I have a couple of pairs of waders, one of which is a pair of hip waders that I have not yet worn the other pair are chest neo-prenes that are OK (I have only used them a few times), all the these waders have rubber boots sewn in and will probably be very uncomfortable when walking some distance.

So I walk into one of my favourite tackle shops this afternoon, Pro Angler in Sydney in search of a few mud eye flies, there is this pair of breathable waist waders that I have been eyeing off for the last few months. I then thought back to how many times I have wanted to wear waders but the comments of "ahhh stuff it, I am not wearing them things while walking that distance" went through my head. So Andrew tells me "we have a special on the waders and boots", I was sold! So now I have 3 pairs of waders, two of which I dont think I will ever wear. ha!

I have had enough of spending sprees, you can now call me tight arse Dave

17 February 2007
Welcome the sage TCR 6wt to the family...
I set myself a goal, I wanted a new 6wt fly rod, I didnt want finesse, I wasnt worried about presentation, I wanted a brute casting machine that could punch line out into the distance and if necessary into the wind! It also needed the power to push big flies through the air to hungry fish in the distance :-)

Moving towards the end of the week and it was time to make the decision, rods reviewed and test cast were the following:
Winston Boron IIx 6wt, Sage TCR 5wt & 6wt, Sage z-axis 5wt & 6wt and the Pro Angler Stalker salt 6wt.

Winston Boron IIx 6wt: this was the first rod that I picked up, holding it in my casting hand in the store it felt fantastic, light weight, quite fast actioned, my hand fit around the cork grip really nicely and the overall build quality of the rod was what could only be described as perfect. This rod cast very nicely, in fact it was a pleasure to cast and I could picture myself using this rod all day without tiring. Did it fulfill my pre-requisites? Yes and no, the rod could punch a fair amount of distance but I had to work hard to get the line out. Finesse this rod has, grunt it does have, but just not enough for what I want.

Sage TCR 5wt: next up the TCR 5wt, my first impression - cheap and nasty (in saying this you must remember I had just picked the Winston up and it felt like an extension of my arm). Now I am no foreigner to sage rods, having owned and still do own a number of sage rods the 5wt TCR just didnt feel right on that initial inspection. This feeling was rectified rather quickly after the first cast, leaving me with one word to describe this rod "weapon". Enough said.

Pro Angler stalker salt series 6wt: this was the surprise rod of the bunch, build quality was good, in the hand it feels almost as stiff as a TCR but with a little more finesse in the tip. When I say surprise rod of the bunch I really mean surprise at half the price of the big guns it performed well, actually very well. It hauled a big amount of line out with little effort, its a well built rod with fighting butt and saltwater reel seat, and what I liked even more was the cigar style grip. This is the rod some would consider the under dog of all tested, but in reality for what I wanted it just fell short of the TCR and if the TCR never existed this would be my first choice.

Sage TCR 6wt: I have read nothing but praise for this rod and as soon as I picked it up I knew this would be the one, it feels as good as it looks and it casts line out like no other rod I have ever picked up. Technical Casting Rod it is, weapon it is, powerhouse it is... the list can go on and on. If your after a rod that can punch line out with ease dont look past the TCR, it flung the SA GPX line almost into the backing only after a few casts!

Sage z-axis 6wt: the final rod in my endevour of reaching 6wt fly rod climax (maybe not the best choice of words!). The rod is built very nicely and is very comparable to the Winston in regards to both build and action. If you blind folded me and gave me both the z-axis and boron IIx to cast there would be very little difference in it. As with the boron IIx the z-axis is a fantastic rod and on any other given day that I didnt have specific requirements to be met the battle would have been between these two.

If you havent guessed by now, the rod that I chose was the TCR #6, it fulfilled all the requirements that I had predefined, is a very nicely built and powerpacked rod. In terms of second place it would be a hard choice between the TCR #5 and the proangler stalker salt #6 - some might call this a controversial decision, and I am definately no lefty Kreh of the casting world, but my casting style and wants from this particular rod dictated these findings!

And further more, if I was to choose a 6wt fly rod for all round presentation and casting ability it would be the Winston Boron IIx :-)