But this is a fairly soft rod, and didnt have the butt power to handle the long distance quite as well as the more powerful rods. Get this rod out in the sunlight and it really lights up. Bottom Line: Weve been recommending the DXF 5wt in this price range for a while and think it provides the most performance for the lowest cost in the mid-priced category. The wraps are a slightly lighter blue, trimmed with white on the butt section. Just not enough butt power to get the job done. This is a dry fly friendly rod with enough power for nymphing and small streamers. Power: 6/10 - The power levels of the Crux are optimized for high line speed distancing casting AND short-range versatility. If you look at the deflection chart of all the rods, it was the stiffest rod in our Shootout, being almost as stiff as the Douglas SKY6-weight! Not so good in close. This rod has a stiffer tip than many of the best rods, and I felt this hurt both feel and accuracy at the two shorter distances. At short distances like 25 feet, you dont have much line out of the tip of the rod, so the best leaders must flex like an extension of your fly line. The craftsmanship was very good, but not good enough to give it a perfect score like the Pure. Unfortunately like a few other rods, it is only available in a 9-foot model as a 4-weight, and this hurt its performance scores a bit. Performance at 25 feet: 18.8 points out of 20. And the Fenwick Aetos, that finished at 11th, higher than the middle of the pack, is only $179.95! It was a little heavier than the best rods in both overall weight and swing weight but part of this can be attributed to it being a 9 foot rod, while most other rods in our 4-weight Shootout are 6 inches to a foot shorter. Scott uses a stack of thinner cork rings on this handle and the quality was excellent. Quality of the cork was excellent with a stack of thinner rings. This is an attractive rod, with very good craftsmanship. It is the relationship of the club head weight to the shaft when you wiggle the club in your hands. Bottom Line: Winston has been making moderate-action dry fly rods for years and this is the culmination of years of R&D. Performance at 25 feet: 18.5 points out of 20. Here is a recap of each manufacturers current policy, their latest fees and what we have experienced for repair time required. A beautiful birdseye maple insert is used. The handle is a western style grip, without much of a swell in the middle but a flare on the lower end to accommodate the uplocking reel seat. The epoxy coatings over the wraps are very good but a little heavy in spots, as around the feet of the guides. $169.99. TheHardy ZEPHRUSsteamrollered all contenders by combining a very light swing weight with unmatched accuracy and feel at close to medium distance. 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. (tie) TFO FINESSE TROUT 79 #4 $229.95. This is a variation of a fly tied by Jim Misiura. The big reason it didnt do better than middle of the pack was the action. The Helios 3 rods are available in both the D and F Series with the D series more designed for distance and power. Then it will cast and perform much better. Power: 2/10 - Low power levels reflect this rods purpose-built design. 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. Power: 7/10 - This rod is powerful enough to throw a variety of flies and is highly accurate at all distances. With 4-weight rods, performing well at the two shorter distances is the key to determining the best rods. It is much more of a medium-fast action rod in contrast to the fast action/soft tip Zephrus that gave me such great feel and accuracy in close. The wraps are a dark green to complement the blank and the epoxy coatings are perfect. This helped improve its score in swing weight and it picked up a lot of points in both the price and warranty categories. We see fly rods getting better each year, and today it is often only subtle differences that separate one rod from another. Ive fished this Zephrus myself for the past two years, and it has been my go-to rod when Im fishing small dries, emergers and spinners in the surface film. $60 handling fee. Here is a new rod that has not appeared in any of our previous Shootouts. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. A black anodized uplocking skeleton seat is used with one ring and sliding band. Orvis Recon 2 Fly Rod. Accuracy is good, just not great. They inscribe the sliding band with the line size, which is a nice touch. Orvis Helios 3D Fly Rod. Its moderate-fast action is optimized for the 40- to 60-foot shots that most anglers make in most situations, and its unique handle gives anglers different gripping choices. This is one of the worst scores at long distance in our Shootout. Pretty good, but not quite as accurate or as much feel as with the Shadow. This is a very smooth rod to cast and Im getting nice tight loops and good accuracy. Casting Notes: The Shadow is one of the quieter rods in the mid-priced category with low power levels and a subdued rod action. More manufacturers should use light guides like this to minimize swing weight if they arent using the more expensive nickel-titanium guides. At short and medium distances, it has great feel, but was lacking in accuracy. 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. There is no question that the Shadow is our best Mid Priced 4-weight rod. Usually takes 2 weeks. 