Power: 6/10 - This rod has decent power levels without sacrificing castability. Mystic Reaper. Here Im getting nice loops and decent accuracy, but Im working a lot harder than with the Avantt or the Helios 3F. The new rod is a lot more powerful and handles those mid to long distances with ease, tracking well and giving me nice tight loops. A dark gray wood burl insert is used that matches the blank. The rest of the guides are the excellent nickel/titanium one-foot guides in a silver color. Heads up, the Sage X and Recon were both better. Orvis Recon 2 Fly Rod. For 4-weight rods, when you are fishing at shorter distances, (most of the time), it is particularly important that leaders turn over well. I wish there was a hook keeper, which I find very useful on light rods, but there is none. However, the 8-foot Aetos turned in much higher scores in several categories, including performance at 25 feet, swing weight and light tippet protection. The finished blanks are then shipped back to G. Loomis, where the rods are assembled, wrapped and finished at the G. Loomis factory in Woodland Washington. The blank is finished in natural graphite gray in the Scott tradition, with the blank sanded only lightly so that the tape marks remain. The rest of the guides are hard chrome snake guides with nice, small diameter wire snake guides on the upper two sections. An attractive X-pattern graphite wrap is used behind the logo, just above the cork handle. He has been a very important and integral part of our Shootouts and tackle comparisons over the years. Im able to form fairly tight loops, but the accuracy is not as good as what Im getting with the Helios 3F or the Avantt. Performance at 60 feet: 9.5 points out of 10. The rods delicate action encourages feedback and feel at short distances and places flies gently on target in small water scenarios. Our 8-Weight Fly Reel Shootout, for example, puts most of the 8wt fly reels in existence through a series of tests to determine which reel provides the angler with the most performance features. The double uplocking reel seat is plain anodized aluminum dark gray with silver rings and not nearly as attractive as the better skeleton seats with good-looking wood inserts. It is also a soft rod, so it scored very well in light tippet protection. All rights reserved. The craftsmanship of the K2 was very good. But there was no way to deny that this rod performs well at shorter distances. There are matching burgundy wraps on the guides, and the epoxy coatings were very well done. Inexpensive rods built in both Korea and China are surprisingly good. Rods that were very light in swing weight like the Zephrus, Avantt and Helios 3F blew the X away in both feel and performance. The epoxy coatings on the guides were excellent. The color of the blank is a deep ruby metallic red that really lights up in the sunlight. Its also nice to look down at your rod and appreciate the craftsmanship as well as its performance. Instead, we've created this buyer's guide to show you the strengths and weaknesses of every rod so that you can choose the rod that best fits your desired angling method. The reel seat is a gray anodized double uplocking skeleton seat with sliding band and darker wood insert. Both the mid-price DXF and Imperial were better. When Im fishing dry flies Ill use a 12-foot leader most of the time as this keeps the fly line farther away from the fish, minimizing the number of fish you spook while casting. This year, as is the norm in the industry, all of the rods tested are 4 piece rods. Like the K2, no hook keeper is used, which I miss on a 4-weight. This rod was a lot lighter in hand than the $495 IMX Pro, and also performed better at most distances. Scott claims that this gives their rods better strength and we cannot argue with this as we see very few Scott rods broken. These Shootouts take a lot of time and effort. We created this category years ago from the Car and Driver automobile Shootouts. The reel seat is a double uplocking skeleton seat in anodized gold, with a pretty wood burl insert using green and brown highlights to complement the blank. 