Wayne Knight wrote:
The fastest rod I ever cast was the old sage SP+
series but it sucked as a fish fighting tool.

While not necessarily relevent to small stream trout fishing, I had the
chance to experience an interesting comparison between two rods this
past weekend. After shattering my big St. Croix 8 wt stick a couple
years ago, I bought a lighter, somewhat slower action 8 wt. Scott as a
replacement. I typically fished with that while Son fished with an
older St. Croix 9 wt.

Through my role as dad/guide/tie-this-on-for-me person, I occasionally
swapped rods with my son and had the chance to fight fish with both
rods. I was amazed at the difference. While I definitely like the
Scott better for casting & mending, I thought the faster St. Croix gave
me far more control over these big fish, well beyond the mere
difference in rod weights.

Joe F.