Building The Rodfather All Blacks [SB2021 Is drc #7] 18Feb21

Holy guacamole, this thing is awesome. Casts great in the snow.

I already have two single handed "5 weights" in the Sage Z-Axis (awesome all around & dry fly rod) and Sage X (ultra fast nymphing canon), and I used to own a Sage One too, yet I am compelled to build a SageBuster 5 weight. My SageBuster 2020, aka Rodfather Cutty, is spectacular but it is "just" a very fast 9' ERN 4.5 - it crushes on the Ark, Blue and So Platte. Even bigger water and bigger fish should be attacked however. Enter the Rodfather All Blacks, my SageBuster for 2021, a single handed 10' 4pc ERN 5.5  & AA 71° based on the awesome New Zealand CTS Affinity X blank in gloss jet black... the name is deferential to the champion New Zealand rugby team of the same name as well as the keen all black buildout I rendered. The custom Rodfather YAGGI handle (previously profiled) was made from spare parts, but is a stunner diamond mix of predominantly burnt cork - beauty is especially noticed when paired to it's mated 3" custom fighting butt. I chose all black components including a REC anodized black up-locking reel seat with a dark died, turned & stabilized wooden insert. For guide hardware I am trialing the new REC nickel-titanium guides in black pearl - this is a flexible, durable, and lightweight guide in a new alloy which needn't be plated to obtain it's black color and incredible weather resistance. The hand chosen guide set, tiptop and stripping guides were not cheap @ over ~$4 each or more, but the effect, and hopefully performance, will yield many happy returns. I wrapped the rod more simply than all most recent builds - just black thread throughout. Remind me next time that black on black is a visibility challenge. This thing disappears like a ghost, despite my 80 ft casts ~ I'm just hawlin' in hogs on the sides of rivers and no one is aware I'm even there.

 

The Rodfather All Blacks is labeled as others but with some shorthand... RF AB SB21 means Rodfather All Blacks SageBuster 2021 and E 5.8 A 71° means Effective Rod # is 5.8 wt measured and its action is very fast as its Action Angle is measure as 71°. I also simplified fish measurement marks on the AB by marking  every 2" (from 18") on top of the rod with a small dot. The guides are wrapped in black thread and the stripper is black. I added a new, unique Ni-Ti 2nd stripping guide given the 10' length. The rod wrapped out well in black thread on the jet black blank.

The evidence is that not only is the RF AB ghostly cool in all black hardware and buildout, but its performance is stunning & flexible and certainly worthy of SageBuster labeling. It casts very well over distance (at least in the snow), roll casts like a dream, is light and balanced to the hand with a non-fatiguing swing weight. I'm mating the All Blacks with a 5oz black Hardy CADD 4000 reel, which I really like and use with the Sage X as well - it's always loaded with SA Amplitude Infinity 5 weight. This line is ~1/2 weight heavy at 150 grains (1st 30 ft) and therefore mates perfectly (Intrinsic Power = 10*(1st 30ft in grains) + 60*AFTMA# = 10*150 +60*5 = 1800 grains) to the All Blacks with an ERN of 1780 grains. Actually the Sage One should be firing a 7 weight given it's stiffness (ERN of 7.3) so the line matches the All Blacks better. The SB21 has taken its due spot in the rod rack as my go to 5 weight... no one will notice me, and I like it that way.

I've updated the rod physics chart for the latest additions to the quiver. The "go to" Rodfather custom rods are not very inflated as to Intrinsic Power - I like that. Commercial rods like the Orvis Helios and Sage X are much stiffer than their marketed weights suggest; my recent TFO BVK derived build is this way too - all could handle lines 1 or 1.5 weights higher than marked (in order to optimize performance).