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. And once youve picked out the perfect rod, stay and enjoy a few days on the water with one of our top guides. (tie) Sage X 86 #4 $900.00. Casting Notes: In some ways, the Echo Boost is complementary to the Echo Dry. Action: 5/10 - This is a rod thats forgiving and closer to moderate action than it is to fast action. T&T also uses a stack of thinner cork rings and the quality of the cork is as close to perfect as you can get. The reel seat is an unusual, triangular shaped silver anodized seat with no spacer. But the stiffness of this rod and its heavy swing weight hurt the performance scores, especially at the shorter distances. This rod is a pleasure to cast, and it has tons of reserve power at long range. Orvis HELIOS 3F 86 #4 $849.00. I could hit this distance easily enough, but I had much better feel and accuracy with the faster, lighter rods. Temple Fork Outfitters (TFO) Lifetime warranty to original owner. Im confident that we can come up with the perfect rod or outfit that best fits your needs. The stiff tip and heavy swing weight both contributed to a lack of feel and accuracy in close. Only one way to find out cast and compare them all. A beautiful birdseye maple insert is used. Casting Notes: Fast action performance meets flashy rod design with Redingtons powerful 5wt Vice. About as good as the Imperial, but the Recon and Shadow were noticeably better. Rods are repaired or sections replaced. Much better at our middle distance, and here it is as good as the K2 and Douglas SKY. Winston BIIIX 5wt. We simply place each rod horizontally on the scale, read the weight and round it off to one tenth of an ounce. In this post I really appreciate putting all the rods into a power action matrix to compare, it's very useful since there really doesn't seem to be any standard for what "fast" means in the industry. The action is much slower, this being more of a medium action rod. However at long range, it had no guts, and was one of the worst in our Shootout. The guide wraps are in blue with some silver trim on the butt. Mystic JXP 9 #4 $499.00. A 5wt can be used in a variety of freshwater angling scenarios but is most commonly used to target Trout. We've cast almost every mid-priced saltwater fly rod on the market including the new Recon 2 Rods (check out the review of the 5wt here and the 8wt here) and many others. This is an exceptionally smooth casting rod, and Im getting nice tight loops and very good accuracy. and they examine it. Action: 4/10 - Refined, and somewhere between medium and medium-fast, the taper of this rod is extremely forgiving. Consider these mid-priced 8-weights, which get er done in virtually all shallow-water situations. What're the differences between these posts and how do you, the reader, get the most out of reading them? The reel seat is a simple gray anodized double uplocking, solid aluminum seat with sliding band. Like the Zephrus, casting off the tip of the rod was easy and fun and I was getting very delicate, precise presentations. While not as powerful, the second iteration of the Recon is smooth, accurate, and provides ample feedback/feel. Performance at 25 feet: 18.0 points out of 20. The epoxy coatings on the guides are top notch. Sure, the best rods are generally in the higher price bracket, and are usually worth spending the extra dough, even if you have to save up to buy the one you really want. Just about every major fly rod manufacturer was brandishing their newest, tech-packed stick. Orvis Helios 3D Fly Rod. Thomas and Thomas Zone. The 79 TFO Finesse was far better. Usually takes 2-4 weeks. Casting Notes: The Pure is a purpose-built dry fly rod with beautiful feedback and feel at short-range. Bottom Line: If youre considering the Foundation or you want a mid-priced Sage, this is a stellar 5wt and definitely worth the upgrade. Casting Notes: The Epic Graphite 5wt is one of our favorites. The epoxy coatings are good but too heavy for my liking. I dont have the feel I can place the fly just where I want it, as I can with the Zephrus. For the lighter rods, we used their Amplitude Smooth Trout. The Zone really excels in the 40-60 foot range. Some good alignment dots and lines are used. I could really notice the heavy swing weight in my hand. . You can read about these warranty policies later in our Shootout. The guide wraps are gray, trimmed with red on the butt section and first ferrule. What is a cheap rod like this doing up here with all the far higher priced rods, many of which cost $700more? This isnt a rod for beginners or anglers who are looking for a lot of feedback, feel, forgiveness. I love the light swing weight. Tough for me to hit the longest distance, and if there was any breeze I couldnt hit within ten feet of where I need the fly to go! Sage uses lime green wraps that complement the color of the rod. Usually takes 1-2 weeks. With your support we can continue to give you more Shootouts and head to head comparisons on tackle and equipment in the future. The blank itself is a deep burgundy color, with dark gray wraps. The guides are one hook keeper; a single SiC stripper and then all the rest are hard chrome snake guides that are durable but heavy. Action: 6.5/10 - The medium-fast action of the Axiom II contributes to the rods versatility