The Albright XX series of four piece fly rods are designed and rated for specific grain weights of sinking lines. The recent disconnect between the new popularity of sinking lines and recent rod design tending to fast, thin walled tip action rods has reeked havoc in the world of chuck and duck. The XX series "takes the chuck out of chuck and duck". They are built with rugged components on strong tapers for this demanding fishing technique.
Albright XX 980-4/ 9' 8wt
Rod Length
9'- 0" , 4 psc.
Line Rating
Rated for 250-300 grain sinking for the 8wt and 450- 500 grain for the 10wt
Rod Action
Fast action taper- strong
Weight
4.75 oz (8 wt) and 5.5 oz (10 wt)
Material
Advanced graphite materials
MSRP
$335.00 (8) and $375.00 (10)
First Impressions:
The rod is finished with an attractive dark indigo surface, anodized indigo aluminum reel seat with double up-locking rings, two extra large ceramic stripping guides, large snake guides and an excellent quality full wells cork grip on both, and on the 10 wt, a forward fighting grip. I found the rods to balance well with a large arbor reel.
On the Water:
I designed my field test of the Albright model XX to determine the casting performance over a range of line weights, line type and casting stroke. The lines included; three sinking lines, 200,300,400 grain and a WF 8 F. The casting stroke was changed with respect to wind direction/ force and fly size. These are real world conditions that an angler may experience on any outing. I believe a quality fly rod should be capable of performing over a range of conditions with respect to an angler’s ability level.
I began my evaluation with the 200 grain line and small fly. I was immediately surprised how effortlessly the rod loaded and how well the line shot out with just two strokes. I had laid out about 65’ of line on the boat deck; it wasn’t enough! I spooled out an additional 20’ and continued casting. No problem shooting line out to 80+ feet. I continued by changing my orientation to a 15-20 mph wind. Casting cross-wise to the wind was made easy because the rod loaded quickly with very little fly line in the air above my head. Again, very good distance was achieved. I changed my position to cast directly into the breeze. The rod loaded quickly and with two quick power strokes, I managed several casts of 60-70 feet. All in all, the 200 grain casts well with the 8 wt XX. A bit more effort was required with the lighter line, especially head-on to the wind.
I repeated the evaluation with changing out the small fly for the larger one. Clearly the larger fly (heavier and more air resistance) required a slight change in my stroke to achieve similar distance as with the smaller fly, but all in all I was pleased with the performance of the XX with the 200 grain line.
I changed out reel spools and repeated the test scenario with the 300 grain line. Right from the get go it was clear how well matched the 8 wt XX was to the 300 grain line. With my back to the wind and only two effortless strokes I was achieving distances of close to 100 feet, not bad for an 8 wt! All points of orientation to the wind produced excellent cast distance. Head-on to the wind produced 80 foot distance with only slightly more effort required. Changing out the fly to the larger one mattered very little in this case, the 300 grain line matched perfectly with the rod.
Next up was the 400 grain line. I stripped off about 75 feet of line on to the boat deck and attached the smaller fly and set up to cast with the wind at my back. I quickly noticed the difference the heavier line had on the ability of the rod to load properly. The rod became overloaded and the resulting casts were falling considerably shorter than the other lines. I adjusted my casting stroke to lessen the amount of line in the air and the back cast timing. This change resulted in better performance but not near as controlled as the lower weight lines; back to chuck and duck! Orientation to the wind and fly size did nothing either way to change the performance.
The 8 wt XX casts as advertised with a 300 grain sinking line. Dropping down to a 200 grain line was acceptable; going up to a 400 grain line was marginal at best.
Lastly I changed out the reel spool and strung up a WF-8-F line and repeated the identical format as with the sinking lines. A weight forward floating line by design, would require casting stroke changes as well as changes in back cast timing to achieve tight loops and quiet line lay down. After a few minutes of casting, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the XX performed. With the wind at my back and/or to my side, I was able to consistently cast 55-60 feet with just two false casts. The smaller fly, as one would expect, cast easier than the larger one. Head-on to the wind required some adjustment but the rod still performed quite acceptably.
The XX 10 wt is similarly crafted as the 8 wt with the exception being a forward (5 3/8 inch long) fighting grip located 2 1/2 inches up from the full wells grip. The 10 wt is nearly an ounce heavier than the 8 wt but felt nicely balanced with my large arbor 10 wt reel.
For the XX 10 wt I changed the test scenario from a boat to a grassy riverbank point shoreline. The wind direction was head-on at a velocity of 10 mph. This venue offered a good opportunity to test the rod in a different but real world condition. The rod is designed to cast sinking lines of 450 to 500 grains and effectively cast WF floating line of 10 wt. In this test, I only used the medium sized fly and changed my orientation to the wind direction to a cross wise only position. I set up to cast the 400 grain line first. I stripped out and hand stretched the entire 105 feet of fly line and laid it out at my feet on the short marsh grass. I made a few short casts to get acquainted with the rod action and the loading characteristics. The rod had a strong quick feel to it, and loaded in two strokes. Within 4 or 5 casts, I was able to lay out 90+ feet of line into the 10 mph wind. Next, I shifted my position to have the wind cross over my left shoulder for my right hand casting side. Again no problems making routine casts of 90 or so feet. The rod felt very comfortable with the 400 grain line. I changed out the 400 line for the 500 grain line and repeated the same casting scenario as with the 400 line. The heavier 500 grain line did require me to alter my casting stroke with regard to the amount of extra stroke power and cast timing to maintain good distance and nice tight loops. I was able to get into a good casting rhythm with the 500 line, casting into the wind as well as cross wise. The 500 line handled well, but I felt, at least with my casting stroke, that the line was a bit heavy. I preferred casting the 400 grain line more. Most likely, a 450 grain line would have been just right. The Albright suggested line weight is 450-500 grain. All I all, I was satisfied with the casting performance. Lastly, I spooled up a WF-10 wt floating line and repeated the test scenario. As was my experience with the 8 wt, the XX 10 wt performed extremely well with the WF 10 line. With minor casting stroke changes, I was achieving excellent distances of 60’ + and very good line control. The XX 10 wt performs as advertised and I am quite satisfied with its performance.
Albright XX 980-4/ 9' 8wt
Construction-Quality
Advanced graphite fiber material with an attractive deep indigo finish.
4.6
Performance
A strong fast action taper rod, very good casting range with a variety of fly lines and fly size.
4.7
Functional Design
Premium quality cork handle with uplocking reel seat, and two oversized stripping guides. I would have liked alignment dots.
4.6
Price
An upper mid-price range ($335.00 - $375.00 at retail) fly rod with better than average workmanship. Albright requires warranty registration cards and charges a nominal fee for returns- check their web site for info.
4.5
Application
A very good all around fly rod, specifications are matched for its intended purpose; too maximize casting effectiveness and performance.
4.6
Score:1-5(5=highest)
Total Score
4.6
Plus
Minus
Performance
Quality
Application
Conclusion:
I was overall pleased and suprised how well the XX performed given my rod testing scenario. Albright has created a fine fishing tool for the fly angler that demands a versatile fly rod.
