Has anyone fished a 10 wt sage payload? I am looking for a one hand rod to fish 420-450 grain shooting heads in the surf and in breach ways. Seems like the payload has the guts to cast a line like this but it’s very heavy and has a huge fighting butt for doing figure 8s at the boat for musky.
Is there another rod that would handle these types of lines while not being so heavy? I fish an axiom 2x 10 wt right now and while it’s good for fishing up to 350 grains once I put on the heavier lines it folds.
I have not fished a Payload but I don’t think you’ll feel an extra ounce or so when casting heavy grain lines and big flies. The faster the better for shooting heads, fast+ is ideal.
My NRX rods did a great job with heavier head lines. I fish a 425 on my 10 wt Winston rods (BIII-SX, BII-MX) without issue.
You may be able to find a used Winston Alpha+ rod - those are beasts at handling big flies and line.
What grain lines do you fish on the 7 wt? Do you think the 9wt could handle a 425 grain line? There isn’t a lot of info on the 9 and 10 wts that I could find.
