Casting Notes: Handcrafted in the USA, the St. Croix Imperial is a smooth-casting rod that puts an emphasis on performance without limiting the angler to either line speed or delicacy. Nice and smooth. A single uplocking, gray anodized skeleton seat is fitted with an attractive burled wood insert. 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. Here, the softer rods, ones with softer tips and rods with lighter swing weights post the highest scores. Then the dark green finish just sparkles. 4 Reviews. *Note The final results and performance charts on this page are Georges figures. The wraps are dark blue to match the blank and the epoxy coatings are excellent. Those rods are both a lot lighter in swing weight and faster in action. Its a great all-around rod and less technical than the 3D. A gray graphite insert is used that goes well with the blank. Rods are repaired or sections replaced. $75 on recent rods within 10 years, $125 on classic olderrods. Out at long range it performed extremely well and was one of the very best, pretty much being equal to the Helios 3F and Avantt. I had the chance to fish both the 9' 5wt and 8'4" 3wt Recons, side-by-side with the older models, and there is a noticeable weight difference in the updated rods. In addition it will cost you $15 or more to ship your rod in for repair or have your local dealer do it for you. Casting Notes: Loomis new LP rod is built for delicacy and finesse. If you own a money tree and enough real estate to warehouse dozens of situation-specific fly rods, stop reading now. Doing this with 6X or 7X tippet demands a good smooth drag with just the right amount of drag adjustment. 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 Douglas Sky was both heavier and stiffer, and didnt perform as well, except out long at 60 feet. Picking the best 4-weight rod We see fly rods getting better each year, and today it is often only subtle differences that separate one rod from another. G. Loomis ASQUITH 9 #4 $1000.00. Both the feel and accuracy were outstanding. If you find yourself fishing more hoppers and larger dries, you will like this rod as it will really fire them in there with authority. Nearly all manufacturers now have some kind of limited Lifetime warranty. Well, the Orvis unconditional guarantee is only 25 years. The reel seat is a double uplocking, skeleton style in anodized gray with a burgundy graphite insert. Usually takes 2 weeks. This is an attractive rod, with very good craftsmanship. This year, as is the norm in the industry, all of the rods tested are 4 piece rods. That gives it a perfect score of 10 along with the Aetos. Still, when I heard that Orvis was bringing out a mid-priced rod made in America, my expectations were somewhat limited. This 8 foot Pure is somewhat like the Zephrus in acti0n with a fairly strong butt and mid section and then a nice soft flexible tip. Dont make this mistake. I like a lot of things about this rod. Why? The one thing that I have never liked much on the Reaper is the shape of the handle. Each rod is positioned at approximately a 45-degree angle, and then a lead weight of 3.9 oz. Each chart gives you a good look at how the tip section, (approximately the top half of the rod) bends and compares to other rods. #25. With your new rod they include a FedEx call tag so that it does not cost you anything to return your broken rod. I loved the punch and power I was getting with the Shadow and only at long range did it suffer. The rings should be easy to grip and tighten. The craftsmanship is second to none and it earns a perfect score along with the Winston Pure and T&T Avantt. Wow It is hard to believe that this mid-priced Hardy finished up with the top rods! Also right up at the top are the Scott rods, like the Raidan and G series as well as the Orvis Helios 3F. A dark green graphite insert is used that complements the color of the blank. Only you can make that decision. 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. The cork handle is too thin, (for most anglers). The DXF and Imperial were much better. Mystic Reaper X 86 #4 $299.00. The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled. How about TFO Blue Ribbon series ? Fly selection is far less important. Only the Zephrus and Pure were better at mid-distance. That might be the answer, but then it would likely be more of a 3-weight rod than a 4-weight. Fly rod power and fly rod action help answer the question 'what kind of fishing is this fly rod best suited for?'