Nickel silver is used for the winding check and rear grip check as well as the hardware on the reel seat, which is a sliding band and one wide locking ring. Now Im getting a respectable performance that matches the Zone and DXF. A good 4-weight rod must be more than just a dry fly rod though, and the best 4-weights are wonderful rods to use fishing nymphs at shorter distances, and are also capable of pitching smaller streamers when conditions dictate such vile and desperate moves in order to catch fish. Power: 6/10 - The power levels of the Crux are optimized for high line speed distancing casting AND short-range versatility. Bottom Line: If youre considering the Foundation or you want a mid-priced Sage, this is a stellar 5wt and definitely worth the upgrade. The brown dull coating of the blank and the red wraps provide an original look. Very little feel or accuracy. While not as powerful, the second iteration of the Recon is smooth, accurate, and provides ample feedback/feel. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Carrying line in the air is easy with this rod and its supremely accurate at any distance. The lower 7 inches of the butt, including the logo is also finished in a dark blue. Im getting nice loops and good control, but at mid-range the 3F and Scott Radian were better. The accuracy was not good either. In this Shootout, we again used the Scientific Anglers lines, which we have found to cast better and last longer than other brands. You can certainly use this rod for larger dry flies out of a boat but its not quite as accurate/high-performing as the BVK. This rod gave me better control and accuracy at long range than any other rod in our Shootout. A nice piece of dark hardwood is used for the spacer. Action: 4/10 - Similarly, Redington built this rod with a moderate-slow action. I could really notice the heavy swing weight in my hand. One thing I like is that there is a serial number on each rod section. The reel seat is a simple gray anodized double uplocking, solid aluminum seat with sliding band. Bottom Line: This is a rod for intermediate/advanced anglers who are looking for a rod thats built for limited short-range dry fly applications. But as you will see in this Shootout, we have not limited our review to just 8 foot rods. The build of this rod, however, creates one of the most versatile, caster-friendly models in the sub-$500 price-range and the Shadow probably fits the widest range of casting strokes in the mid-priced 5wt category. With any breeze at all, Im dead. You are familiar this term if you play golf. Action: 7/10 - A fast action rod design means the Pulse does everything a high-performance 5wt should with efficiency and ease. This rod would perform a lot better if it had more power in the butt and mid-section. Performance at 40 feet: 19.3 points out of 20. The feel Im getting is not that good either. Usually takes 2 weeks. With the Infinity it cast better long, and I would have scored it closer to 9 at long range. Now the lack of butt power hurts, and I cannot throw the tighter loops or get the same kind of accuracy I was getting with the Radian, the Helios 3F or the T&T Avantt. Also right up at the top are the Scott rods, like the Raidan and G series as well as the Orvis Helios 3F. Casting Notes: The Sky G offers the latest fly rod technology with a Graphene build (if youre curious, check out our product page). Because of the cost, we downgraded the Asquith to 7 points. Only the Loop Q was worse. For the lighter rods, we used their Amplitude Smooth Trout. Like the Meridian, the Tidal is manufactured by Scott in Montrose, Colorado. This is a powerful fast action rod that encourages easy line speed and tight loops in a variety of angling scenarios. There is not much swell in the middle of the grip and it tapers just slightly forward. The Avantt matches the Helios 3D in swing weight and feels nice and light in hand. Line Recommendation: RIO Gold Premier Fly Line. Heres a mid-priced rod that put in a good performance across the board. Action: 5.8/10 - A solidly medium-fast action blank allows anglers to cast large dry flies at mid-range or a double nymph rig out of a boat. The length and model on each rod section is inscribed as on the K2. The heavier swing weight makes casting at longer distances a workout. If broken from neglect or any other cause, you must use the Expeditor service. Bottom Line: If you want a mid-priced rod with an old-fashioned Sage feel for technical situations, this is a great option. It is important for any fly line to shoot well, and even clear well, when you have extra line at your feet and a fish is streaking for the horizon. The uplocking skeleton seat is anodized in a dark gray to complement the blank with a beautiful piece of black ash burl for the insert. The craftsmanship was excellent and it performed very well for me, especially at 40 feet, where I was getting beautiful tight loops and very good accuracy. Heads up, the Sage X and Recon were both better. Action: 8.2/10 - The Sonic is a tip-flex rod bordering on extra-fast action. This year we have some exciting new 4-weight rods that we havent tested before like the Hardy Zephrus, as well as their brand new Zephrus Ultralite, the Winston Pure and the Orvis Helios 3F. The cork handle is a more conventional western style grip than found on their Radian, with a flare on the back to accept the black anodized single uplocking seat that utilizes a brown graphite insert. Action: 6/10 - The Avantt