Sage SLT Review, was Rod & Reel Decision Made
Well, I got to spend a day with the new 7'6" Sage SLT 3wt and Orvis BBS II reel. I think it's a keeper. I mailed the warranty card in today
Yesterday, I went to a local tailwaters. First, this tailwater is not where a short medium action 3wt is really meant to shine. I bought this for small streams with tree canopy. But, I wanted to give it a workout and see what it was capable of doing in my hands. How a rod fishes says a lot more than how it casts in the back yard, at least to me. I know some more experienced fly fishermen (and ladies) can pick up a rod and tell a lot about it, I'm not there yet. I have to get it on the water.
First, I wish I could say I caught a lot of fish. Unfortunately, I only caught 3 on Saturday. Two were chunky browns. One was 14" and one was just shy of 16". The third was a brown, but smaller in the 10" range. The larger fish really put the bend on the 3wt. It was a LOT of fun catching them. I'm used to a 5wt.
The first few casts, just like the hour on the lake, didn't lay out the way I wanted them. I'm more accustomed to a 9' 5wt. Even though they didn't lay out just right, I could tell that I was going to like this rod. The action has a little more guts in the butt than I thought it would, but the flex is just wonderful. In watching the rod (I know, should watch the line, but I wanted to see what the rod was doing), the loading flex started about 1/2 way up the rod and made a very nice looking flex at the tip.
After a couple casts to get used to the actin and the lighter line, I started serious fishing. I tied on a #18 Adams with a 9' 6X leader and started casting to a rising trout about 25' away from where I was standing. I layed the fly about 6-8' upstream from where the fish was rising and had a take on the first cast. Unfortunately, I was still thinking about how the rod cast and how I would describe it here and missed the strike. For the next hour, I could not buy a strike. During this time, I got very comfortable with the rod. It really felt like an extention of my arm.
Since this is not a fishing report, I won't give blow by blow about the fishing.
The Orvis BBS II is the perfect reel for this rod. The balance and weight are perfect. This rod and reel combination are very light and the casting weight is almost non existant. I fished for 8 hours and at the end of the day, there was no fatigue. In fact, I did not notice any muscle tiredness at all.
About mid day, the wind picked up a little bit. It was gusty for about an hour as a front line cleared out. This is where the little extra backbone came in. While nobody would call the SLT a fast rod, it creates enough line speed to cast into the wind. I honestly would have preferred my 9' 5wt Scott G2 in the wind, but the SLT 7'6" 3wt did quite well.
Since none of the fish I caught were huge, I can't say how it would handle a hog, but the 16" brown was not too much to handle. The drag on the BBS II was smooth. I really didn't need to get that fish on the drag, but I wanted to see how it performed.
To wrap up, my overall impression of the SLT is it's a very smooth casting rod. It is forgiving of my mistakes and it lays out dry flies very gently. I was using #18 Adams, and #22 griffiths gnats. I also did a little nymphing with #18 BH Pheasant tails and a yarn strike indicator and all cast smoothly and laid out over the water just where I wanted them to.
I am using Rio Trout WF 3 floating line.
Anyone looking for a smooth casting 3wt, I would recommend checking out this rod. It's being discontinued by Sage as they introduce another medium action rod. There are some very good prices out there on the ones being cleared out
I hope this is helpful to you all.
Jeff
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Last week a lot of you all offered opinions on various rods I was considering. I weighed the opinions, reputations of the companies, and casting qualities of the various rods on my list.
I made a decision today and it's one I think I will be happy with.
I have a Sage SLT 7'6" 3 weight on the way.
I picked up an Orvis Battenkill Bar Stock II reel with Rio Selective Trout line from a forum member.
I have the reel in hand (set it up for right hand retrieve tonight as I cast left handed and reel with right hand)
The rod should arrive in a couple days. The shop said it was going to ship out this afternoon.
I will give a full fishing report after I get it on the water.
Thanks to all for a spirited debate and for being so open in sharing your personal experiences.
Jeff
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Originally Posted by jeffnles1