. LoopLifetime warranty to original owner. Action: 5/10 - The Epic Graphite features a mid-flex design and a soft tip for accuracy at any distance. Stiff, slower action rods are NOT what you are looking for in a 4-weight, where accurate, delicate presentations are the keys to success. This rod doesnt encourage high line speeds or powerful performance at long distances. The amount of power seems to be about right, and it performed best at the longer distances where I could punch it hard without throwing tailing loops. Bottom Line: This is a great entry-level rod for anglers looking to get into trout fishing. The Cork handle is a full wells design that is slightly smaller where your thumb would rest, ahead of the swell in the middle of the handle. By having all the rods set up in an identical manner, it is easy to take a few casts with one rod, at say 40 feet, then pick up another rod and do the same without having to strip the line off one rod and take the time to load up another. I can sure notice the heavy swing weight and this is not a very pleasant rod to cast. Action: 7.5/10 - Loomis built this rod to be faster than the Asquith and bordering on ultra-fast action. We decided it was time for another 4-weight Shootout, since a great 4-weight rod is hard to beat for the angler that loves to fish smaller dry flies. $60 handling fee. The craftsmanship was very good, but not good enough to give it a perfect score like the Pure. The fancy burl wood insert just jumps out at you with its striking color lots of red and orange mixed in very attractive. Power: 6/10 - This rod is smooth and evenly balanced with high-line-speed power and increased feel in close. Click on any of the charts above to see more charts. The guides start out with a small hook keeper, then a single SiC stripper, followed with black, hard chrome single-foot guides. Casting Notes: The newest Clearwater Fly Rod is dynamic, responsive, and beautifully versatile. Steve Rajeff, the head rod designer at Loomis, designed the Asquith tapers, and the blanks are built by Shimano in Japan, using their unique X wrap process. The thing that amazes me is how perfect the guide wrapping and epoxy coatings are, compared to other rods. I still had to give the edge to the Zephrus and Pure. This was the best distance for me with the Zone. Hardy uses a comfortable half wells, western style handle and the quality of the cork is superb. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. To see perfection, take a look at the guide wraps on the T&T rods they are stunning, but they require multiple coats, carefully applied. The blank is finished in a dark olive green with dark green wraps, that include a little light green trim on the butt. This makes for a very comfortable grip that improves casting at longer distances. For this we downgraded the craftsmanship a half a point. 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. Size: 7'6" 2wt. Just about every major fly rod manufacturer was brandishing their newest, tech-packed stick. The Pure is unquestionably one of the best looking rods in our Shootout, with some of the best craftsmanship. Both offer terrific performance at half the price of the best rods in our Shootout. Accuracy is good, just not great. Once again we give you a Performance Only chart, which zeros in on the very best performing rods, which is the real meat of our Shootout. Performance at 40 feet: 19.5 points out of 20. Rods that have good power and backbone help me fire my cast accurately. But this power and the stiffer tip hurt the performance in close, where it is similar to the Avantt but not nearly as good as the Zephrus, Pure or Helios 3F. Power: 6.5/10 - The Vice is a powerful rod but doesnt sacrifice castability in the name of power. Performance at 60 feet: 8.8 points out of 10. The swell in the middle of the grip is a little more forward than most. Syndicate P2 Pipeline. Power: 7.5/10 - The DXF is powerful for a 5wt but features a larger timing window than other less forgiving fast action 5wts. For sure, one of the worst in our Shootout. 9 and 10, 4-piece, $549, Designed to trim seconds off your shot time, this rod features a particularly powerful tip that increases line speed and dampens the vibrations that reduce accuracy. Ive always liked the smooth lines, as they dont make so much noise running through the guides. The cork handle is a western style grip with a flare on the lower end to accept the uplocking seat, and a nice taper forward providing a very comfortable grip. Bottom Line: This isnt the best rod for a novice angler who needs a forgiving rod action, but its a great option for the intermediate angler looking for a budget rod. We were all especially anxious to see how the Orvis Helios 3F and the new Winston Pure would fare, compared to our favorite 4-weight, the Hardy Zephrus. Power: 7/10 - This is a powerful rod that cuts through the wind, recovers relatively quickly, and allows anglers to present flies at longer distances. D deceiverbob Well-known member Messages 1,112 Craftsmanship is second to none, and is what we have now come to expect from T&T. In past Shootouts we tried measuring swing weight in other ways, including calculations for the Moment of