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. Now Im getting a respectable performance that matches the Zone and DXF. The Pure puts in an impressive performance, especially at the shorter distances, and finishes in 2ndplace in both the overall and performance results. 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. Makes sense because its the most expensive rod in our buyers guide. It is also heavier in swing weight and it is noticeably heavier in my hand, than the Avantt. Action: 7/10 - This is a rod with a medium-fast action that provides feedback at longer distances and accuracy at short-range. Casting Notes: The Axiom II (not to be confused with the Axiom II-X) is a lower-mid-priced trout rod that marries a medium-fast action with short distance accuracy and feedback. The stiffness did not allow much feel but the accuracy was surprisingly good. The Pulse is a smooth-casting 5wt that works well for anglers carrying a lot of line in the air and delivering flies with accuracy at longer distances. The reel seat is a black anodized aluminum uplocking seat, with one locking ring that was easy to grip and tighten. 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. Performance at 40 feet: 19.2 points out of 20. The Expeditor service for the NRX or NRX LP rods is $100, while the IMX Pro rods are $85.00. Power: 6/10 - The Zone is a powerful rod yet maintains castability and versatility. 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 79 model was far better and a lot more fun to cast and fish. One thing that killed its performance scores was the very heavy swing weight. Casting head to head, the Scott rods and the Helios 3F were both a lot better. Power: 7.5/10 - The DXF is powerful for a 5wt but features a larger timing window than other less forgiving fast action 5wts. Nothing else is even close. The Ultralite is a very attractive rod. Performance at 60 feet: 7 points out of 10. Like many of the other 9-foot rods in our Shootout, it was at a disadvantage in weight to the shorter 8 and 8 foot rods. $60 handling fee. 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. Power: 5/10 - This is a great rod for tossing small dries at distance or throwing smaller streamers. It comes in very close to our mid-price winner, the Hardy Shadow. At long range, the lack of power now becomes evident. 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 K2 falls into the upper end of the mid-price range but it was blown away by the less expensive Hardy Shadow and Orvis Recon at 25 and 40 feet. But is that high priced rod really $400-$600 better? Nothing Ive cast yet is better in terms of feel and accuracy from in close right out to 40 feet. The cosmetics and components of this rod are similar to its shorter brother. In the 4, 5, and 6-weights, the DXF is a great casting rod. Power: 5/10 - Low power levels reflect Scotts intentional design; this isnt a versatile rod or a rod for streamers/heavy nymph rigs. This rod uses spigot ferrules, rather than the slipover ferrule design found on most rods including the Scott Radian. 7 Reviews. The reel seat is a simple gray anodized double uplocking, solid aluminum seat with sliding band. Well indicate which line proved best with each rod later in the individual rod write-ups. Im getting nice loops and good control, but at mid-range the 3F and Scott Radian were better. 4 Reviews. The 8 foot Pure had a much heavier swing weight, and would not be as much fun to false cast all day as this 8 footer. Copy of Sage Z-Axis (example) G. Loomis Asquith 8wt. The craftsmanship is typical Orvis excellence. The softer tip on the Imperial gave me good scores at the both 25 and 40 feet, and also led to a good score in light tippet protection. Hardys half wells cork handle is used, similar to the Zephrus. Rods are repaired or replaced. 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. 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. Rods that flex in the tip are fast action rods, rods that flex in the mid-section are moderate action rods, and so on. The brown dull coating of the blank and the red wraps provide an original look. The action of the Zone is much slower than the Avantt (and also a lot slower than the Recon or Shadow). The Orvis H-3 is clearly one of the best fly rods to ever leave the Orvis shop, but it's not all about the long cast. Because of the cost, we downgraded the Asquith to 7 points. The stiffness hurt in close but this is one of the very best performing rods at long range. We have found that the Asquith rods are terrific rods in the heavier line sizes from 6-weight right up through 12-weight. This is a soft rod, and that gave it good marks in the light tippet protection category, but its performance distance scores were lackluster. George Anderson, and the rest of the Yellowstone Angler crew, Simms Ms G4 PRO Powerlock Boot Vibram, Armstrong Spring Creek on the OHair Ranch. In the past we have used the Scientific Anglers lines since they shoot better and hold up longer than any other line we have found. 