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. This helps me to easily fine tune the exact amount of drag needed while fishing very light tippets, something that is tough to do with other small reels. Ive fished with Howard here, on our Montana Spring Creeks, and better understand how and why he came up with these designs. I just wish that the performance was as good as its looks. This rod is nice and light in hand, and performed well in close, where I was getting pretty good feel and decent accuracy. 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. Perhaps the best example here is our winner, the Hardy Zephrus. This had a negative effect on its scores, trying to compete with the best 8 foot and 86 rods. The rod is light and perfectly balanced, allowing for better accuracy while minimizing fatigue often associated with longer rods. We felt the 86 Helios 3F was the best rod to test since the 3D is available only in a 9-foot model. The Clearwater is finished in a dark gray color with dark olive guide wraps. The cork handle is what Sage calls a snub nose half-wells. This fast action produced extremely good feel and accuracy, especially at 25 feet. Nice and light in hand with very good feel and accuracy in close. All line recommendations are for the WF5F version of the line unless otherwise stated. Add to Cart. If Fenwick determines that there was a defect, the rod will be repaired or replaced at no charge. With a blazing light swing weight and a forgiving action, this 5wt is one of the best all-around rods on the market. 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. Learn more. This is a smooth-casting, lightweight rod that is well-rounded and surprisingly versatile. The best rods will throw very tight loops at this range with consistently good accuracy. Good butt power also helps me land fish in a minimal amount of time. Surprisingly, even using this lower modulus graphite that should be heavier, the overall weight and swing weight are very good compared to our other top 4-weight 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. This one is simple The least expensive rods get the highest points. The heavier swing weight makes casting at longer distances a workout. The DXF has been one of our top mid-priced rods, but there was no denying the Hardy Shadow and Orvis Recon were better. The medium fast action of the Recon is very similar to the Helios 3F and this is one reason it performs so well. The double uplocking, gray anodized reel skeleton seat uses two rings that are easy to grip and lock up extremely well. 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 quality of epoxy coatings on the guide wraps was excellent and almost the equal of the T&T rods. Chloe has been working in the shop for two summers and now works with us full time. Action: 5/10 - This is a rod thats forgiving and closer to moderate action than it is to fast action. Great rods dont make great casters, but there is no doubt that they will improve any anglers casting skills and his ability to catch fish. A great 4-weight rod is the best tool Ive found to meet these demands. Add beautiful componentry and a slick rod design and its easy to see why this rod is one of our favorites. Mayfly emergers are often stuck in the film for quite some time making them easy pray for hungry trout. This is not a pleasant rod to do a lot of false casting with, as you would fishing dry flies. Rods are repaired or sections replaced. Casting Notes: The Pure is a purpose-built dry fly rod with beautiful feedback and feel at short-range. The blank color at first glance looks black, but is a very dark green called Black Spruce. The thread wraps are dark green, trimmed with metallic gray on the butt section. Usually takes 1-2 weeks. The best rods in this category are almost always the lightest in swing weight, especially if you are doing a lot of false casting when fishing dry flies. The uplocking skeleton reel seat is silver anodized aluminum, with one good-sized locking ring and sliding band, similar to the Avantt. Howard is a great angler and knew just what he wanted for the perfect 4-weight. Head to head the Zephrus was better, and both the Avantt and Helios 3F were far better. Douglas Lifetime warranty. The Radian is both stiffer and faster in action. 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 quality of the standard size cork rings was very good. This is a rod that encourages finesse, delicacy, and accuracy at short-range when targeting picky trout in a variety of scenarios. A 12-foot leader also gives you a stealthier presentation. The buzz around IFTD this year was heavy on the rod-talk. The epoxy coatings are excellent as is the overall craftsmanship, which we have come to expect from Scott. I think that the vague feel I was getting hurt here. Performance at 40 feet: 18.0 points out of 20. Now Im getting nice tight loops and I can punch it hard into the breeze. It was even a little sloppy on the tip sections. The soft tip also earns it one of the best scores in light tippet protection. 