization. I own 11 Winston rods but 5 of them
were custom made by a guy in St. Louis on IM6 and BL5 blanks with
fatter grips but Winston customized two others for me with beefier grip
and a different wood spacer.

I think you will like BIIx, but I also like the SLT and the XP from
Sage. Sooner or later there's no reason to think you can't own one or
more of each. grin

HJS wrote:

wayne, that's an awfully nice anniversary present. can't help but
wonder how it is that your wife knew to get you a boron IIX. it's not
the easiest hint to drop. incidently,

It was totally unexpected. She was with me when I had bid pretty hard
on one at a conservation auction before backing down and letting
someone else spend their money. She kept the auction list and visited
the local Winston dealer figuring I wanted one. We celebrated 26 years
this past Thursday, not sure what she sees in me but I think she's a
keeper.

i was thrilled to pieces when my
wife pulled out a diamondglass 3 wt last week for christmas -- except
for the fact that i already have the ds2 3 wt that she and my local
fly
shop didn't happen to know about. so i sent it back for a 5 wt reel
(i'm kinda regretting letting go of that rod which was really really
sweet).

Grasshopper, we need to talk. The DS2 3 wt is a graphite rod whereas
the Diamondglass was fiberglass. Furthermore one was probably a
different length. If you are a trout fisherman you can never have too
many three, four and five weights. Going forward the appropriate
response is to keep the rod but politely mention she forgot the reel.

and now i'm dreaming of the rod. one thing i do know about the
winston: the grip seems slender. i like the beefier grip on the sage
rods. any ideas whether winston would make one up with a fatter grip
if
i end up liking the cast of that rod?

Winston offers some customization. I own 11 Winston rods but 5 of them
were custom made by a guy in St. Louis on IM6 and BL5 blanks with
fatter grips but Winston customized two others for me with beefier grip
and a different wood spacer.

I think you will like BIIx, but I also like the SLT and the XP from
Sage. Sooner or later there's no reason to think you can't own one or
more of each. grin

On 2 Jan 2005 19:28:18 -0800, "HJS" wrote:


so after fishing a tfo 6 wt. and a sage ds2 3 weight for quite a while,
i finally wanted to step up to a great 5 wt. i've fished a friend's slt
and loved it (subtle but backbone, yada yada). so i called the flyshop
and they said to try the winston boron IIX vs. the sage. i'm going into
the flyshop sometime this week and hope to do that, but isn't the boron
IIX supposed to be a fast action rod? is winston just giving this
salesman a bigger commission or something? anyone ever looked at a
boron vs. the slt?

I've had a 9' 4wt 4pc Boron-IIX for about 6 months. Although it is lighter in
the hand, its action is virtually interchangeable with my 9' 5wt 2pc Winston
IM6 classic (sold these days under their "WT" series) when using the same 5wt
Cortland 444SL DT line on both.

The WT/classics are considered medium to medium-fast, the IIX fast.
I guess I'd go along with that...

/daytripper

On 2 Jan 2005 19:28:18 -0800, "HJS" wrote:


so after fishing a tfo 6 wt. and a sage ds2 3 weight for quite a while,
i finally wanted to step up to a great 5 wt. i've fished a friend's slt
and loved it (subtle but backbone, yada yada). so i called the flyshop
and they said to try the winston boron IIX vs. the sage. i'm going into
the flyshop sometime this week and hope to do that, but isn't the boron
IIX supposed to be a fast action rod? is winston just giving this
salesman a bigger commission or something? anyone ever looked at a
boron vs. the slt?

I've had a 9' 4wt 4pc Boron-IIX for about 6 months. Although it is lighter in
the hand, its action is virtually interchangeable with my 9' 5wt 2pc Winston
IM6 classic (sold these days under their "WT" series) when using the same 5wt
Cortland 444SL DT line on both.

The WT/classics are considered medium to medium-fast, the IIX fast.
I guess I'd go along with that...

/daytripper

thanks much for this but i'm not sure i follow: the action of the IIX
is interchangeable with the IM6/'WT but you'd go along with their
classification of the rods as fast and medium-fast respectively?
thanks,
js

thanks much for this but i'm not sure i follow: the action of the IIX
is interchangeable with the IM6/'WT but you'd go along with their
classification of the rods as fast and medium-fast respectively?
thanks,
js

On 3 Jan 2005 09:16:55 -0800, "HJS" wrote:

thanks much for this but i'm not sure i follow: the action of the IIX
is interchangeable with the IM6/'WT but you'd go along with their
classification of the rods as fast and medium-fast respectively?
thanks,
js

Look closer: the *4* weight Boron-IIX casts a *5* weight double-taper line
with the same feel as the *5* weight IM6. The over-lined IIX performance leads
me to believe the IIX rods are indeed "faster" than the IM6 rods, if only
incrementally...

/daytripper

On 3 Jan 2005 09:16:55 -0800, "HJS" wrote:

thanks much for this but i'm not sure i follow: the action of the IIX
is interchangeable with the IM6/'WT but you'd go along with their
classification of the rods as fast and medium-fast respectively?
thanks,
js

Look closer: the *4* weight Boron-IIX casts a *5* weight double-taper line
with the same feel as the *5* weight IM6. The over-lined IIX performance leads
me to believe the IIX rods are indeed "faster" than the IM6 rods, if only
incrementally...

