Trouts Fly Fishing

Manufacturer: Sage Fly Rods

Product: Sage ZXL 486-4 Fly Rod

Retail Price: $$685

Tester: Jim Bryan-Kanda

Rating: 5/5 - A great fly rod, not much else to say

Date Tested: November 5, 2010

Test Area: 11 Mile Canyon - South Platte River

What They Say:

The ZXL rods are significantly lighter, stronger and easier to cast for everyone who enjoys the relaxed casting rhythm of a smooth progressive taper. Through the miracle of our G5 process, we were able to remove every gram of unnecessary material from each blank and replace traditional glass hoop fibers with lighter, more responsive graphite.

What We Say:

I've always been a big fan of medium to medium-fast action rods and oftentimes still find myself fishing my old stand by, the Sage SLT 486-4. This "newer" version of the old SLT is truly a better stick. Light in the hand, the Sage ZXL 486-4 performs perfectly when fishing light nymph rigs and is remarkable when fishing dry flies. The line speed and accuracy were what I noticed most, pin point placement of size #20 bwo dries was its true forte. If you are a methodical caster with a slower casting stroke look no further then the ZXL series of fly rods.

Last Minute Thoughts:

In my opinion the ZXL series of rods are best in their lighter weights, say 5 weight and less. The 486-4 (4 weight, 8 1/2', 4 piece) is a great rod for those who like fishing small to medium sized rivers/streams, dry flies, light nymph rigs and typically use lighter tippet materials (5x-7x).