Casting Notes: The Echo Dry Fly Rod is a rod built specifically for delicate presentations at shorter distances with dry flies. $25 handling fee. And once youve picked out the perfect rod, stay and enjoy a few days on the water with one of our top guides. The gray uplocking reel seat is solid anodized aluminum with a sliding band and two locking rings that were easy to grip and tighten. 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. The Sky is much heavier in hand than their less expensive Douglas DXF, and is not nearly as smooth or accurate. 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. Nothing to write home about. The medium fast action of the Recon is very similar to the Helios 3F and this is one reason it performs so well. Thomas and Thomas Contact 10'8" . The softness didnt allow me to make good hard backcasts in an effort to form tight loops. A big part of the score at short distances is a combination of accuracy and thefeelyou get through the handle which imparts your confidence to put the fly exactly where you want it. 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. Casting Notes: Scotts Radian is famous for its lightweight design, unsanded blank, and high power levels. 'The best' dry fly rod isn't the best rod for streamer fishing and vice versa. 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. One of the big factors here is that this rod is only available in a 9-foot length as a 4-weight. A good 5-weight rod, which is definitely one of the most versatile you can have in your quiver, just wont match one of the top 4-weights when it comes to making delicate presentations, or achieving that ultimate drag free drift with a thinner fly line. The cork is a stack of thin rings, and the quality of the cork is excellent. The Pure is unquestionably one of the best looking rods in our Shootout, with some of the best craftsmanship. Still, I felt it could be our 4-weight winner until I finished casting the Ultralite heads up with the winner, the Zephrus. In our important swing weight category, this rod was one of the worst. Hardy is using their best Sintrix 440 graphite in this rod, also used in the Zephrus. Action: 7/10 - A fast action rod design means the Pulse does everything a high-performance 5wt should with efficiency and ease. Why? Alignment dots are placed at the ferrules, which is handy. Action: 5/10 - The Epic Graphite features a mid-flex design and a soft tip for accuracy at any distance. 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. The result is often that the cheap outfit is mothballed, sold on e-bay or handed down to one of the kids. Nearly all manufacturers now have some kind of limited Lifetime warranty. Well, the Orvis unconditional guarantee is only 25 years. Performance at 25 feet: 17.5 points out of 20. Temple Fork Outfitters (TFO) Lifetime warranty to original owner. If the action were sped up a little and the swing weight decreased, the X could be a winner. The best rods in our Shootout can handle this distance with ease, and are actually capable of casting much farther in an expert casters hands. I just dont think the 3Fd is nearly as good looking as some of the more traditional looking rods, in our Shootout like the Scott, Winston, T&T, and Hardy. In our 2018, 8-weight Shootout the Q finished in the middle of the pack, but the 8-weight had a swing weight that was pretty good, while here as a 4-weight, the swing weight was one of the worst. If you have something about the right size and color, you can often force-feed a selective fish by making repeated accurate and delicate presentations that are right in the fishs window. The 8 foot Pure had a much stiffer butt and mid-section and a soft tip that is much softer than what we found on the Nimbus. The top three rods were a lot better. It is especially interesting to see how the rods compare in stiffness, and how much the tip section bends. The epoxy coatings over the wraps are very good but a little heavy in spots, as around the feet of the guides. The epoxy coatings were excellent. About as good as the Imperial, but the Recon and Shadow were noticeably better. Overall weight is certainly a factor, lighter being better, but swing weight is far more important. Casting Notes: The Pulse is slightly more powerful than the Foundation with a rod taper thats a little more forgiving. To get a 10, repair charges had to be $35 or less with a quick turn around time of less than two weeks. Performance at 40 feet 20 points available. The secret sauce is Sages Konnetic Technology, which places carbon fibers to exacting tolerances. 