The Aetos was dramatically better for an inexpensive rod. I felt the best rods at long range were the Helios 3F and the Loomis Asquith, as well as the T&T Avantt and the Scott Radian. In fact the JXP had one of theheaviestswing weights in our Shootout, tied with the IMX Pro and Clearwater. Add to Cart. This fast action produced extremely good feel and accuracy, especially at 25 feet. 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. Scott uses a stack of thinner cork rings on this handle and the quality was excellent. It has a sliding band and single locking ring that seems to lock up well enough but squeaks a little as you tighten it. Action: 6/10 - A medium-fast action rod design makes turning over heavy nymph rigs a breeze with this 5wt. The Shadow and Pure were far better. Equal to the Orvis Recon, but head to head the Avantt and Helios 3F were far better. The accuracy suffers too. Now that we have dropped our Perfect 4 category, this category gives you our opinions on the best rods and how they stack up. #27. Consider these mid-priced 8-weights, which get er done in virtually all shallow-water situations. Although I was impressed at how nicely this rod cast at mid to long distance, I thought that the tip was a little too stiff, and this hurt both the feel and accuracy in close. A 5wt can be used in a variety of freshwater angling scenarios but is most commonly used to target Trout. I dont know how Orvis pulls this off, but we like the results. This is a comfortable grip and the quality of the cork is superb. Dont make this mistake. Nothing beats this rod at 40 feet. It received one of the lower power scores in the low-priced category. You call in and incur a credit card of $100 but you get a brand new rod in 3-4 days. The cork handle is a half wells western style grip, with a contrasting darker composite cork at the bottom end, over the flare for the reel seat. This is a good-looking rod finished in a matte gray color. Short to mid-range seem to be the best distances for the DXF. Power: 7/10 - This rod is powerful enough to throw a variety of flies and is highly accurate at all distances. The epoxy coatings are good but too heavy for my liking. More manufacturers should use light guides like this to minimize swing weight if they arent using the more expensive nickel-titanium guides. Sage MOD. The JXP is also very stiff. Usually takes 1-2 weeks. Bottom Line: This isnt a mainstream rod built by a popular manufacturer but its hand-built nature and versatile action make it a great choice for expert anglers. The swing weight of the rod is the weight you feel out ahead of your hand, holding the rod horizontally. The quality of the standard size cork rings was very good. No other rod maker does this better. Mystic Lifetime warranty to original owner. The spacer is not fancy burl or birdseye maple, but laminated wood as often seen on inexpensive rods. Good, just not great. Casting against the Scott G series it felt about equal, and better than the Asquith. I still had to give the edge to the Zephrus and Pure. The Zone series of fly rods, finished in a deep cobalt blue, look as good as they feel in the hand and on the cast. 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. I also like the alignment dots. The best rings use thin nylon spacers between them to assure a positive lock up. 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. Orvis CLEARWATER 86 #4 $198.00. Sage could improve the MODs swing weight by using the more expensive nickel/titanium guides instead. 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. Therefore, this buyer's guide should help you determine which 5wt is best for you. Casting Notes: The Classic Trout is Redingtons dry-fly-specific rod that is built for small water and spring creek fishing. The Trace casts well at short/middle distances and provides the angler with enough feedback/feel for accuracy and finesse. 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. Performance at 40 feet: 19.5 points out of 20. Rather than use a fly, we use a fluorescent yarn indicator, (specifically glow bug yarn), trimmed so that it gives us about the same wind resistance as a smaller dry fly. I just didnt care for the moderate action that was a lot slower than the X. Its also nice to look down at your rod and appreciate the craftsmanship as well as its performance. The heavy swing weight and stiffer tip gave me very little feel. Action: 6/10 - The tip/mid-flex profile of the Foundation makes it forgiving and caster-friendly. A slightly oldie but goodie. Forty feet was definitely the sweet spot for this rod. For our 4-weight Shootout, once again we have added anotherperformance category Light Tippet Protection. Sign up for our Newsletter, a monthly dose of new ideas and exclusive deals on great gear, sent directly to your inbox. Add to cart. 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. Here at Trident, we carry over one hundred 5wt fly rods. This rod is a pleasure to cast, and it has tons of reserve power at long range. For those anglers that like fast action rods with more power, (for fishing at longer distances or in windy conditions), the G. Loomis Asquith, the T&T Avantt, and the Scott Radian are good choices. The softness didnt allow me to make good hard backcasts in an effort to form tight loops. 