A 9 foot #5-line rod is currently the best-selling size trout fly rod sold in the USA. It is the best seller because it is soft enough to be able to fish 5X and 6X tippet without breaking off every nice fish you set the hook on. It is also stiff enough to fish streamers, hopper dropper rigs, and indicators in all but the windiest conditions. It is the ½ ton pickup truck of fly rods. If you want to do everything with a five-weight rod, it needs to have enough flex in the tip and enough stiffness in the butt. Not too much or too little. When designing a rod, we rate stiffness by what fictional line size “most” anglers would use on the rod. We call this the rods line stiffness rating (LSR). For example, a standard five weight rod would have a LSR rating of 5.0. A soft five weight rod might balance well with a 4.7 weight line. A stiff five weight rod might need a 5.5 weight line to load it and cast well. That extra stiff / distance casting five weight rod you use to show off to your friends might need a 5.9 weight line to balance with it. The new TROUT X rod has a LSR of 5.4 which can put a trout fly anywhere you want over the largest range of fishing conditions. TROUT X 590 rod has a line stiffness rating (LSR) of 5.4 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. Rod Deflection