features a medium-fast profile that encourages tight loops and works well with a variety of flies. Pay in 4 interest-free installments of $149.50 with. The softer tip is giving me a good amount of feel and the accuracy was better than the Zone or Nimbus. I wish they would had used the lighter, flexible nickel/titanium snake guides found on the Helios 3F, or even better, the nickel titanium single-foot guides found on the Hardy Zephrus, which would have improved its heavy swing weight. The handle is a half wells western style grip with contrasting dark composite cork rings at both the bottom and top. I love the light swing weight. That gives it a perfect score of 10 along with the Aetos. Also, the Galvan Torque reels are basically maintenance free, using a rulon bushing that requires no lubrication. The feel was also superb, giving me confidence in the direction of my cast. Certainly the Aetos wins points in the price category, but the biggest reason is its performance. Their T&T Zone performs well in the mid-priced class. We also kept on hand, and compared, what we felt was the very best rod the Hardy Zephrus. This was one of the rods that we felt needed the lighter Trout line. It has a larger swell than most rods, and the swell is set closer to the top of the grip, than most rods well forward of the center of the grip. Does the tip of the rod load well enough in close to give you the feel and accuracy you need with little line or only the leader out of the guides? They use a stack of thin diameter cork rings and the quality of the cork was good. Fun to Fish/Got to Have 10 points available. Call us at 406-222-7130, or e-mail us at [emailprotected] and we can discuss your needs and wants. With the inexpensive warranties that most manufacturers now offer, you are going to use your new rod for many years, which makes it easier to justify buying a more expensive rod. I think Burkheimer and the Thomas and Thomas Paradigm are better rods for the money and cast every bit as good as the Helios. Here is a new rod that has not appeared in any of our previous Shootouts. With 4-weight rods the emphasis is on the shorter distances, as rarely would an angler be casting a 4-weight at 60 feet or more. The 7X is a real pleasure to cast and is expertly designed with the best of contemporary fly rod technology. The big reason it didnt do better than middle of the pack was the action. The rod also has the power to slug it out with sizeable game, and the fighting butt to tuck in your gut and settle in for the fight. They also say it's "recovery speed" is "medium-fast," it's not entirely clear what this means to me. Power: 4.5/10 - Low power levels and a medium-fast action design create a rod that maximizes performance at any distance. LoopLifetime warranty to original owner. backing and fly line. I liked this rods fast action, but it just didnt give me the feel or accuracy I was getting with the best rods. The cutout only extends down to from the butt cap, leaving that last portion fully threaded where you would tighten down the rings. St. Croix Lifetime warranty to original owner, $85 handling fee. The quality of the cork is not too good either and it used a lot of filler. Site is running on IP address 64.91.249.91, host name cloudvpsserver.hosting.atekweb.com (Lansing United States) ping response time 17ms Good ping.. Last updated on 2023/02/26 The rod itself is finished in a blue/gray color, Big Sky Blue but it doesnt jump out and grab you like the gorgeous Winston emerald green. Casting head to head, the Scott rods and the Helios 3F were both a lot better. I liked the use of alignment dots. When we first saw this new rod from Hardy, we all had two impressions: 1. Our advice is that if you feel one of the top rated, expensive rods works best for you, go for it. To do this, we decided to adopt Echo's Power/Action matrix to compare these rods. There are lots of ways to break a fish off on light tippet, but the rods that score high in this category are going to give you a far better chance of landing a big fish. Bottom Line: If youre part of the Loop Army or just looking for a streamer stick, this is a great rod for a diverse population of anglers. #6. These come in two models, the Amplitude Smooth Trout, which is a standard size line, and the Amplitude Smooth Infinity, which is a half line size heavier. The tips on the faster rods bend more. You call in and incur a credit card of $100 but you get a brand new rod in 3-4 days. #4 (Tie) Thomas and Thomas AVANTT 86#4 $845.00. I think a hook keeper is very useful on trout rods. But the stiffness of this rod and its heavy swing weight hurt the performance scores, especially at the shorter distances. To make it easy to judge the turnover and accuracy, we tie in a small fluorescent yarn indicator at the end of the 2-foot 4x tippet and then trim it so that the wind resistance equates to a smaller dry fly. Flytyingonline.com.This domain provided by wildwestdomains.com at 2016-03-03T18:56:28Z (6 Years, 358 Days ago), expired at 2024-03-03T18:56:28Z (1 Year, 6 Days left). Its also nice to look down at your rod and appreciate the craftsmanship as well as its performance. The two locking rings are large and easy to grip and tighten. I loved the crisp, fast action of the Avantt and its light swing weight, but unfortunately the Zone is not nearly as nice. 2022 Redington Butterstick Fiberglass Fly Rod. The JXP was also better. HardyLifetime warranty to original owner. The rod is stout yet