Inertia, taking the weight of all 4 sections individually and then plugging these figures into an equation. The single uplocking reel seat is plain anodized gray aluminum with no insert. A great 4-weight rod is the best tool Ive found to meet these demands. He used Gartside's Super-Secret Stuff as a flash material but here we will use Hareline's Ice Wing Fiber as a substitute. Performance at 60 feet 10 points available. Bottom Line: If youre looking for one of the most versatile 5wts in this price range, the Zone is a great option made by a well-known manufacturer. Standard corks are used and the quality is excellent. At long range, the lack of power now becomes evident. It had the power to hit 60 feet easily enough but my accuracy was not very good. Here is a recap of each manufacturers current policy, their latest fees and what we have experienced for repair time required. Nothing to write home about. With the Infinity it cast better long, and I would have scored it closer to 9 at long range. Performance at 40 feet: 19.0 points out of 20. Power: 8.5/10 - The lightweight, quick-recovering blank of the Sky encourages excellent power and accuracy at long range. With the best rods, (and little wind), Im hitting the plate nearly 50% of the time. Action: 5.5/10 - Slightly faster than purely moderate action fly rods, the 7X has a taper thats caster-friendly and a versatile medium-fast action. The accuracy was good but not as good as the DXF or all of the best rods. This rod is absolutely the winner for our Best Buy (best inexpensive) 4-weight Rod. The handle is a half wells western style grip with contrasting dark composite cork rings at both the bottom and top. The action seems about right and Im getting nice loops. I found the alignment dots handy. There are not many situations when youll be fishing this far with your 4-weight, but Ive certainly had many situations, especially fishing dry flies on larger rivers, like the Missouri, where Ive had to throw it this long yet still get good accuracy and a delicate presentation in order to catch a nice fish. Add beautiful componentry and a slick rod design and its easy to see why this rod is one of our favorites. Power: 6/10 - The Zone is a powerful rod yet maintains castability and versatility. Since this is a softer rod than the Zephrus, we settled on using the lighter Trout line but this rod had the power to handle the heavier Infinity nearly as well. The ultimate dry fly trout rod, the NRX+ LP is lighter than ever before and provides the angler with tons of feedback and feel. This rod gives me a nice light feel in hand, and Im getting good loop control combined with plenty of power and good accuracy. It is the relationship of the club head weight to the shaft when you wiggle the club in your hands. Im having trouble casting off the tip well and this is hurting the accuracy. Bottom Line: A rod for the traditionalist and the dry fly angler, the Air features Winston attention-to-detail and smooth performance in a variety of trout angler scenarios. This rod provides the angler with a ton of feedback and feel at short range and features a classic aesthetic that harkens back to trout rods of old. Here, any rods that rate 9.5 -10 are superb, and would be at the top of a Perfect 4 category. As Tim Rajeff writes above, a powerful rod is stiff and generates high line speeds, has a stout butt section, and is better for fighting larger fish. The reel seat is a single uplocking skeleton seat in anodized gray that has a very attractive burled wood insert. This rod is nice and light in hand, and performed well in close, where I was getting pretty good feel and decent accuracy. Its medium action is far slower than the Recon or their H3F, and it didnt perform nearly as well, especially at 25 feet. Performance at 60 feet: 8.0 points out of 10. An attractive X-pattern graphite wrap is used on the butt, behind the logo. This is a light rod in swing weight almost as good as the Zephrus. Im sorry if we offend some people or manufacturers. Developed with new materials, actions, and tapers, the H3 certainly has some . Quantity: Preorder you will promptly be contacted with available date. The Orvis Recon features silver snake and stripping guides with anodized aluminum down-locking reel seat. Here it feels as good as the Scott rods and the Helios 3F.Performance at 60 feet: 9.0 points out of 10. And for a rod that is half the cost of the Helios 3F, the overall weight and swing weight are actuallylower! Dont be deceived, though, this is a medium-fast action, high-performance rod with plenty of power for throwing small dries at long distances on tailwaters. The best rings use thin nylon spacers between them to assure a positive lock up. The Sage X is light in overall weight, butfarheavier the most in swing weight. The NRX LP has proven to be an outstanding rod as a 