A 9 foot #4-line rod is a rod designed to chase large fish on light tippet. In technical trout waters, accuracy is critical but as important is the ability to keep the line out of the grass behind you and to mend and control your line after you have made the cast. If we lived in a world of magic fly rods, we would make a shorter rod maybe 8’4” to 8’6” to optimize accuracy that as soon as the fly lands on the water would extent to 10 feet. This magic “extend-O rod” would allow for more accurate casts (10’ rods tent to be less accurate than shorter rods) and then allow you to mend or lift line away from water currents that would affect the drift of the fly. Most fly fishing competitors use long rods in all their competition specifically for line control. We chose to make our technical trout rod nine feet because it is the sweet spot between accuracy and line control. The 490 TROUT X nine-foot four weight rod is the rod we expect you will want to fish spring creeks or super finicky trout on medium to larger rivers. TROUT X 490 rod has a line stiffness rating (LSR) of 4.3 and has our VSS (Variable Sweet Spot) action. What you ask is our VSS action….. it is a rod action where every inch of the rod gets progressively stiffer as you move from the tip to the butt. This action has no large, sweet spot optimized for a cast of a specific distance. We think the VSS action offers good to expert casters the ability to adjust their stroke to the line speed they need for success. It is an action entry level anglers and beginner casters will grow into but is optimized for more advanced casters. If you have an aggressive casting stroke,you can use a lighter line on this rod and if you are a smooth long stroke caster you will like this rod with a heavier line. To help the rod’s casting efficiency we did what we could to make the TROUT X rods light to help casting efficiency and to help protect light tippet. These rods are produced in a factory that has access to the latest and best carbon fiber material. We used lightweight guides and have done everything we can to shave weight from the rod to improve performance. The rods are all four piece and a coated with mist green gloss finish. The matching thread color helps the rod blend into the environment and all the snake guides are chrome plated for less friction. SIC stripper guides help improve double haul efficiency and the extended half wells grip with a burl wood real seat so they are beautiful, light, and low maintenance.
