Blind Cast is a page devoted to any topic that Capt. Tom may find interesting, relevant to current events, or helpful to fellow anglers. Stop by the Blind Cast page often! The subject matter is certainly not limited to fishing!
Gear Review: New Sage Xi-3!
Posted By: Capt. Tom | 2010-02-07
For the past four days my shiny new Sage Xi-3 8 weight has been sitting in my house, and today I finally got to get out on the water and really see what Sage’s latest and greatest has to offer. I’ve cast the Xi-3 in a parking lot and in my yard. However, parking lots and backyards somehow magically make fly rods perform better. I’ve been fooled into buying at least two rods that I cast outside a fly shop, and they performed poorly on the water. More specifically, they performed poorly in a saltwater flats environment. When I lived in Montana, I had a friend at a fly shop that told me that I needed to cast a Winston Boron IIx (advertised as a fast action rod). I went down to the shop cast the rod and dumped almost the entire line out in the lot. I said, "Order me a blank." After moving down here I took that Winston out on the flats and it had no backbone. I couldn’t make quick shots in the wind or get the fly to the fish. However, it was a fantastic rod on the river for salmon or steelhead.
So, is the Xi-3 a "parking lot" rod? It depends. The older Xi-2 was advertised to improve your performance on the flats by giving you more line feel. Therefore, you have a more forgiving rod that will make a decent cast even if you spazz out. The Xi-3 is advertised to have more torque and torsion resistance and reduced weight. What does that mean? A stiffer faster rod with more lifting power. The good news is that for all you experienced casters out there, you’ll find the Xi-3 to be a fantastic rod. I’m concerned that first time saltwater anglers are going to miss out on that, "Oh yeah. Rod’s fully loaded" feeling that the Xi-2 offered.
Today, it took me a couple hours to adjust. I had to speed up my casting stroke and get used to the lesser amount of line feel. The rod really did a great job at sending the fly directly to the target. I saw a definite improvement in accuracy. It also has more lifting power and strength in the butt section. This really makes me want to see what the 12 weight is like for my tarpon fishing! If you’re new to saltwater fishing, I’d say, "Take advantage of all the killer clearance sales on Xi-2’s". If you know your way around the flats, go get yourself a brand new Xi-3, and have fun blasting long casts into the wind as well as putting the hurt on some hard core saltwater bruisers!
Capt. Tom Campbell
Thanks everybody!!
Posted By: Capt. Tom | 2009-12-02
This is my first entry in the Blind Cast section of DUA’s site, and I’d like to take the opportunity to thank some of the best people in the world who where kind enough to help put all of this together. First, I’d like to thank my parents, sisters, and brother who have always led me by their good example. Next, without a doubt, I’d have to thank Nathan Hester. He is the head web designer for Poison Arrow Designs. He put in some serious work making this site look absolutely badass. Evan Temple who also works with Poison Arrow did a great job working with the graphics. My old friend Stephen Baumgartner created our logos. Pretty good for someone who’s never caught a tarpon! We’ll get him down here next summer and change that! I’d also like to thank Andy Coleman who is another good friend, great fisherman, and the finest example of a Southern Gentleman as I’ve ever met. He took quite few of the amazing photographs that appear throughout the site. Last, but definitely not least, I’d like to thank everyone who I’ve ever had the pleasure to take fishing. I hope that y’all will come back to Santa Rosa Beach for another trip! I’m also really looking forward to all the new clients who will be fishing with us! I can’t wait to see what might happen during that next adventure on the water!
Thanks again to everybody!
Capt. Tom
