9' 9wt Recommendations Needed; $400 - $600

[iowaonthefly]

I'm a relatively new fly fisherman with some experience fishing in Iowa's Driftless Area and small-medium sized lakes around the Midwest. I've been using a 9' 5wt Sage Pulse and have had a ton of fun catching trout, panfish and smaller bass. I'm temporarily living in the Netherlands for work and I've heard there is some good pike fishing here. I'll need to throw some hearty streamers so I'm hoping you all will have some recommendations for a new rod. I will mostly be fishing from banks, but I may be able to line up some boat excursions as well. I've included a few questions below:

1. Is a 9 weight rod ideal for pike? I'm trying to stay with the 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 sequence, but if a 9 is not ideal I wouldn't mind breaking that for a 10.
2. What rods would you recommend? The main manufacturer in Europe seems to be Loop, but I don't know much about them. Please don't filter out any manufacturers based on my location as I should be able to get something sent to me. As you can tell from my Sage Pulse, I don't want to break the bank but I also want something with some quality that I can grow into as an intermediate caster. Possibly in the $400-$600 range.
3. Any reel or line recommendations to go with it? I know this is the wrong section of the forum for reel or fly line talk, but it would be helpful to get recommendations for the full outfit.

Many thanks!
Ethan

 

[ibookje]

Look for a used rod on eBay. There should be tons of them in every kind of brands. For sure a lot less than $400!

 

[clsmith131]

You can have luck with the used market, but you need to do more research to verse yourself in older rods. For a new purchase, I like the Echo 3s ti. I have one in a 990, great fast action crisp rod that can easily throw good sized streamers and aggressive tapered lines. They are around $400 full price, but can often be found at deep discounts. No frill rod, just a great high performance blank. They are hard to beat for the money.

As far as the question of line wt, I personally have no problem breaking the every other sequence. I see big difference in 8, 9 and 10 wts and have rods in all of them. In your case, I would think the 9 should be plenty, in fact, I'd probably look seriously at an 8. 8wts are very versatile, they handle everything from big trout streamers to bass poppers to moderately windy saltwater and are not to rough on the shoulder and fore arm. If you know that you will be throwing big wind resistant streamers, or will be in a lot of windy situations, stay with the 9.

 

[johnnymaltby]

They are not a trendy brand but I really like my Streem Rift. RIFT – Streem Outdoors
I use it for Steelhead and just throwing bigger streamers in general. I would say that I am not the hugest fan of their reels. If I were you, I would get the Rift and then spend the rest of your money on a nice line and reel.

 

[iowaonthefly]

Thanks clsmith131. Really helpful. I looked into the Echo 3s Ti and it looks like a great workhorse rod! I'm confident that I'll be throwing some big streamers, so I think I'll stick with the 9. My long-term plan is to pick up a 7 wt as my go to bass rod, so the 9 will be for pike and potentially a salt trip or two. Thanks again for the recommendation.

 

[brownbass]

eBay has a few Sage Salt 990 for sale, new and used and they are priced really well. A used at $335 and new for $500. And of course, the Sage Method can be had for $500 as well on various sites.

Bill

 

[clouserguyky]

Check out the Sage Motive and Scott Tidal #9s too. Those are great mid-priced rods that would be great for Pike and salt.

 

[duker]

I think a 9 weight is a bit much for your average pike, unless your average pike is over 36". I use an 8 weight up here and have had some pretty big ones on--it hucks bigger flies and handles the fish just fine. But if you're going to cast huge streamers, encounter lots of wind, and maybe use it for the salt, then go with a 9.

If you can find either a Sage Xi3 or Loomis CrossCurrent GLX in 9 weight grab them. I use a CrossCurrent 9 weight for my saltwater excursions and it's a fantastic rod. Xi3s have been discontinued for a while now but you can find them used; Loomis still makes the CrossCurrent GLXs.

Scott

 

[tex68w]

Used Sage Salt, Sage Motive, and Loomis Cross Current GLX are the three I'd be looking for. I am doing the whole 3,5,7,9,11 weight setup myself.