Accuracy is pretty good, heads up matching the Zone and NRX LP. The blank itself is unsanded natural graphite gray, much like the Scott rods, leaving the tape marks visible. Casting Notes: The Shadow is one of the quieter rods in the mid-priced category with low power levels and a subdued rod action. But superior craftsmanship commands a much higher price! 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. Thread starter Lmad928; Start date Jan 1, 2021; Prev. Performance at 40 feet: 18.0 points out of 20. Equals the DXF but rods like the Recon and Sky were much better. Id gladly pay another few dollars to have one. The Pure puts in an impressive performance, especially at the shorter distances, and finishes in 2ndplace in both the overall and performance results. The action of the Zone is much slower than the Avantt (and also a lot slower than the Recon or Shadow). Unlike some of the stiffer 4-weights, this rod performs well at the shorter distances too. Very little feel or accuracy. However at long range, it had no guts, and was one of the worst in our Shootout. Loop Cross SX. Power: 9/10 - Orvis optimized the 3D for power at longer distances. There is a lot to like about the SKY though, and foremost is its appearance. Performance at 60 feet: 7 points out of 10. It packs enough punch to fling weighted crustacean imitations for bonefish or redfish, deliver 3- to 4-inch streamers for snook, schoolie stripers or juvenile tarpon, and command the sinking line you might choose when chasing albies. Learn more. Build quality. Expensive rods do have that wow factor that will impress your buddies. $60 handling fee. 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. We think that the best are the flexible nickel/titanium single foot and snake guides, but these are much more expensive than the heaver, hard chrome versions. A dark green graphite insert is used that complements the color of the blank. The stiff tip didnt allow me much feel but the accuracy was decent. This rod wore me out casting long. Orvis Recon. The quality of cork was excellent. Nice tight loops and good control. The X is a medium fast action rod built with Sages KonneticHD technology that they say delivers greater blank recovery and good dampening. 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. New Fishing Gear for February: Inshore Edition, Turning Recycled Plastic into Performance Gear, Protect the Blue Key West: Remote Control, Protect the Blue Islamorada: The Bones Brigade, Florida Approves Mandatory Venting Tool Use, Stricter Bottomfish Regulations Approved in Florida. Bottom Line: Winston has been making moderate-action dry fly rods for years and this is the culmination of years of R&D. Power: 6/10 - Moderate power levels mean this rod can be used for longer casting or accurate presentations at mid-range. It has been several years now since our last 4-weight Shootout, as we have concentrated on both 5-weight and 8-weight rods. The swing weight is light but it cant match the Zephrus or Pure. Usually takes 4-6 weeks. When Orvis introduced the Superfine Glass I fell in love again. The cork handle is a half wells with a long taper at the front, that I found to be comfortable to grip. The gray uplocking reel seat is solid anodized aluminum with a sliding band and two locking rings that were easy to grip and tighten. Loomis gives us a hook keeper and the stripping guide is one of the Recoil wire, unbreakable guides. Epoxy coatings on the wraps were a bit too heavy, adding unnecessary weight. Both the Zephrus and Pure were far lighter in hand, and far better in performance at 40 feet. 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. Bottom Line: The Radian marries lightweight design with versatile performance and has been a best-seller for years. Features: 3wt-4wt Medium/fast action 5wt-10wt fast action. Action: 6.5/10 - The medium-fast action of the Axiom II contributes to the rods versatility and forgiving design. This was the best distance for me with the Zone. #8. I found the rings harder to grip than most and without any nylon spacer they will likely loosen up more easily than other rings with them. If a rod looks like a million bucks and casts like it too, fly fishermen are going to lust for it. Now the stiffness is becoming an advantage, and Im getting some nice tight loops. First we try to determine what we felt were the best performing rods. For guides, there is a hook keeper followed by a single SiC stripping guide, then hard chrome snake guides. Matches the Aeteos here, but still nothing to get excited about. No better at mid-range. Action: 5/10 - A solid medium/medium-fast action, the taper of this rod is ideal for dry flies and trout fishing. But this also means they have a heavy swing weight. Rods that are light in overall weight and swing weight, and ones that have softer tips, eliminate a lot of break offs caused by an inadvertent heavy-handed hook set. Mystic Reaper. This is a classy reel seat, which is much better looking than some of the anodized aluminum insert seats. Keep in mind that what you will read here are only our opinions. We also kept on hand, and compared, what we felt was the very best rod the Hardy Zephrus. But even with the lighter line, the accuracy was not very good. Thomas & Thomas Zone. I could really notice the heavy swing weight in my hand. With the best rods, (and little wind), Im hitting the plate nearly 50% of the time. I love the light swing weight. Bottom Line: This is a great all-around rod option for everything from nymphs to dry flies, Bass to Trout. 