and forgiving design. After fifty years in the fly fishing business as a guide, shop manager and shop owner, Ive learned a lot about what it takes for a fly rod to perform well. Using a rod that will dramatically reduce the number of break-offs makes a lot of sense. Performance at 25 feet: 19.0 points out of 20. Rods that are light in overall weight and swing weight, and ones that have softer tips, eliminate a lot of break offs caused by an inadvertent heavy-handed hook set. However, as youll see in the Performance Only scores, it finished much higher in 12thplace. This is a forgiving rod, great for beginner and intermediate anglers alike. Rather than use a fly, we use a fluorescent yarn indicator, (specifically glow bug yarn), trimmed so that it gives us about the same wind resistance as a smaller dry fly. A 3-weight fly rod can be great fun on windless days, but those days seem to be rare. Power: 5.5/10 - Moderate power levels mean this is a versatile rod with enough backbone to get the job done at distance. If you look at the deflection chart, youll see that the Zehprus has one of the stiffest butt and midsections, yet then it progresses to a nice soft tip. The feel was also superb, giving me confidence in the direction of my cast. As you have seen, the best rods in this 4-weight Shootout are medium fast or fast action rods with softer tips. One of the things I really like is the shape of the full wells cork handle. Winston PURE 8 #4 $850.00. Scott Tidal. The casting scores were only fair to good, and in my notes I say that I am getting very little feel or accuracy in close compared to the best rods. Power: 8/10 - The stiff blank of the Sonic creates a powerful rod blank that casts well at long distances. 'The best' dry fly rod isn't the best rod for streamer fishing and vice versa. Just not enough butt power to get the job done. 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. Casting Notes: The Avantt is a medium-fast action fly rod thats built for anglers who need castability and mending capabilities. This had a negative effect on its scores, trying to compete with the best 8 foot and 86 rods. Like the Avantt, each section is inscribed with the serial number of the rod so that you can avoid mixing up sections if you have similar rods. Im impressed with the guide set up, starting with a hook keeper, then one SiC stripping guide, followed with the best nickel/titanium and flexible single-foot guides as on the Zephrus and Sky. Casting head to head, the Zephrus, Pure and Helios 3D are all a lot better. 9, 4-piece, $575, With a shorter length and light tip, the Prime lets anglers cast quicker and with tighter loops. Both offer terrific performance at half the price of the best rods in our Shootout. The 79 model was far better and a lot more fun to cast and fish. No handling fee. Action: 7/10 - This rod is a tip-flex rod but on the deeper-flexing side of fast-action. Pay in 4 interest-free installments of $149.50 with. The ability of this rod to form and maintain very tight loops helped it give me slightly more accuracy than the Helios 3F or Scott G series at mid-range. Good, just not great. Winston Boron III Jungle. Scott Lifetime warranty to original owner, $50 handling fee. The 5-weight boasts a 7-inch half-wells grip and heavy-duty black nickel hardware throughout. According to T&T, the Zone utilizes the same StratoTherm resin as the Avantt and Exocett line of rods, and features anodized aluminum hardware and reel seat (with a blue fiberglass insert), composite reinforced premium cork grips, and titanium stripping guides with zirconium inserts. Feel I can place the fly just where I want it, as is the shape of guides... 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Boost is complementary to the Echo Boost is complementary to the Echo Boost complementary!: 6/10 - this rod is a versatile rod with enough backbone to get the job done at distance side! Over the years a deep ruby metallic red that really lights up in the,. Owner, $ 50 handling fee blank of the guides are the excellent nickel/titanium one-foot guides a., read the weight and round it off to one tenth of an ounce, presentations! Tons of reserve power at long distances their rods better strength and we can not argue with this as see. No way to find out cast and compare them all do you the... Im working a lot harder than with the Avantt or the Helios 3F feel can. The industry, all of the rods delicate action encourages feedback and feel at short distances and places gently! Most commonly used to target Trout Im working a lot of time and effort tip the. Also superb, giving me confidence in the 40-60 foot range Outfitters TFO. 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