/daytripper

ah, i see. thanks for that. my reading comprehension bites.

so i called winston this afternoon and after getting the sense that the
person who answers the phone just might be the person who also happens
to design a line of their rods, i asked them what it would take to put
a fatter grip on the boron IIX? they said $50 and six weeks. fair
enough, i thought. then i said, why the hell did you put such an anemic
grip on such a pretty rod? and the answer, relayed to the
receptionist/rod designer from the IIX rod designer was that the grip
as specified balances perfectly with the rod.

hard to argue with the prissy artistic license of a designer but i have
this theory (a word, by the way, that triggers an autonomic eye-roll in
my wife): smaller grips are more fatiguing. in other words, it takes
more of an effort to squeeze a smaller grip than to hold a fatter grip,
which better fills out the hand when it's in a more natural resting
position. of course, i can't prove this but i get the feeling that's
why the sage grips seem more comfortable.

anyway, thank you gents for your good help. obliged. and if you ever
fish upstate ny/western mass, give a holler.

On 3 Jan 2005 16:51:52 -0800, "HJS" wrote:

ah, i see. thanks for that. my reading comprehension bites.

so i called winston this afternoon and after getting the sense that the
person who answers the phone just might be the person who also happens
to design a line of their rods, i asked them what it would take to put
a fatter grip on the boron IIX? they said $50 and six weeks. fair
enough, i thought. then i said, why the hell did you put such an anemic
grip on such a pretty rod? and the answer, relayed to the
receptionist/rod designer from the IIX rod designer was that the grip
as specified balances perfectly with the rod.

hard to argue with the prissy artistic license of a designer but i have
this theory (a word, by the way, that triggers an autonomic eye-roll in
my wife): smaller grips are more fatiguing. in other words, it takes
more of an effort to squeeze a smaller grip than to hold a fatter grip,
which better fills out the hand when it's in a more natural resting
position. of course, i can't prove this but i get the feeling that's
why the sage grips seem more comfortable.

I have fairly large hands - tip of right thumb to tip of right pinky is a
solid 10.5" spread. I've found this is very important with respect to tennis
rackets and baseball bats, not important at all with rods. I also have a fair
collection of rods from a number of builders, with all kinds of grips. I don't
think I've ever felt any particular grip was problematic wrt diameter. Maybe I
just got lucky, or maybe there's a fundamental difference in how we each grip
a rod?

anyway, thank you gents for your good help. obliged. and if you ever
fish upstate ny/western mass, give a holler.

Cheers! Stranger things have been known to happen!

/daytripper (Why just this past summer, at "The Secret Spot"... ;-)

On 3 Jan 2005 16:51:52 -0800, "HJS" wrote:

ah, i see. thanks for that. my reading comprehension bites.

so i called winston this afternoon and after getting the sense that the
person who answers the phone just might be the person who also happens
to design a line of their rods, i asked them what it would take to put
a fatter grip on the boron IIX? they said $50 and six weeks. fair
enough, i thought. then i said, why the hell did you put such an anemic
grip on such a pretty rod? and the answer, relayed to the
receptionist/rod designer from the IIX rod designer was that the grip
as specified balances perfectly with the rod.

hard to argue with the prissy artistic license of a designer but i have
this theory (a word, by the way, that triggers an autonomic eye-roll in
my wife): smaller grips are more fatiguing. in other words, it takes
more of an effort to squeeze a smaller grip than to hold a fatter grip,
which better fills out the hand when it's in a more natural resting
position. of course, i can't prove this but i get the feeling that's
why the sage grips seem more comfortable.

I have fairly large hands - tip of right thumb to tip of right pinky is a
solid 10.5" spread. I've found this is very important with respect to tennis
rackets and baseball bats, not important at all with rods. I also have a fair
collection of rods from a number of builders, with all kinds of grips. I don't
think I've ever felt any particular grip was problematic wrt diameter. Maybe I
just got lucky, or maybe there's a fundamental difference in how we each grip
a rod?

anyway, thank you gents for your good help. obliged. and if you ever
fish upstate ny/western mass, give a holler.

Cheers! Stranger things have been known to happen!

/daytripper (Why just this past summer, at "The Secret Spot"... ;-)

well that pretty much blows my theory, doesn't it.

i have no choice now but to measure my thumb and pinky tips, the second
least dignified measurement i've ever taken.

well that pretty much blows my theory, doesn't it.

i have no choice now but to measure my thumb and pinky tips, the second
least dignified measurement i've ever taken.

On 3 Jan 2005 18:18:57 -0800, "HJS" wrote:

well that pretty much blows my theory, doesn't it.

i have no choice now but to measure my thumb and pinky tips, the second
least dignified measurement i've ever taken.

I hope the other didn't involve a priest...

;-)

On 3 Jan 2005 18:18:57 -0800, "HJS" wrote:

well that pretty much blows my theory, doesn't it.

i have no choice now but to measure my thumb and pinky tips, the second
least dignified measurement i've ever taken.

I hope the other didn't involve a priest...

;-)