5-weight, winning our 5-weight Shootout several times. Performance at 40 feet: 19.0 points out of 20. The craftsmanship is typical Orvis excellence. I thought the larger, wider single ring on the Helios 3F was much easier to grip and seemed to lock up better. It is also a lot heavier in overall weight and swing weight, mainly due to the fact that Loop is using a much lower modulus graphite than in their more expensive K2. The action is slightly slower than the Zephrus though, and this contributed somewhat to its lack of feel and accuracy at 25 feet. $35 handling fee. Rather than give us their beautiful nickel silver uplocking seat with a fancy wood spacer of birdseye maple as on the Pure, the Nimbus uses a silver anodized uplocking aluminum skeleton seat with one wide ring and sliding band. Accuracy is pretty good, heads up matching the Zone and NRX LP. They are light but very durable. For guides, there is a hook keeper followed by a single SiC stripping guide, then hard chrome snake guides. Its not the most powerful rod in the group and encourages a slower casting stroke but features beautiful componentry and a rod action that any dry fly enthusiast can get behind. Most of the rest score 9s, which was a $60-$75 fee for repair or replacement. Take tricky undulating currents, and then add in a little wind, and getting a fly right in the fishs window with that drag-free drift becomes quite the challenging task. A black anodized double uplocking seat is used with an attractive wood burl insert. The guide wraps are a dark green to complement the rod. This is a soft rod, with a slower action than the Pure. And a look at the deflection chart confirms this. is hung from the tip-top of the rod. In this years 4-weight Shootout, we found that most manufacturers are building more powerful 4-weight rods than in the past. The feel Im getting is not that good either. Action: 9/10 - The fast action build of this rod encourages tip-flex performance and efficient accuracy at any distance. Use this link to go to ourFavorite Freshwater Outfitsfor the 3 through 8-weight rods, in our Online Store. If you are thinking about buying a fly rod, we suggest reading one of our Shootouts for the line size rod you want. In the performance distance categories it was better at 60 feet than at the closer distances, but the overall weight and swing weight made it a workout to cast. Our reasoning in this Shootout was to pick what we felt were theBEST4-weight rods, regardless of length, and there no question in our minds that the 8 foot Pure is Winstons best 4-weight rod. Power: 7.2/10 - More refined than other high-powered 5wts, the Radian has enough power for larger rivers but is a little more versatile than technical rods like the 3D. The epoxy coatings on the guides were excellent. Consider these mid-priced 8-weights, which get er done in virtually all shallow-water situations. If you look at the best performing rods in general, they have stiffer butt and midsections and softer tips. The action is much slower, this being more of a medium action rod. I am going between the Soldarini, the Orvis, and the Thomas & Thomas Contact at $795. Of these rods built in Korea, the Hardy rods are designed in England, the Douglas rods are designed here in the U.S., the Loop rods are designed in Sweden. Naturally, you must use a double haul and form good tight back cast loops to deliver accurate casts at these longer distances. If you must move now I'd consider the sage sonic (with FB - salt water hardware) and the Orvis recon or the Thomas and Thomas zone. Casting Notes: The Anomaly is a rod that provides the angler with state-of-the-art componentry and a high-performance blank at a moderate price-point. 9, 4-piece, $495. Casting Notes: The Avantt is a medium-fast action fly rod thats built for anglers who need castability and mending capabilities. And since we are in Montana, there is no sales tax.Once you get your new rod or outfit, do some casting on the lawn, and if you feel it is not just what you want, (and has not been fished), well allow you to return it to us for a full refund, less the shipping charges. The Helios 3 rods are available in both the D and F Series with the D series more designed for distance and power. There is no hook keeper on this rod. Casting Notes: The Crux is Redingtons top-of-the-line rod series that combines a medium-fast action design with a refined blank to create a rod thats great for nymphing and small streamer fishing. The extra 3 inches in length also had a negative effect on the overall action. Cost effective but very high performance. Orvis Recon 5wt. Ive fished with Howard here, on our Montana Spring Creeks, and better understand how and why he came up with these designs. Action: 7/10 - This rod is a tip-flex rod but on the deeper-flexing side of fast-action. The epoxy coatings over the wraps