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. You are familiar this term if you play golf. We value your comments about the Shootout and invite any questions you might have about it or your tackle needs. Although the overall weight was an amazingly light 2.3 oz, the swing weight was a fairly heavy 8.0 oz about equal to the Scott G series. This is a very pleasant rod to cast, with a medium fast action. With the inexpensive warranties that most manufacturers offer, your new rod is one that will last you for many years. Feels great out long! $279.99. #28. Bottom Line: This is a rod for the dry fly angler and works well for entry-level anglers targeting trout on small/medium-sized streams and rivers. Here it feels as good as the Scott rods and the Helios 3F.Performance at 60 feet: 9.0 points out of 10. Mystic Lifetime warranty to original owner. And a look at the deflection chart confirms this. and they examine it. Here, the softer rods, ones with softer tips and rods with lighter swing weights post the highest scores. It also features great long-distance dry fly performance because of its medium-fast action design. 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. A beautiful birdseye maple insert is used. Heavy, slower action rods never perform well. Heres a category that we used in our last 4-weight Shootout, that we deemed important when you are trying to judge the best 4-weight rods, that will often be used with very light 5x, 6x, and 7x tippets. If you want a shorter, inexpensive 4-weight rod to fish at closer distances, this TFO 79 and the 8 foot Aetos are the best rods for you to consider. My favorite length for a 4-weight rod is 8 feet. 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. There is not much swell in the middle of the grip and it tapers just slightly forward. The cork handle is a half wells design, with a thinner swell than most that seemed very comfortable to me. Standard corks are used and the quality is excellent. Casting Notes: Fast action performance meets flashy rod design with Redingtons powerful 5wt Vice. Rods are repaired or replaced. Performance at 40 feet: 17.5 points out of 20. Im sorry if we offend some people or manufacturers. This is a light rod in swing weight almost as good as the Zephrus. 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 79 rod has a nice medium fast action, while this 8 9 model is far slower much more of a medium action rod. Action: 7/10 - This rod sports a medium-fast/fast action blank thats ideal for a variety of freshwater fishing techniques. Call us at 406-222-7130, or e-mail us at [emailprotected] and we can discuss your needs and wants. This makes it easier to justify buying the best performing rod. The blank itself is a deep burgundy color, with dark gray wraps. A black anodized uplocking skeleton seat is used with one ring and sliding band. Nice rod, quite light and supple tip could throw a leader very well. The rest of the guides are hard chrome snake guides with nice, small diameter wire snake guides on the upper two sections. If you are looking for that perfect saltwater outfit, then use ourFavorite Saltwater Outfitslink. 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. For the price, it cant be beat. A darker composite cork ring is used on the bottom of the grip that is flared out to accept the uplocking seat. We are just trying to call it like we see it, in an unbiased manner. This rod is great for dry flies at long distances or small streamers. This rod, similar to the TFO Pro II, allows anglers to utilize popular trout techniques and embodies ultimate freshwater versatility. I also like the alignment dots. This is a good-looking rod, finished in a non-glare flat black. This can come in handy if you have multiple T&T rods and get the sections mixed up. Casting Notes: The Foundation is Sages entry-level rod series built with a classic medium-fast action Sage design and relatively high power levels. Action: 7/10 - Redington built this rod to be a tip-flex rod and its one of the faster rods in the low-priced category. 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. Good-looking wood insert spacers that are finished well add to the attractiveness of any rod. Feels equal to the Avantt and Recon at mid distances. While not as powerful, the second iteration of the Recon is smooth, accurate, and provides ample feedback/feel. R.L. The Expeditor service for the NRX or NRX LP rods is $100, while the IMX Pro rods are $85.00. I didnt have the confidence I could put my fly exactly where I wanted it, as I do with the 5-weight NRX LP. 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. Scott Lifetime warranty to original owner, $50 handling fee. 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. Usually takes 2-4 weeks. 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. Its a great all-around rod and less technical than the 3D. 5. The epoxy coatings on the wraps were not so good too heavy and about like what we saw on the X. The IMX Pro is one of Loomis newest rods and we have liked it in the larger line sizes, like their 5 and 6 weight rods. I wish that we could have tested an 86 Aetos, but this rod is only available in an 8 foot #4. Now that we have dropped our Perfect 4 category, this category gives you our opinions on the best rods and how they stack up. The added weight and relative stiffness over the other best rods hurt many of its scores. Now were talking! How we compute the swing weight of a fly rodFirst, we zero out the scale with a small foam packing pellet in the center of the scale, which we will use for a fulcrum on which to rest the grip of the rod. Thread starter Lmad928; Start date Jan 1, 2021; Prev. Thomas & Thomas Avantt - $845 Thomas & Thomas Zone - $499 Winston Alpha - $935 To find out which 5-weights took home the top rung in each category, check out the Shootout results on the Yellowstone Angler's page, here! 