WHILE planning a future trip to
Christmas Island chasing
bonefish I thought it was a good
time to build myself a new f ly rod. After
talking to various people who had fished this
location previously, the consensus was a 6
weight f ly rod was an ideal option for chasing
their bonefish population!
I like my 8 weight “Sage TCX 890-4” f ly
rod, so I thought a new 6 weight Sage would be
a good choice. I've heard great reports about the
“Sage X Series” blanks with their fast action
and their “KonneticHD Technology”
construction. The “KonneticHD Technology”
is reported by Sage to delivery “lighter, stronger
blanks with unmatched recovery, energy
transfer, and line/loop control”. This
technology will provide you as the angler with a
higher degree of casting accuracy and better f ly
presentation, which is important when sight
casting weary fish on the f lats.
The Sage X Series blank I used is the 690-4
B, which is a 4-piece blank with a length of 9
feet. From their factory in Bainbridge USA,
Sage mark their blanks with a dot of white
paint at the end of each section. Their
suggestion is that each of the four sections are
aligned using these dots which will provide the
straightest axis of the blank. The guides are
then aligned along the dots.
There are many reel seat options that can be
used on a f ly rod and the decision on which to
use comes down to your personal preference. For
my rod I have chosen an REC aluminium reel
seat with a removable 1” fighting butt. I felt this
gives me the option of using the rod with or
without the fighting butt in place. This reel seat
also has a milled front hood so it can be recessed
into the cork grip. If you decide to go with this
reel seat, you will need to source a grip that will
allow the milled hood to recess into the grip or
purchase a “Crafty’s Cutter” inletting tool that is
designed to be used for this purpose. I've used a
full wells cork grip and used the tool to recess
the reel seat hood on my rod. As with all my
rods, I use a slow curing two part epoxy glue
when gluing these components onto the blank.
For my guide selection I've used a combination
of H&H (Hopkins & Holloway) American
pattern snake wire guides and an extra-large wire
tip with a 7mm loop size, plus two Fuji titanium
framed SiC (silicon carbide) guides for guides 8
and 9 (stripper). When binding these guides,
I only use a single overbind in “A” grade thread.
These binds are kept as short as possible, only
extending about 2mm beyond the start of each
guide foot. This will keep the weight to a
minimum on this rod.
It's also essential to bind the female end of
each blank section to reinforce these joins. I
make these binds about 10mm long. These binds
are again using “A” grade thread and I start them
as close to the end as possible, still allowing me
to see the alignment paint dots. This will also
allow me room to apply the epoxy finish so it
does not seep into the joins.
To finish all the bindings I have used two very
thin coats of “Thread Master Lite” epoxy finish.
If you don’t use a “Lite” epoxy finish, try to only
use one coat.
I'm really happy with how this rod feels and
casts. I now can’t wait to try it out on some of
the Christmas Island bones! ●ILLUSTR ATION: CHRIS PAL ATSIDESFORE GRIP: 90mm Cork Full WellsREEL SE AT: REC RSLSFIGHTING BUT T: REC 1.0 RCR-LSFuji TLNSG
#12JHHAPS #5HHAPS #4HHAPS #3HHAPS #3HHAPS #2HHAPS #2HHAPS #2TIP: HHOSF T 1.6 Pipe SizeFuji TLNSG
# 16J140 mm
160 mm
192 mm210 mm215 mm220 mm260 mm230 mm310 mmCHRISTMAS WISH
Brad builds a high-end fly rod, perfect for chasing
bonefish on the flats of Christmas Island.
By Brad Job
PROUDLY SPONSORED BYSPECIFICATIONS
BLANK: Sage X 690-4 BFIGHTING BUTT: REC 1.0 RCR-LSREEL SEAT: REC RSLSFORE GRIP: 90mm Cork Full WellsTIP: Hopkins & Holloway HHOSF T 1.6 Pipe SizeGUIDES: Hopkins & Holloway HHAPS 3 x #2, 2 x #3,
1 x #4, 1 x # 5, Fuji TLNSG 1 x #12J, 1 x # 16JGUIDE SPACINGS: Tip, 140, 160, 192, 210, 215, 220,
230, 260, 310mmROD BUILDERS WORKSHOP
54 fishingworld.com.au | September 2019