I am not presenting myself as any sort of expert,,, only a retired old guy who enjoys experimenting with light line spey rods.
My personal collection:
Sage - very light weight and smooth casting with quick recovery.
4116 ONE - excellent casting rod with 270-280gr Scandi lines.
5116 ONE - also nice casting rod with 300-320gr Scandi lines.
5126 ONE - preferred giving better line control for longer casts.
5119 TCX - absolute canon for distance with 300-320gr Scandi lines.
5120 Graphite IIIe- the original light trout spey rod,,, still great casting with 300gr Scandi or 350gr Skagit Flight and 375gr Skagit Short.
Thomas & Thomas - excellent design and comfortable to cast all day
DNA 1195 - very smooth casting with reserve power 320gr RIO Scandi Short and 375gr Skagit Short
_____________
Custom made rods, projects in progress for this spring.
Thomas & Thomas LPS II, 9' 4wt with custom cork from a T&T Switch rod.
Completed and tested with various lines.
Thomas & Thomas Paradigm 9' 4wt 3-pc, stiffer tip wrt the LPS II, should be better performing rod. In progress.
Sage ESN 2100 with 4" longer blank making it 10'4" (custom ordered from Sage). In progress.
I own and have single hand spey cast the factory ESN 2100 and it has excellent potential.
__________________
I also have in my collection these imported rods which are heavier in swing weight and do not cast as well as the USA made rods however, they are less than 1/2 the retail price and fish well.
TFO
4110 Deer Creek - the original short light trout rod that is still a contender with 240gr Scandi lines
Echo
SR 3106 - nice casting rod with 240gr Scandi
TR 4120 - likes 270-280gr Scandi, I prefer this new rod to the older DH series.
TR 5120 - likes 300-310gr Scandi
Mystic
4113 - Rather soft tip, likes 210gr Scandi best
Redington
4109 Prospector - great with 240gr Scandi
__________________
Rods previously owned and sold off:
Sage
5110 Z-Axis - like it best with RIO Steelhead Scandi 280gr
5126 Z-Axis - nice casting however, the 5126 ONE is superior.
TFO -- 5126 Deer Creek - great low budget rod, friends have landed smaller steelhead with this rod.
Mystic -- 3113 - Very soft tip and felt over lined with 210gr Scandi
Echo -- DH 4119 - mislabeled rod, likes 300-310ge Scandi best, nice casting rod. Several friends like and use this rod for trout.
____________
I have cast most of the current light trout rods including:
Winston - the new MS series 3, 4 & 5 wt, very soft rods, required underlining.
I found timing difficult with this series and line section is presently limited.
Echo = 10'6" Glass spey/switch rod, very nice casting with great potential, labeled 175-200gr window, Airflo will have new lines shortly for this rod. Tested it with RIO Scandi 210gr and it felt rather heavy, cannot wait for the new 175gr Airflo line.
Anderson - labeled 3wt, provided with 280gr line from the manuf.
Meiser - similar to above with rod label and actual line weight somewhat heavier.
Regards,
FK