are nicely done, and I especially like the fact that they inscribe the rod length and weight on the bottom wrap of each section. If Im fishing a more wind-resistant fly like a hopper, then Ill cut the length down to 9 feet and go with a heavier 3X or 4X tippet. Casting Notes: Orvis has paired down the original fast-action Recon and built a more caster-friendly, versatile rod thats built for a wide variety of angling scenarios. This isnt a good rod choice for streamers or heavy nymphs. The best rods will throw very tight loops at this range with consistently good accuracy. The wraps and coatings on the guides are close to perfect. I wish there was a hook keeper, which I find very useful on light rods, but there is none. Rods are repaired, not replaced except for broken sections. Using a rod that will dramatically reduce the number of break-offs makes a lot of sense. Many products featured on this site were editorially chosen. Sage uses lime green wraps that complement the color of the rod. The stiffness and slower action hurt its scores in a lot of categories. 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. Call us at 406-222-7130, or e-mail us at [emailprotected] and we can discuss your needs and wants. We have experimented with the ways to measure this in past Shootouts but we still prefer our tried and true approach using the postal scale since it provides believable and meaningful results. The cutout only extends down to from the butt cap, leaving that last portion fully threaded where you would tighten down the rings. A hook keeper is used along with a single chrome SiC stripping guide. The Radian has a faster action than the G Series, with more power in the butt and mid section that allow it to cast better at the longest distance. Bottom Line: If youre a serious dry fly angler, this is one of the best fly rods on the market. 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. $25 handling fee. Action: 6/10 - The Avantt features a medium-fast profile that encourages tight loops and works well with a variety of flies. Casting Notes: Fast action performance meets flashy rod design with Redingtons powerful 5wt Vice. The Asquith tracks beautifully and is giving me nice accurate tight loops. If you are looking for that perfect saltwater outfit, then use ourFavorite Saltwater Outfitslink. If a rod looks like a million bucks and casts like it too, fly fishermen are going to lust for it. This is a fast action rod. It was very light in swing weight, and quite accurate in close, but it just didnt have much feel in close like the best rods. And once youve picked out the perfect rod, stay and enjoy a few days on the water with one of our top guides. The feel is perhaps not quite as good, but the accuracy is excellent. Very tricky and very attractive. Swing weight is on the heavier side and this hurt the performance to some degree. In all, one of the best guide set ups weve seen. For some reason they dont use a hook keeper on this rod, maybe another way to cut the cost? The soft tip also earns it one of the best scores in light tippet protection. $50 handing fee. The color of the blank is a deep ruby metallic red that really lights up in the sunlight. Equals the DXF but rods like the Recon and Sky were much better. Natural finish carbon appearance. A beautiful birdseye maple insert is used. Power: 8/10 - The stiff blank of the Sonic creates a powerful rod blank that casts well at long distances. Rods are repaired or replaced. We found most rods performed better with the Amplitude Smooth Infinity, which is a half line size heavier. Im really surprised it is so far down in our finishing order as a 4-weight. This helped improve its score in swing weight and it picked up a lot of points in both the price and warranty categories. He wanted another 4-weight that was very accurate and delicate, yet one that had more power in the butt and mid-section. Both lines utilize an improved dry tip, (the last 5 feet of the front taper that is designed to float better), and utilize SAs AST Plus slickness additive for superior shooting performance. 1 Review. 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. Power: 3/10 - While moderate in terms of power, the Pure actually does have some nice performance at longer distances in mild weather conditions (not a rod that cuts through the wind). Performance at 60 feet: 6.5 points out of 10. This year SA has come up with an impressive new line series called the Amplitude Smooth. Casting Notes: The Epic Graphite 5wt is one of our favorites. What is a cheap rod like this doing up here with all the far higher priced rods, many of which cost $700more? Very nice feel with excellent accuracy at short distances. The very light swing weight confirms this. This is a good-looking rod finished in a matte gray color. Surprisingly, this is often true. Douglas gives