My Sage RPLXi 9wt that a custom rod builder made me a few years ago checks at 78 cents - 9.66 ERN. In fly rods, I‘ve always associated line weight for the species I was fishing - 2-3wt for small stream Brookies, 5wt for Rainbows, 7wt for Steelhead, and 9wt for Salmon. If I were fishing King Salmon I might opt for something in the 10wt - 12wt range.

I just finished building Rainshadow’s IP904 and IP965 spinning rods. Batson’s said they would make great Salmon rods even though the IP904 was a tad lighter. The IP904 took 150 cents for an ERN of 14.41, lure weight of 1/4oz to 1/2oz and the IP965 took 240 cents before I ran out of pennies and was still 1 ½” short of deflecting it 1/3 of it’s length (it probably could have taken 250 pennies total). The ERN for the IP965 originally checked as a blank was 188 cents but since I’ve now “reinforced” the butt section with 22 ½” of rear grip, an NPS reel seat, and fore grip, I attribute that to the increase in ERN (or else my first check was off).

With my Sage’s ERN of 9.66, it has plenty of muscle to control a Salmon. Dr. Hanneman refers to the ERN as “rod power” and states that the “ERN of a rod is primarily a function of the strength of the butt section and the action AA is a function of the bending of the tip section”.

Does this mean the IP904 has almost 1 ½ times the “rod power” and the IP965 actually has twice the “rod power” as my Sage 9wt? If this is correct, I should be able to lift a Salmon with the IP965 right into the boat like a Bluegill. Thanks.

Yes, they are more powerful, and by a long shot, than your Sage. Those are pretty beefy blanks.

Deadlifting ability is one thing, but leverage is entirely another. The longer the rod, the more you give to the fish.


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A fly rod only has to throw the line's weight and has very little drag in the presentation. The other rods you built are going to have to contend with much greater forces from the line and the hardware involved in their presentation types. The power of the fish isn't near as important as the power requirements placed on the rod by the environment it's in.