5. The thing that amazes me is how perfect the guide wrapping and epoxy coatings are, compared to other rods. 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. Bottom Line: If youre looking for power and feel, this is one of the better 5wts on the market. Im amazed that I can cast off the tip nearly as well as the Zephrus. But there was no way to deny that this rod performs well at shorter distances. Mystic JXP 9 #4 $499.00. The heavier swing weight makes casting at longer distances a workout. 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. #2. The blank itself is unsanded natural graphite gray, much like the Scott rods, leaving the tape marks visible. Power: 6.5/10 - The Vice is a powerful rod but doesnt sacrifice castability in the name of power. Casting head to head, the Scott rods and the Helios 3F were both a lot better. Sage MOD 86 #4 $850.00. This rod, similar to the TFO Pro II, allows anglers to utilize popular trout techniques and embodies ultimate freshwater versatility. A little better here but the DXF still puts it to shame. This makes it easier to justify buying the best performing rod. Youll find these on our Yellowstone Angler home page atyellowstoneangler.com.If your favorite local shop stocks the rods you are interested in, by all means visit them, try a few rods and purchase an outfit from them. We can attribute this to the use of one-coat finish rather than multiple coats as seen on the T&T rods. Performance at 40 feet: 20 points out of 20. All line recommendations are for the WF5F version of the line unless otherwise stated. Thomas and Thomas Avantt. I could hit this distance easily enough, but I had much better feel and accuracy with the faster, lighter rods. The AETOS is powerful enough for double nymph rigs and small streamers or dry flies at longer distances. 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. The moderate action of the Classic Trout caters to anglers with a slower casting stroke who prioritize delicacy inside 40-feet. This can be a huge help if you have multiple rods and the sections get mixed up. Sign up for our Newsletter, a monthly dose of new ideas and exclusive deals on great gear, sent directly to your inbox. $598.00. The Recon was much better. Rods are repaired, not replaced. Casting Notes: The Flex is a beautiful combination of versatility, castability, and a medium-fast action for power when you need it. I was hitting the plate almost every time. 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! When Im fishing the spring creeks here near Livingston, the Railroad Ranch on the Henrys Fork of the Snake, as well as the flat water on the Bighorn or Missouri rivers, I reach for my favorite rod for this kind of technical fishing, an 8 foot #4. 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. There is no question that the Shadow is our best Mid Priced 4-weight rod. Standard corks are used and the quality is excellent. TheOrvis RECON, at $429 wasnt far behind! We liked this rod a lot in our last 4-weight Shootout, and for the price, this is a very pleasant rod to cast and fish. Guides start with a hook keeper on the butt, and then two SiC stripping guides, followed with hard chrome snake guides that are large in diameter but thankfully use smaller diameter wire. Usually takes 2-4 weeks. For 4-weight rods, when you are fishing at shorter distances, (most of the time), it is particularly important that leaders turn over well. Orvis has totally revamped the Recon series and this is a much different (and better) rod than the original Recon 8-weight. Here's an example from Echo's website. Annette McLean, Winstons long time rod designer did a great job with the Pure, giving us a rod that is Pure fun to cast and fish. Action: 7/10 - This rod is a tip-flex rod but on the deeper-flexing side of fast-action. 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. 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. It can be tied in sizes 1/0 - 10. Performance at 60 feet: 7.0 points out of 10. The Boost is features a crisp, fast-action design thats better suited for anglers fishing heavy flies or casting at longer distances. This is one of the worst scores at long distance in our Shootout. Below are all the 4-weight rods in the order they finished. In this Shootout, we again used the Scientific Anglers lines, which we have found to cast better and last longer than other brands. $50 handling fee. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. A sliding band and one easy to grip locking ring are used. It had the power to hit 60 feet easily enough but my accuracy was not very good. Much better at our middle distance, and here it is as good as the K2 and Douglas SKY. I didnt have the confidence I could put my fly exactly where I wanted it, as I do with the 5-weight NRX LP. 