Sage ESN 2wt, for dry fly????????
Recently there was a toch on a discussion a bout using the Sage ESN 2wt as a dry fly rod. A link was posted, from an article written which rates the ESN 2 wt as a capable dry fly rod.
Well, I decided to try it out in this way the other day, and my personal findings are a as follows. Remember hthese are my personal findings, which has created the impression that I have of this rod a s adry fly rod:-
I didnt like it at all for this application, in fact, it was dissapointing. It is clearly designed for a different purpose. It struggles to cast a nice tight loop, which is essential for good presentation of the dry, where you allow the leader to turnover and place the fly on the water, at the point where the energy of the cast completely has dissipated to the point of the leader where the fly is tied onto. The leader must be a logical continuation of the fly line for the correct dry fly presentation. The best loop from the ESN, is still a somewhat open, and therfore clumsy presentation loop for the dry, opening up the potential of more than desirable interference from wind, and compromised accuracy. I just coulnd.t get the tip working in a manner as to suit what I needed to to do to provide a perfect dry fly application. Not sure why, but I felt after a while, that any amount of perseverance, wasnt going to help. When I did the less effective, and somewhat incorrect dry fly cast, of doing a more horizontal cast, and allowing the leader to straighten out in the air, and then fall to the water, it seemed to be better, but this method is not how it should be done, and gives no indication of the rods prowess, as this technique can be done equally as effectively with any old stick between 0 and 9 wt, and requres very little skill, besides that, when fishing like this, its anyones guess where the fly is going to land. Also quite surprisingly, when attempting to correct the cast to accomodate the rods dry fly drawback, it developed a but of a tip wobble, which undoubtedly was due to the tip being incorrectly overworked. When this happened, I just knew that i would have to start using the rod properly very soon, or else run the risk of permanant disgust.
Anyway, as I said, these are my findings, and I personally wouldnt reccomment it to anyone who wants to use it for any more than, say 25% tops, for dry fly. Its a nymphing rod and it does various styles on nymphing with extreme perfection (not exaggerating) . Its simply beautifull when doing what it's most happy with, and simply the best ever, at doing the light nymph, long leader configuration fishing that modern style nymphing requires.
So, in conclusion...its a nymphing rod, fiinished and klaar.... these are my opinions, and I know that some bigger and better anglers have rated it as a very good dry fly rod...but I have no idea what they were smoking at the time. To me, the best rod for dry fly on our local streams, is a 2 or 3 wt, under 9 feet...in fact 9 feet is still pushing it, with a medium to slow action and with a robust tip to flatten the loop, (leader configuration being subjective)....put these together, and you certainly dont get a 10 foot 2 wt Sage ESN,
Disclaimer.... none of my posts are intended to be "expert advice"..just opinions from someone who is willing to help where he can.
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