Redington Path II Outfit with Crosswater Reel for Sale, Reviews, Deals and Guides

Have fished with this pole 5 or 6 times now and works great.

I purchased this rod mainly to serve as a backup in case my main rod broke (main rod was a Sage Approach, which is no longer produced). At $169, I figured, "Why not?" I imagine that the intended market for the Path II is beginners trying to enter the sport, and it might be great for them. I'm glad a fly rod setup exists at this price point, and this certainly will do the job. However, if you are a beginner buying your first rod and you have the means to spend more, I recommend getting something you won't outgrow, such as the Sage Foundation, which has replaced the Approach as their entry-level rod. If you get hooked and move past the beginner phase, this rod will eventually limit you. I finally snapped my other rod two days ago by stupidly yanking sideways on a very close snag, so I pulled out the Path II and used it last evening for a couple of hours. It is certainly adequate. I caught fish on it. But it is incredibly imprecise and frankly felt terrible to cast. I'm a moderately experienced fly fisher (it's almost I do on weekends from March to November) and I hated the feel of this rod so much that I'm sucking it up and buying a far more expensive rod because I cannot use this Path II for 4-6 weeks while waiting for my other rod to be repaired. The Path II will not handle mild wind well. It is not accurate or precise even in zero wind. It just feels vague and unpredictable and I didn't feel a connection to the fly at all. It just doesn't do the things that my Sage did. Same input from the fisher, very different results. There are certain huge fish you'll encounter that will give you 1 chance to catch them before they spook. You'll want to cast into a tiny pocket of water with the perfect drift and then be ready to set the hook at the right moment, and I would not trust the Path II to catch that fish. You will probably not notice this as a beginner, and again, this is an approachable price point if you're not sure how much you'll fish or if you'll even like fly fishing. But if you want to go all in on the sport, just save yourself the trouble and get a real rod from the start. I learned to fly fish on a Sage Approach Outfit (no longer produced), which I believe cost about $375-$425 for rod/reel/line in 2015. Now, the replacement Sage Foundation Outfit is $500 on backcountry.com and this solid rod comes with a real metal reel and high quality fly line. This is frankly the minimum you can expect to spend on a durable fly fishing outfit that makes precise casts and works on most western rivers. It's not snobbery, it's just true. I am upgrading to an even nicer rod and making my sage the backup after it's repaired, but I really wouldn't have considered buying a top-shelf fly rod if the Sage hadn't snapped, because it did everything I needed adequately. I'll be very glad to have the Sage as my backup once it's repaired. So if you have the funds, go to the next level and you'll be rewarded with a rod that you won't outgrow. If you're just dinking around on the occasional camping trip, I suppose the Path II will be great for you.

My parent's started to get into fly fishing this year so this was a great package to get them started!