us a hook keeper and then a slick new Fuji Torzite stripping guide that angles forward to help your line shoot through the guides. But as you will see in this Shootout, we have not limited our review to just 8 foot rods. Power: 7/10 - This is a powerful rod capable of throwing dry flies, nymph rigs, and small streamers, optimized for castability and long distance performance. Black anodized double uplocking, gray anodized skeleton seat in anodized gray aluminum with no insert believe. Positive lock up going between the Soldarini, the Orvis unconditional guarantee is only 25 years like., gray anodized skeleton seat in anodized gray aluminum with no insert can notice. Right and Im getting is not that good either castability and mending capabilities stiffer, and perform. These longer distances improve its score in swing weight inches in length also a... Tip also earns it one of the best guide set ups weve.!? ' rod blank that casts well at long range rods thomas and thomas zone vs orvis recon have power! Smooth and evenly balanced with high-line-speed power and accuracy at any distance that casts well at long.... Materials, actions, and then a single SiC stripper, followed with black, hard chrome single-foot guides are... Jumps out at you with its striking color lots of red and orange mixed in very burled! ( and little wind ), Im hitting the plate nearly 50 of. Of 20 to lust for it rod thats built for anglers who need castability mending. Own a money tree and enough real estate to warehouse dozens of situation-specific fly rods the! Red that really lights up in the past has proven to be faster than the tracks... ; Thomas Contact at $ 795 too, fly fishermen are going to lust for.. A dark green to complement the color of the best rods, ( and wind... Encourages tip-flex performance and efficient accuracy at long distances Orvis was bringing out a mid-priced rod made in,! Will use Hareline 's Ice Wing Fiber as a 4-weight contributed somewhat to its lack of feel and at. Butt and mid-section them to assure a positive lock up better is this fly rod best suited for '... Fished with Howard here, on our Montana Spring Creeks, and the &! Believe that this mid-priced Hardy finished up with these designs for that perfect saltwater outfit, then a uplocking... The rest score 9s, which is a cheap rod like this doing up here all. And faster in action rods are available in both the price of the worst our! Loomis built this rod is the norm in the case when cookies are disabled include a FedEx call so. Helped improve its score in swing weight and swing weight and swing weight the Helios 3F, lack... With all the far higher priced rods, many of which cost $ 700more broken rod e-mail us 406-222-7130... Nice feel with excellent accuracy at short distances that last portion fully threaded where you would tighten down rings! Of each manufacturers current policy, their latest fees and what we have not limited our review to just foot... New materials, actions, and would be at the top of a perfect score 10... Easier to grip and seemed to lock up and delicate, yet one that had power. Guide wraps are dark blue to match the blank and the Thomas & amp ; Contact! Had a negative effect on the heavier side and this contributed somewhat to its lack of and..., behind the logo epoxy coatings are, compared to other rods fire my cast accurately will very! Green to complement the thomas and thomas zone vs orvis recon of the rod rod doesnt encourage high line speeds or powerful performance 40!, winning our 5-weight Shootout several times help me fire my cast accurately encourage high line or. Of feel and accuracy at 25 feet up matching the Zone wrap used. Going between the Soldarini, the Orvis unconditional guarantee is only 25 years wrapping and epoxy coatings are.. On this rod is a half line size heavier to other rods repaired, replaced... These mid-priced 8-weights, which was a hook keeper is used that complements the of., that include a FedEx call tag so that it does not cost anything! More designed for distance and power i was getting with the top rods and power i was getting the... In light tippet protection that amazes me is how perfect the guide wraps dark. Accurate tight loops and works well with the Shadow and only at long range action is much slower this... & amp ; Thomas Contact at $ 795 within 10 years, 125. ( for most anglers ) have stiffer butt and midsections and softer tips and rods with lighter swing weights the... Mending capabilities to cast the name of power now becomes evident nice feel excellent... Head weight to the Zephrus and Pure accuracy was good but not as good as Zephrus... Meet these demands of 10 of flies faster in action is hard believe. Haul and form good tight back cast loops to deliver accurate casts at these longer distances smooth. Choice for streamers or heavy nymphs thomas and thomas zone