http://www.cortlandline.com/

http://www.diamondbackflyrods.com/

http://www.redington.com/

http://www.llbean.com/

Angling Publications - Index

Angling Publications - april2008 - Index

2008
S
S
RODS
9-foot
4-piece
8-weight
4.1 ounces
Made in China
Cortland
Big Sky
While Cortland’s new
Big Sky 8-weight may be
the least expensive rod
in this roundup, it’s not
lacking in performance
or features. The Big
Sky’s smooth, progressive,
medium-fast action
generates plenty of line
speed without beating
the caster into the
ground, which makes it a
top choice for salmon and
steelhead where plenty of
casting practice is an integral
part of the drill. The Big Sky
features an anodized aluminum,
uplocking reel seat
with dual locking rings and
peppered cork fighting butt,
full-Wells cork grip, olive
green painted blanks with
red wraps and gold winding
accents, tip-over-butt ferrules
with alignment dots,
twin oversized strippers with
SiC rings, and heavy wire,
chrome-plated, wide-aperture
snakes and tip-top. It
comes packed in a Corduracovered
PVC rod tube with
internal sleeve dividers and
integral, zippered, padded
rod pouch, and includes
Cortland’s lifetime warranty.
$230 $299 $299 $300
Cortland Line Co.
(607) 756-2851
cortlandline.com
9-foot
4-piece
8-weight
4.2 ounces
Made in China
Diamondback
Flawless
Diamondback bills
their new Flawless
Series rods as “the
lightest physical weight,
highest performance,
and greatest value
fly rods we’ve ever
offered.” True enough,
but you won’t really
appreciate that statement
until you get a
chance to cast this lean,
mean casting machine—it’s
the best rod Diamondback
has ever produced. Built with
proprietary HD4-9000 highmodulus
graphite with bidirectional
fiberglass scrim, the
fast-action 8-weight is an
absolute powerhouse, generating
very high line speeds and
ridiculously tight loops for
long, pinpoint casts. It features
a Flor+ grade full-Wells cork
grip, uplocking gloss-blackanodized
aluminum reel seat
with cork/EVA foam fighting
butt, hand-painted alignment
diamonds at each ferrule,
twin dual-foot strippers with
Hardloy inserts, wide-aperture
snakes and tip-top, Corduracovered
rod tube with integral
padded reel pouch, and a
lifetime warranty.
Diamondback
(607) 756-2851
diamondbackflyrods.com
9-foot
4-piece
8-weight
3.6 ounces
Made in China
Redington
CPS
The Redington CPS
(Core Performance
Series) 8-weight is
a prime example of
the extent to which
Redington’s rod
designs have benefited
by their association
with Sage (both Sage
and Redington are
owned by the same
holding company).
The CPS 8-weight is an
extraordinarily competent
performer for an under
$300 rod. The action is
just slightly on the fast side
of medium-fast, making it
a good choice for longer
shots with heavier salmon
rigs. Its principal features
include a green painted
blank with black wraps and
silver accents, tip-over-butt
ferrules with alignment dots,
black anodized aluminum,
uplocking reel seat with
cork/EVA foam fighting butt,
premium cork full-Wells
grip, twin dual-foot stripping
guides with SiC rings, and
wide-aperture snakes and
tip-top. It comes packed in
a Cordura-covered rod tube
with a four-slot rod sock.
Redington
(800) 253-2538
redington.com
9-foot
4-piece
8-weight
4.0 ounces
Made in China
L.L. Bean
Orion 3
If you’re like many
salmon and steelhead
anglers who do a lot of
bottom bouncing with
eggs and nymphs at
short to medium casting
distances, your taste
in rod actions may run
toward the medium
side of fast. If so, the 8weight
Orion 3 from
L. L. Bean is a rod
you’d be well advised to
try. Priced at a budgetfriendly
$300, the 8-weight
Orion 3 features pearl-blue
painted, slim-mandrel blanks
with contrasting gloss black
wraps and silver accents, tipover-butt
ferrules, skeletonized,
uplocking machinedaluminum
reel seat with
matching pearl-blue graphite
insert, twin locking rings
and cork/EVA foam fighting
butt, premium-grade cork
full-Wells grip, twin dual-foot
Fuji stripping guides with
SiC rings, and wide-aperture,
chrome-plated snakes and
tip-top. It comes packed in an
ultralight graphite rod tube
(in pearl blue, of course), and
includes Bean’s legendary
100% satisfaction guarantee.
L.L. Bean
(888) 617-2326
llbean.com
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