Couple more to add here.
The rod I bought was the
St. Croix Legend Elite 905-4. I got it from Gorge Fly Shop in Oregon (Great shop btw) via Ebay because they offered free Rio Gold with the rod purchase via ebay but not from their site, wierd, but whatever, $70 line.
After a weekend of casting the rod I am really happy with it. It is feather light. Compared to my baseline the z-axis I think it may actually handle short casts a little better. It feels like it has a bit softer tip. So anywhere up to about 25ft of flyline out I could just wrist flip very accurately and delicately which kinda surprised me for a rod with this much back bone. In the mid distance 20-50ft it really shines as the mid rod begins to load up. I had no issues banging streamers against the far banks and the previous weekend I used it for throwing some large bass poppers, it had no issues up to about 50 ft with the poppers, but this is more a line weight issue.
Beyond 50ft I would give the award to the z-axis, it just seemed to load down to the cork and really rocket out some line, but the Elite was no slouch. I couldn't cast the whole 90ft, but in a dead wind I got out about 80ft in my back yard, I think if I were a little better caster I could get into the backing. But whatever, I never fish that far - either I don't have enough back cast or I can't see that far, or the line mending becomes a joke, or I have heavy nymphs. As far as nymphing, the rod is amazing! Way better than my old rod. No issues dragging line off the water with plenty of backbone left for a power stroke. I was roll casting 40ft with shot and indicator and doing some faux spey casts and I was really impressed- this is one thing that makes my fishing life easier. With nymphing I try to spend as little time as possible with the line in the air or I just end up untangling knots all day. The quality of the rod is very nice, the cork is lovely, the enclose tube is nice, but a bit heavy to throw on the backpack, guides and wraps all look good. All in all this is a very competent rod that I am happy to own. I am not a big muscly guy and I fished all day for 3.5 days without getting sore. It is still a little out of balance with the cheapo reel I have on it, but I think I have that picked out as well....read on.
Orvis Access 905-2 mid-flex and the Access Reel While I was on the BK this weekend my buddy broke one of his guides off and not-begrudgingly used this as an excuse to update his now 13 year old rod, which like mine was his beginner rod that he just stuck with. An old IM6 Cabelas rod I think. I really liked this reel and plan on getting one for myself; for $139 I don't know if you can beat it. But, with the Orvis promotion, he got it for free with his rod purchase, BAM! Nice. Anyway, I also really liked his rod. My best adjective would be silky. The rod felt great to cast dry flys. If you fish mostly drys in the short to medium range I really think you should look at this rod. It could haul some line, but not like my Elite or the Z-axis, it just didn't have that kind of backbone. But it delivered the line up to about 50 ft with a smoothness and lightness of touch and effort that just put a smile on my face. I could dry fly this rod all day for the rest of my life and be happy. No surprise that it balanced wonderfully with the Access reel. It got pretty sloppy for me after 50ft with my double hauls turning into these wild arm strokes...but that could just be me
Still if you know the BK, I was about 1/3 across Barnhardts and reaching the far bank with no issue, you just don't need much more than that on the east coast. The cons, nymphing with this rod would take a bit more effort and so would really long casts. Great fit and finish. Seems like a steal at $350 with a free reel.