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. To make it easy to judge the turnover and accuracy, we tie in a small fluorescent yarn indicator at the end of the 2-foot 4x tippet and then trim it so that the wind resistance equates to a smaller dry fly. Bottom Line: This is a great rod choice for the novice angler who is looking for a rod that will mask mistakes and encourage learning. 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. This rod uses the more conventional slip over ferrule design as on all but one of the other rods in our Shootout. Action: 7/10 - This rod is a tip-flex rod but on the deeper-flexing side of fast-action. 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. At $650 I expected it to do better. My favorite length for a 4-weight rod is 8 feet. My son, Jamie is also a fanatical fly fisherman and a great caster. One of the reasons is that the SKY is available only as a nine footer, while the DXF is 86. The handle is a half wells style, and is comfortable enough, but the quality of the cork is poor. Mayfly emergers are often stuck in the film for quite some time making them easy pray for hungry trout. 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. The guides start out with a hook keeper, then one SiC stripper followed with hard chrome snake guides that are nice and light on the tip sections. For guides, there is a hook keeper, (The 3F has none), a single SiC stripping guide is used followed with hard chrome snake guides. We have found that the Asquith rods are terrific rods in the heavier line sizes from 6-weight right up through 12-weight. 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. 'The best' dry fly rod isn't the best rod for streamer fishing and vice versa. The guide wraps are a slightly darker gray, trimmed in orange on the butt. 1 Review. $75 on recent rods within 10 years, $125 on classic olderrods. Cost effective but very high performance. This is a lovely rod, finished in a non-glare flat gray with jet-black wraps that are trimmed in light gray on the butt. Since it is a lot shorter than my preferred 8 foot #4, it ran up some high scores in both overall weight and swing weight. One of the things I like the most is that they have a large drag knob and a very wide range of drag adjustment. This is a medium action rod, and slower action rods like this SS have never performed well for us. Casting head to head, the Zephrus, Pure and Helios 3D are all a lot better. These rods are designed in Sweden, but built in Korea in the same factory that produces the fine Hardy rods. There is no hook keeper on this rod. #24. I liked the use of alignment dots. Winston BIIIX 5wt. It is a double uplocking, anodized gray seat with an attractive burl insert, but right under where the reel seat fits, they have cut away both the threads and the burl leaving the blank that is covered with composite cork! Sharing the advanced StratoTherm resin developed for the acclaimed Avantt and Exocett series, Zone rods are rolled and built by hand alongside those flagship models right here in our Massachusetts, USA facility. Pretty good, but not quite as accurate or as much feel as with the Shadow. He wanted another 4-weight that was very accurate and delicate, yet one that had more power in the butt and mid-section. 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. Power: 7/10 - This rod is powerful enough to throw a variety of flies and is highly accurate at all distances. This is a soft rod, with a slower action than the Pure. Pros Weve found that fluctuating temperature and humidity from one day to the next can make a difference of .2-.3 oz. As long as there wasnt much wind I could easily hit 60 feet but accuracy suffered. I still had to give the edge to the Zephrus and Pure. Use this link to go to ourFavorite Freshwater Outfitsfor the 3 through 8-weight rods, in our Online Store. Often takes 4-6 weeks. 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. (tie) Loop Q 9 #4 $229.00. Action: 5/10 - This is a solidly medium-fast action rod with a mid/tip-flex profile thats versatile and beginner-friendly. 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