I had cast Justin's 9wt CPS with a 9wt SA Striper line twice and knew that I had to have one. A couple of features about it's performance also planted a little seed in my brain that I could not suppress. Firstly, while it casts the 9wt line long and smoothly, I noticed it loaded efficiently even on a very short line - so the taper obviously has capability over an extended range. Secondly, the rod only weighs 3.7 ounces - and this is a 9wt saltwater capable rod.

Now I had been looking for a 8wt rod with a few special applications in mind - fishing NZ lake river mouths at night for large steelhead, saltwater flats, and getting very long casts into the Sydney salmon schools when they get real fussy and boat shy. The common factors here are an 8wt rod that carries a LOT of line for far off fine presentations as well as a lot of casting - and I get shoulder trouble from bigger outfits so something light and smooth in action was needed. I found that there are very few 8wt saltwater capable rods that weigh in at less than this 9wt CPS. The Winston Boron IIx comes in at 3 1/2 ounces but that is an 8wt rod and the price tag is severely detrimental to my tackle habit. All other 8wt rods in the right league that I could find the weight data on are heavier than this 9wt CPS.

So I bought one to use as a 9wt (just as I had cast it and loved it) but also pretty sure that it would be suited to an 8wt line in situations demanding very long line carry. When I got it home I went straight to the park with a Cortland WF 8wt Intermediate and found exactly what I expected - it still loads with a practical length of line but can carry an *enormous* length of line effortlessly with exceptional line speed. Last Sunday I fished it with an Airflo 40+ fast sink tip, also an 8wt line, and was very pleased with the performance. Later when we met up with Justin I borrowed the new 8wt sink tip line that Morsie has developed with the very long belly for flats work and found it to be a splendid match. To me this 9wt CPS casts that 8wt line as powerfully as the 8wt TCR that I tried it on before but with much less criticality than the TCR.

Now I'm not suggesting for one second that I'm the first person to "discover" underlining and long carry - all I'm saying is that this 9wt CPS is a great 9wt but a truly superb 8wt for long cast situations - particularly since it is still a lighter rod than most salty 8wts. So to me it has two distinct applications and neither is any sort of compromise.

Cheers
William

Great read William - very comprehensive.

These Redingtons are getting very very popular and getting rave reviews.

Is it true that SAGE own REDINGTON?