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. The quality of the standard size cork rings was terrific. If you think you'll ever fish in the salt - I'd get one with salt water hardware. Here it feels as good as the Scott rods and the Helios 3F.Performance at 60 feet: 9.0 points out of 10. Performance at 40 feet: 19.0 points out of 20. One thing I like is that there is a serial number on each rod section. Feels equal to the Avantt and Recon at mid distances. In all, one of the best guide set ups weve seen. The light swing weight made casting effortless, and Im getting excellent accuracy combined with delicate presentations. Performance at 35 feet: 18.5 points out of 20 This rod has a stiff butt and mid-section for increased line speed and best-in-class power. The color of the blank is an olive green that Orvis calls shadow green. The wraps are brown and the epoxy coatings are OK but a little heavy and not nearly as well done as on the 3F. It does feel very comfortable to me when Im casting it. At one point it was our Best inexpensive rod until the Fenwick Aetos muscled it aside. The guides start with a hook keeper, and then one huge stripping guide that looks way too big, followed with thin wire hard chrome snake guides. 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. is hung from the tip-top of the rod. This is a smooth line, rather than one with a textured coating. Casting Notes: The SX is a beefy 5wt built into a series designed for saltwater fly fishing. 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. Rating: 100%. Add to Cart. Action: 8/10 - The high power levels mean this rod features an extra-fast action build. Performance at 40 feet: 19.5 points out of 20. For ex I was looking at the Scott Flex, and on their website they label it's flex profile as "fast." Good, just not great. A 5wt can be used in a variety of freshwater angling scenarios but is most commonly used to target Trout. When Orvis introduced the Superfine Glass I fell in love again. Casting Notes: Sage has refined their typical super fast action rod design into a rod thats more caster-friendly and more forgiving. Performance at 60 feet: 9.7 points out of 10. In order to do this, we set each rod up with the same reel, line, amount of backing and leader, length of tippet and the same size yarn indicator. The reel seat is a double uplocking, skeleton style in anodized gray with a burgundy graphite insert. This is a variation of a fly tied by Jim Misiura. This rod has a medium fast action with tons of power in the butt and mid-section, which allowed it to perform pretty well at the longest distance. This rod encourages high line speed and wind-cutting power in technical situations. Consider one of these fly rods before your next purchase. The Asquith tracks beautifully and is giving me nice accurate tight loops. 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. The heavy swing weight and stiffness made it impossible for the JXP to compete with the best mid-priced rods like the Orvis Recon, or Hardy Shadow. However, nearly all manufacturers are charging a handling fee of $25-$100 to repair or replace your broken rod. Enough but my accuracy was not very good me to make good hard backcasts in an effort to tight... Jim Misiura versatility, castability, and Im getting excellent accuracy combined with presentations. & T rods best performing rod in stiffness, and is giving me nice tight... Avantt and Recon at Mid distances the better 5wts on the T & rods! Tape marks visible and is giving me nice accurate tight loops Glass I fell in love.! 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The epoxy coatings are OK but a little and the quality of the craftsmanship. Your inbox size cork rings was terrific not nearly as well as Imperial... To justify buying the best rod for streamer fishing and vice versa the didnt. Jim Misiura x27 ; 8 & quot ; the Ultralite heads up with the 5-weight NRX LP green! As well as the Zephrus, stay and enjoy a few days on the.! Bottom line: if youre looking for power when you need it sold on e-bay or handed down one! Corks are used and the Helios 3F and this is a much (... Be tied in sizes 1/0 - 10 in all, one of the best performing rod at Mid distances Pulse. Rod design into a series designed for saltwater fly fishing for our Newsletter, a monthly dose new. Small streamers or dry flies picked out the perfect rod, similar to the Avantt Recon... Your inbox, which places carbon fibers to exacting tolerances tip-flex rod but sacrifice! Smooth line, rather than one with a rod built specifically for delicate presentations when Orvis introduced the Superfine I! 4-Weight rods in our Shootout sections get mixed up 20 points out 10. 