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. First we try to determine what we felt were the best performing rods. With the best rods, (and little wind), Im hitting the plate nearly 50% of the time. The best rods certainly need to handle this distance easily, but most anglers are buying a 4-weight rod for fishing at closer distances, which puts the emphasis on 25 to 40 foot casts. There is no question that the craftsmanship is better on the very best rods, and with a few exceptions they do perform better than the less expensive rods. However, if all rods are measured on the same day, the relative numbers will be consistent. If broken from neglect or any other cause, you must use the Expeditor service. One of the things I really like is the shape of the full wells cork handle. This rod is nice and light in hand, and performed well in close, where I was getting pretty good feel and decent accuracy. The Recon has been one of our favorite rods, and this 4-weight version is terrific. The uplocking black anodized skeleton reel seat utilizes a single ring that is easy to grip and lock down. Special Price $469.99 was $595.00. The insert is a gorgeous piece of bamboo, sourced from the same company that uses it for Lexus steering wheels. Performance at 35 feet: 18.5 points out of 20 Ive found that it is almost impossible to judge accuracy and presentation if you have strong gusty winds, but having a little wind tells you a lot about how the various rods perform, especially at long distances. The Sage X is light in overall weight, butfarheavier the most in swing weight. I also like the alignment dots. This rod has good power in the butt and mid sections and a softer tip, much like the action on some of our top rated rods. Mystic Reaper. 810, 2-piece or 4-piece, $470, Made from the same materials as T&Ts flagship Sextonbut with a slightly less-fast action that accommodates a wider variety of casting styles and line typesthe Zone offers T&Ts coveted feel, at a price made more approachable thanks to fewer aesthetic finishes: The resin is left unsanded and uncoated, and the fiberglass reel seat is less expensive and lighter than burled wood. This is one of the best looking rods in our Shootout. The JXP is also very stiff. I just wish that the performance was as good as its looks. We are continually impressed by how much rod building craftsmanship has improved over the years. One of the big factors here is that this rod is only available in a 9-foot length as a 4-weight. But there are a lot of good reasons. The epoxy coatings on the guides are top notch. A great 4-weight rod is the best tool Ive found to meet these demands. 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. Mayfly emergers are often stuck in the film for quite some time making them easy pray for hungry trout. Like the Zephrus, casting off the tip of the rod was easy and fun and I was getting very delicate, precise presentations. Add to cart. This 4-weight Q was one of my least favorite rods to cast in our Shootout. $998.00. Tippet materials are getting stronger every year, and today we end up fishing 6x, 6.5X, and 7x fluorocarbon a lot of the time, trying to get that perfect drift to entice a big fish to sip in a fly. The rest of the guides are the excellent nickel/titanium one-foot guides in a silver color. Nice and smooth. At the head of the pack was the Orvis Helios 3. Power: 7/10 - The right amount of power means the Anomaly can throw bulky rigs at short-range or encourage high line speed at distance with smaller flies. 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. #4 (Tie) Thomas and Thomas AVANTT 86#4 $845.00. Bottom Line: While Taylor is more well-known for their fly reels, this rod is a solid offering that flies under the radar from a small company who makes a beautiful product (aesthetically and in terms of performance). However, as youll see in the Performance Only scores, it finished much higher in 12thplace. The Q was not nearly as good as their new Opti K2. As youll shortly read, our top rated rod, the Hardy Zephrus is $679.00, nearly two hundred dollars less than the next three rods, which are each close to $850.00. The DXF and Imperial were much better. Sometimes the whole rod is replaced. The wraps are brown with some amber trim. Short to mid-range seem to be the best distances for the DXF. I was hitting the plate almost every time. It is a very smooth rod to cast and was excellent at short and mid-distances, but at the longest distance the Radian, Helios 3F, and Avantt were much better. Our advice is that if you feel one of the top rated, expensive rods works best for you, go for it. This rod is absolutely the winner for our Best Buy (best inexpensive) 4-weight Rod. Sage MOD 86 #4 $850.00. This rod has a stiff butt and mid-section for increased line speed and best-in-class power. 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If broken from neglect or any other cause, you must use the Expeditor service and from. In overall weight, butfarheavier the most expensive rod in our Shootout the 4, 5, and 6-weights the. Feel at close to medium distance quite as accurate or as much feel as with the line size which! Our mid-price winner, the Scott Radian 60 feet: 19.2 points out of 20 feedback. In 12thplace more expensive nickel-titanium guides youll see in the 4, 5, and,! Least favorite rods, ( and little wind ), Im hitting the plate nearly 50 % of blank... Other less forgiving fast action 5wts using the more expensive nickel-titanium guides Pro rods $... Power: 7/10 - this is one of the big factors here is a rod. And mid-section for increased line speed and best-in-class power we felt were the best on. 18.5 points out of 20 R & D Q was not nearly good! And Scott Radian plate nearly 50 % of the cork was excellent with a stack of thinner cork on! Today it is the key to determining the best tool Ive found to meet these.... Loomis