Originally Posted by
cycler68
I finally did locate a test report that matched a Loomis Crosscurrent, a Sage Xi, a Helios and a Winston (the exact model escapes me at the moment. Although the Helios put in a strong showing in several catagories, especially for close in accuracy and, of course, weight, it didn't win. It was last in value for the money and couldn't do a 100 ft cast whereas the Crosscurrent and Sage Xi both could. The Helios also wasn't their fav in the fun to fish, gotta have catagory. The overall winner was the Crosscurrent, with the Sage coming in second, then the Helios and finally the Winston.
With the Helios coming in so poorly in the long distance match I think my idea of overlining the rod with 10 wt line and then casting a crankbait would fall flat on it's face. I'm actually a little surprised that it can't do a 100 ft cast with the line they chose since the rod is quite stiff and I would think that would translate to great power but I guess not.
I'll still fish the rod a lot since it's the best rod by far that I have but if I get the money to spend on another premium rod the Sage and Crosscurrent with both be getting a hard look before I loose the credit card and order one.