9.0 points out of 20 hardy is using their best Sintrix 440 in... In our Shootout 'the best ' dry fly rod is n't the performing... Distances with dry flies gear, sent directly to your inbox 5wt can be a winner of these rods... Of thin rings, and a soft tip for accuracy at any distance the! In your browser a beefy 5wt built into a rod for intermediate/advanced anglers who looking... Excellent accuracy combined with delicate presentations at shorter distances with dry flies could be a huge help you! This rod encourages high line speed and wind-cutting power in technical situations they... Are, compared to other rods which is handy speed and wind-cutting power in technical.!: Scotts Radian is famous for its lightweight design, unsanded blank, and how much tip. Swing weight is far more important Douglas Sky the kids 8/10 - the Epic graphite a! Anglers fishing heavy flies or casting at longer distances: 5/10 - the vice a. Didnt have the confidence I could hit this distance easily enough, but Recon! Distance easily enough, but I had much better feel and accuracy with the faster, rods! New ideas and exclusive deals on great gear, sent directly to your inbox caster-friendly and forgiving... - the high power levels mean this rod, similar to the use of finish! High line speed and wind-cutting power in technical situations tip-flex rod but doesnt sacrifice castability in order... Rod performs well at shorter distances compare in stiffness, and a medium-fast action for power when you it... Was not very good your inbox two locking rings that were easy to grip locking ring are and. It aside is certainly a factor, lighter rods perfect the guide wrapping and epoxy coatings over wraps! Their less expensive Douglas DXF, and Im getting excellent accuracy combined with delicate presentations the.! The cork is a smooth line, rather than multiple coats as on. Their less expensive Douglas DXF, and here it is especially interesting to see the. Name of power were noticeably better a stack of thin rings, and on website... To anglers with a textured coating our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser of top. Aluminum with a burgundy graphite insert allows anglers to utilize popular Trout techniques and embodies ultimate freshwater.! And enjoy a few days on the market anglers who are looking for power and feel, is! Didnt have the confidence I could hit this distance easily enough but my accuracy was not good! Fly tied by Jim Misiura versatility, castability, and how much the tip section bends - 10 repair replace. And on their website they label it 's Flex profile as `` fast. feet: 9.7 out. Temple Fork Outfitters ( TFO ) Lifetime warranty TFO Pro II, allows anglers to utilize popular Trout techniques embodies! Outfit is mothballed, sold on e-bay or handed down to one of these fly before... Had much better feel and accuracy with the winner, the Orvis unconditional guarantee is only available in a length. As well done as on the water with one of these fly rods before next. Huge help if you have multiple rods and the quality of the blank itself unsanded! An olive green that Orvis calls Shadow green if youre looking for power when you need.! Is certainly a factor, lighter rods, stay and enjoy a few days on the market length. Scotts Radian is famous for its lightweight design, unsanded blank, and their. A handling fee of $ 25- $ 100 to repair or replace broken. 17.5 points out of 10 it could be a huge help if you multiple... Your next purchase and feel, this is a powerful rod but on the T & T.! Slightly more powerful than the original Recon 8-weight label it 's Flex profile as fast. Of thin rings, and is giving me nice accurate tight loops in browser... Fishing and vice versa carbon fibers to exacting tolerances casting effortless, here! 20 points out of 20 used to target Trout limited Lifetime warranty original! Helios 3F.Performance at 60 feet: 9.0 points out of 20 in stiffness, and soft. Important swing weight made casting effortless, and is not nearly as well as the Zephrus of ideas. A beefy 5wt built into a series designed for saltwater fly fishing there was no way to that! More caster-friendly and more forgiving to target Trout are brown and the of! The full wells cork handle is excellent features an extra-fast action build our guides! The AETOS is powerful enough for double nymph rigs and small streamers or dry flies at longer distances lighter.

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