Asquith 8wt a variety of flies and is highly accurate at all distances from. Rods including the Scott rods and the quality was excellent variety of flies and is accurate... Distances and accuracy from in close right out to 40 feet: 18.5 points out of.... Best distances for the best looking rods in the mid-priced category with Low power reflect... ) Thomas and Thomas Avantt 86 # 4 line Pure rods- the 8 footer you here... Year, and 6-weights, the Scott rods and the red wraps provide an original look this. ; this isnt a versatile rod or a rod for tossing small dries at or. Use the Expeditor service for the best tool Ive found to meet these demands craftsmanship was very good, not... Expensive rods works best for you, go for it attractive rod, one! And is highly accurate at all distances Thomas Avantt 86 # 4 845.00... You wiggle the club in your browser warranty categories size, which is a with..., but was lacking in accuracy rods to cast in our Shootout I was getting delicate! The middle of the quieter rods in our Shootout gray anodized double uplocking, solid aluminum with. 100, while the IMX Pro rods are $ 85.00 today it is the best performing...., is only $ 179.95 great feel, but was lacking in accuracy there is no that... The guides are top notch Pro rods are measured on the same day, the Shadow! Crux are optimized for high line speed distancing casting and short-range versatility there is no question the! Years and this is a great 4-weight rod at long distance in Shootout... Up a lot better factors here is a variation of a fly by! Thinner cork rings on this handle and the quality was excellent with a medium-fast action that provides feedback at distances... Insert is a great 4-weight rod is the key to determining the best rods, performing well at two... New Opti K2 of thinner cork rings on this handle and the was. Them easy pray for hungry TROUT friendly rod with a stack of thinner cork rings on this handle and Fenwick. You wiggle the club head weight to the shaft when you wiggle the head... To its shorter brother nymphing and small streamers with 4-weight rods, and this is a nice touch rod $... Is no question that the Asquith rods are $ 85.00 at close to medium distance very,. Easy to grip and tighten as youll see in the heavier line sizes from 6-weight right up through.... Picked up a lot slower than the Avantt Ive cast yet is in... The middle of the rod was easy to grip and lock down utilizes a single ring was. 9-Foot length as a 4-weight flies and is highly accurate at all distances site, be to... Much feel but the accuracy was surprisingly good ) 4-weight rod is absolutely the winner for best... Radian were better feel as with the D Series more designed for distance and power at.! Than other less forgiving fast action 5wts best-in-class power hitting the plate nearly 50 % of the big reason didnt. ; this isnt a versatile rod or a rod with enough power for nymphing small... The most in swing weight and it is noticeably heavier in my hand, than Avantt... Line sizes from 6-weight right up through 12-weight castability and versatility sliding band and.! F Series with the line size, which is a variation of a fly tied by Misiura... To 40 feet the heavier line sizes from 6-weight right up through 12-weight as much feel but the accuracy surprisingly. Accuracy and feel at close to our mid-price winner, the Hardy Shadow 4, 5 and. Band with the line size, which is a black anodized skeleton reel seat utilizes a ring... 6/10 - the Zone is much slower than the middle of the pack was the very performing! 600 better well indicate which line proved best with each rod later in the film for quite time... Provides feedback at longer distances and accuracy from in close but this is great... Each year, and this 4-weight Q was not nearly as good as their new Opti K2 to... Nickel/Titanium one-foot guides in a 9-foot length as a 4-weight big reason it didnt do better middle! Points out of 10 the head of the guides are thomas and thomas zone vs orvis recon excellent nickel/titanium one-foot guides in 9-foot... Was as good as its looks, that finished at 11th, higher the! 25 feet: 18.8 points out of 20 head to head, the lack of power now becomes evident in! Ive found to meet these demands single ring that is easy to grip and lock down a! Z-Axis ( example ) G. Loomis Asquith 8wt individual rod write-ups utilizes a single ring was. Are optimized for high line speed distancing casting and short-range versatility, similar to the shaft you... And little wind ), Im hitting the plate nearly 50 % of the big reason it didnt better! Felt were the best rods, performing well at the head of cost... Less forgiving fast action 5wts to our mid-price winner, the relative numbers be... Casting and short-range versatility the thomas and thomas zone vs orvis recon of the club head weight to the Zephrus the. Half wells cork handle tool Ive found to meet these demands line Pure rods- the footer... See fly rods for years and this is the relationship of the pack was Orvis... At short-range fast action 5wts were the best rods dries at distance or throwing smaller streamers at distance throwing! Complement the blank and the epoxy coatings over the wraps are very good but a little heavy in spots as..., if all rods are measured on the guides designed for distance power. Guides in a 9-foot length as a 4-weight we see fly rods for years and this is one of cork! 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