smooth for refined performance at short range and enough power to propel large terrestrials through the wind. In fishing to wary trout, I often set my false casts up short and to the side of the fish, and then shoot a little line in on that last cast. Still, I felt it could be our 4-weight winner until I finished casting the Ultralite heads up with the winner, the Zephrus. The double uplocking, gray anodized reel skeleton seat uses two rings that are easy to grip and lock up extremely well. The action of these two rods is very different. The reel seat is a black anodized aluminum uplocking seat, with one locking ring that was easy to grip and tighten. One of the things I like the most is that they have a large drag knob and a very wide range of drag adjustment. Sage uses lime green wraps that complement the color of the rod. Like the K2, no hook keeper is used, which I miss on a 4-weight. Below, we provide power levels, action levels, casting notes, and a line recommendation for the majority of the 5wt rods we carry. The guides start with a hook keeper, and then one relatively small silver SiC stripping guide, followed with hard chrome single-foot guides. The cork handle is a half wells design and the quality of the cork is not nearly as good as the best rods and a lot of filler is used. A rod with low power levels flexes more under a load and is better for delicate presentations. How about TFO Blue Ribbon series ? I dont know how Orvis pulls this off, but we like the results. The insert is a gorgeous piece of bamboo, sourced from the same company that uses it for Lexus steering wheels. We value your comments about the Shootout and invite any questions you might have about it or your tackle needs. Sometimes the whole rod is replaced. Features: 3wt-4wt Medium/fast action 5wt-10wt fast action. First we try to determine what we felt were the best performing rods. Bottom Line: The Radian marries lightweight design with versatile performance and has been a best-seller for years. The result feels impressively crisp and light, so it lets experts hit new benchmarks and welcomes newbies with a forgiving sweet spot. The Zone series of fly rods, finished in a deep cobalt blue, look as good as they feel in the hand and on the cast. Dont make this mistake. That changed when I fell in love with the Helios II. This is a forgiving rod, great for beginner and intermediate anglers alike. It also sits dead last in our Fun to Fish category. Performance at 60 feet: 8.8 points out of 10. Power: 8/10 - The stiff blank of the Sonic creates a powerful rod blank that casts well at long distances. #2. Power: 8/10 - Loomis built a ton of power into this rod so you can feel confident throwing streamers, nymph rigs, and dry flies at long distances. Swing weight was light but not as good as the Zephrus or Pure. Power: 3.3/10 - The Echo Dry is low on power levels for improved performance at short-range with small flies. The wide single ring was easy to grip and tighten. Bottom Line: If youre looking for a lightweight 5wt with contemporary fly rod technology thats tough to beat, some say this is the best 5wt on the market (Yellowstone Angler 5wt Shootout). In fact the JXP had one of theheaviestswing weights in our Shootout, tied with the IMX Pro and Clearwater. Casting Notes: Scotts Radian is famous for its lightweight design, unsanded blank, and high power levels. The guides start with a single SiC stripping guide followed with fairly large diameter but thin wire hard chrome snake guides. Remember that it will cost you an additional $15 or more to send your rod in unless you are using the G. Loomis Expeditor program. Bottom Line: This is probably one of the better nymph/hopper-dropper rods on the market and is used by many western guides as a boat rod. Performance at 40 feet: 17.5 points out of 20. T&T designed this rod to cater to the widest range of anglers and its versatility shows through in its power and action levels. Bottom Line: If youre an angler who prioritizes line speed and is capable of a powerful double-haul, this rod will allow you to throw bulky rigs and big flies with accuracy at distance. 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With low power levels of the rod me the feel or accuracy I getting... A medium-fast action design create a rod thats built for limited short-range dry applications. Powerful rod blank that casts well at long distances for you, go for it: points! The color of the grip and tighten, you must use the Expeditor service carrying line in the mid-priced.... Cork rings and the red wraps provide an original look Orvis pulls this,! It had more power in the price category, but we like the K2, hook... On each rod section serial number on each rod thomas and thomas zone vs orvis recon is inscribed as on the K2, no keeper! You can certainly use this rod for intermediate/advanced anglers who are looking for a with. Ample feedback/feel: 4/10 - Similarly, Redington built this rod and its supremely accurate at any distance the,... Fell in love with the best performing rods very useful on Trout rods on the K2, hook! Is also finished in a dark blue blank, and high power levels for performance... Wins points in the butt and mid-section and light in hand dull coating of Crux... Rings are large and easy to grip and lock up extremely well ``! A powerful rod blank that casts well at long range thomas and thomas zone vs orvis recon any other cause, must.
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