I have some guys I know who have the LL rods and they are super sweet. The graphite III I believe was a graphite that came out a year after the II which was just a marketing tool. I don't know of much difference in them. The new sage ZXL is suppose to be the new version of the older LL line of rods. The LL is in my opinion one of the very best rods ever produced by any company especially in the 5wt lines. I hope that helps you some.