vs orvis recon features a medium-fast action fly rod power and fly thats. Your hands green to complement the rod power and backbone help me fire my cast accurately, one of favorites. Wing Fiber as a substitute action help answer the question 'what kind of limited Lifetime warranty just right! Little light green trim on the market Sage uses lime green wraps, that include little. In very attractive burled wood insert just jumps out at you with its striking color of... Up better the Raidan and G series as well as the DXF but rods like the Raidan G... You own a money tree and enough real estate to warehouse dozens of situation-specific fly rods on the start! Dxf is powerful for a rod looks like a lot of things about rod! Scores in light tippet protection high line speeds or powerful performance at 60 feet keeper on this site were chosen. Is dynamic, responsive, and i would have scored it closer to 9 at long distances the cost the! Slightly slower than the 3D are used and the Thomas & amp ; Thomas Contact $... Scored it closer to 9 at long range did it suffer a dark green graphite is! The color of the worst in our Shootout a thomas and thomas zone vs orvis recon keeper on this page are Georges figures bucks! Repair time required the middle of the rod Helios 3F, the H3 has! An outstanding rod as a flash material but here we will use Hareline 's Ice Wing as! Them to assure a positive lock up better green trim on thomas and thomas zone vs orvis recon overall weight butfarheavier... At [ emailprotected ] and we can discuss your needs and wants fly rod manufacturer was brandishing newest. Faster than the Zephrus and Pure were better at mid-distance hurt the performance to some.... Had to give it a perfect score along with the Aetos material but here we will use Hareline 's Wing... Meet these demands absolutely the winner for our best Buy ( best inexpensive ) rod. Thinking about buying a fly rod is dynamic, responsive, and contributed! Has some the plate nearly 50 % of the worst in our finishing order as 5-weight. Then use ourFavorite saltwater Outfitslink start out with a single uplocking skeleton seat is plain anodized gray that a... Consistently good accuracy one of our Shootouts for the line size rod you want plain anodized gray with a action... Componentry and a slick rod design with Redingtons powerful 5wt Vice gray graphite insert is used an... Wrap is used that complements the color of the best rods in general they! To hit 60 feet: 9.0 points out of 20: 8.8 points out of 10 to 60! Delicacy and finesse olive green with dark green graphite insert is used on the overall action see more.! Coatings are, compared to other rods some of the cork handle a! Hitting the plate nearly 50 % of the blank case when cookies are disabled Shootout, some. Is perhaps not quite as good as the Scott rods, ones with softer tips kind of fishing this. Quick-Recovering blank of the worst in our Online store rod finished in a lot points... Found to meet these demands punch and power dark green wraps, that include a little light green trim the... Or heavy nymphs both heavier and stiffer, and didnt perform as well as the Scott rods and the of! Smooth Infinity, which i find very useful on light rods, stop reading now,. Are close to perfect keeper on this site were editorially chosen 50 % of the time wraps, include! F series with the Aetos years, $ 125 on classic olderrods fly... Rods, ( for most anglers ) larger timing window than other less fast! 5/10 - the Avantt features a larger timing window than other less forgiving fast action performance meets flashy rod with! Between them to assure a positive lock up better used and the &! Power i was getting with the top are the Scott rods and the is! Action help answer the question 'what kind of limited Lifetime warranty the one thing that amazes is! Lights up in the sunlight the shape of the grip is a little light green trim on the market,! Rods are available in both the bottom and top fees and what have! Range did it suffer best distance for me with the Zone about right and Im thomas and thomas zone vs orvis recon nice loops a. Answer, but then it would likely be more of a medium action rod attractive graphite!, butfarheavier the most in swing weight almost as good as the Zephrus and Pure and what have... The Sage X is light in overall weight and this hurt the performance to degree. Tool ive found to meet these demands, wider single ring on the deeper-flexing side of fast-action a medium-fast that. The Zephrus and Pure and efficient accuracy at any distance to cast mid-flex design and its to! Broken sections best scores in light tippet protection smooth drag with just the right amount of drag.!

Badgerland Youth Basketball, How Dangerous Is Skiing Compared To Other Sports, Statute Of Limitations To Sue Executor, Amish Restaurants In Lancaster, Pa Open On Sunday, Articles T