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. Casting Notes: The Helios 3F is built for feel. The two locking rings are large and easy to grip and tighten. The wraps are done in a dark brown with some silver trim on the butt section as well as in the center of each guide foot wrap, that look nice. *Note The final results and performance charts on this page are Georges figures. The DXF and Imperial were much better. Where would Blue Ribbon land on the chart? This helped improve its score in swing weight and it picked up a lot of points in both the price and warranty categories. 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. The Zone really excels in the 40-60 foot range. The Shadow and Pure were far better. It had the power to hit 60 feet easily enough but my accuracy was not very good. The blank is a pleasing burgundy that sparkles in the sunlight. The Galvan reels have been one of our favorite fly reels, and the slightly larger T-5 won our last 5/6 weight Reel Shootout. If you cannot find or cast the rods that interest you, we are here to help. Bottom Line: If youre looking for power and feel, this is one of the better 5wts on the market. Performance at 60 feet: 6.5 points out of 10. We like the looks of this new Mystic rod and the craftsmanship is better than we found on the Reaper X, but the price is a lot higher also. It was a little better than the Avantt here, but not as good as the H3F. Very little feel or accuracy. Action: 6/10 - The Avantt features a medium-fast profile that encourages tight loops and works well with a variety of flies. Nothing beats this rod at 40 feet. But when I need to reach out and make casts at 60-70 feet, as I often do fishing bigger rivers like the Missouri, the Zephrus has tons of power on tap to get the job done. #15. Those ravings were well warranted, given that the original Contact was a superb example of what a thoughtfully designed Euro rod could be. At long range no rod has more power. 2 Reviews. The wraps are also black, nicely trimmed in light gray on the butt sections. Logan and Francis have worked here for many years and are both great casters and anglers. We stand by our methodology however, and by far most of the anglers that take the time to give us their feedback on these Shootouts generally agree with our results. Next, holding the rod in a horizontally, we position the grip over the foam pellet so that the pellet is centered under the exact spot where you will most likely hold the rod with your hand. They inscribe the sliding band with the line size, which is a nice touch. Cortland MKII Euro Nymph Rod. 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 swing weight of the rod is the weight you feel out ahead of your hand, holding the rod horizontally. Orvis Recon 2 Fly Rod. Bottom Line: This is a great all-around rod option for everything from nymphs to dry flies, Bass to Trout. Performance at 60 feet: 9.3 points out of 10. If you want to economize, look carefully at both the Hardy Shadow at $349.95 and the Orvis Recon at $429.00. We have liked the Mystic Reaper that has done well in some of our early 5-weight Shootouts. Mystic JXP 9 #4 $499.00. 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 cork is a stack of thin rings, and the quality of the cork is excellent. That being said, its not a rod that will provide the angler with tons of feedback and feel. If a rod looks like a million bucks and casts like it too, fly fishermen are going to lust for it. Performance at 40 feet: 19.0 points out of 20. This is a very pleasant rod to cast, and I was especially impressed at what nice tight loops I was getting at long range, where it proved to be better than any other rod tested, even the powerful Asquith. Below, we provide power levels, action levels, casting notes, and a line recommendation for the majority of the 5wt rods we carry. WinstonLifetime warranty to original owner. Add to Cart. 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. Orvis also makes the Recon in a 3-weight 9-foot model better suited for dry fly fishing. Orvis Recon. The ultimate dry fly trout rod, the NRX+ LP is lighter than ever before and provides the angler with tons of feedback and feel. The wraps are dark blue to match the blank and the epoxy coatings are excellent. Craftsmanship is second to none, and is what we have now come to expect from T&T. 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. Usually takes 1-2 weeks. The locking ring was fairly large and easy to grip and tighten but didnt have a plastic ring like some that allow them to lock up more securely. Moreover, if you want to fish with a 4-weight we consider to be the optimal choice, you dont have to spend $850, $900, or $1000, but only $679 for the Hardy Zephrus. Casting Notes: The heptagonal blank design of the 7X creates a rod with fast recovery speeds and a smooth action. One of the big factors here is that this rod is only available in a 9-foot length as a 4-weight. How well are the guides wrapped and how nice are the coatings? We also kept on hand, and compared, what we felt was the very best rod the Hardy Zephrus. A slightly oldie but goodie. The best 4-weights must be able to cast well at longer distances too, and the best rods had excellent loop control and the ability to throw nice tight loops with good accuracy at 60 feet. They are light but very durable. 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