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! There is no question that the Shadow is our best Mid Priced 4-weight rod. . We look at many hings to determine craftsmanship What kind of guides are used? But superior craftsmanship commands a much higher price! #4 (Tie) Thomas and Thomas AVANTT 86#4 $845.00. I do like the fast action, just not the heavy swing weight, which is far heavier than the Douglas DXF. An oversize tip-top is fitted to match the large guides. The guide wraps are in blue with some silver trim on the butt. For guides, there is a hook keeper followed by a single SiC stripping guide, then hard chrome snake guides. Then we progressed to the mid-priced rods and finally the least expensive rods. 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. It had the power to hit 60 feet easily enough but my accuracy was not very good. The components are not in the same class as the Helios 3F, but that is to be expected considering the price. I found the locking rings easy to grip and tighten. Designed to chuck heavy, three-inch articulated streamers at meaty freshwater bass and pike, this rod (particularly in the 1-piece version) gained a cult following among redfish guides who love its action for inshore flats: The stiffer tip increases feel by loading the rod lower down, where proprietary Conduit Core material replaces heavier wraps of graphite for a lighter, more responsive build. Very tricky and very attractive. But even with the lighter line, the accuracy was not very good. But is that high priced rod really $400-$600 better? The guides start out with a small hook keeper, then a single SiC stripper, followed with black, hard chrome single-foot guides. The Boost is features a crisp, fast-action design thats better suited for anglers fishing heavy flies or casting at longer distances. Howard Croston, Hardys rod design genius in England, has given us another outstanding rod that performs extremely well at all distances. Chartreuse is a favorite color for warm-water predatory fish. The cutout only extends down to from the butt cap, leaving that last portion fully threaded where you would tighten down the rings. Our advice is that if you feel one of the top rated, expensive rods works best for you, go for it. The action seems about right and Im getting nice loops. 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. We actually cast two #4 line Pure rods- the 8 footer you see here and its 86 brother. Performance at 60 feet: 8.8 points out of 10. This lightweight freshwater rod is powerful enough to throw larger flies and light enough for accurate presentations at short-range with dry flies. Ive always liked the smooth lines, as they dont make so much noise running through the guides. The Orvis Recon features silver snake and stripping guides with anodized aluminum down-locking reel seat. However, as youll see in the Performance Only scores, it finished much higher in 12thplace. But there was no way to deny that this rod performs well at shorter distances. Action: 8.5/10 - The Cross SX is a tip-flex rod built for larger flies and larger rivers. Below are all the 4-weight rods in the order they finished. Both the feel and accuracy were outstanding. Power: 5/10 - The Shadow has some reserve power that can be taken advantage of by anglers who are in tune with their timing and casting stroke. Casting Notes: The Helios 3F is built for feel. Bottom Line: This isnt a rod for everyone, but if you need extra power and can adjust the timing of your casting stroke, this is a great rod in technical situations for advanced anglers. The quality of cork was excellent. Of course it is six inches shorter too. The wide single ring was easy to grip and tighten. Only you can make that decision. The stiffness did not allow much feel but the accuracy was surprisingly good. Mystic Reaper. Learn more. Performance at 25 feet 20 points available. The rod is stout yet smooth for refined performance at short range and enough power to propel large terrestrials through the wind. The best 4-weight rods are superb at the short to medium distances, such as the Zephrus, the Pure, the Scott G-Series and the Orvis Helios 3F. The 79 model was far better and a lot more fun to cast and fish. This buyer's guide is designed to help anglers of all skill levels with any price-constraint find, compare, analyze, and purchase the 5wt that best fits their needs. Both feel and accuracy are poor. A black anodized double uplocking seat is used with an attractive wood burl insert. Scott Lifetime warranty to original owner, $50 handling fee. Orvis Helios 3D Fly Rod. Loop Cross SX. Power: 9/10 - Orvis optimized the 3D for power at longer distances. For the softer rods in our Shootout, the Trout worked best, while most of the other rods performed better with the Infinity. There is no hook keeper on this rod. This is T&Ts mid-priced rod, but if you take a look at the best mid-priced rods in our Shootout like the Shadow at $349, the Recon at $429 and the DXF at $349, the Zones performance doesnt match any of these rods. Rods are repaired, not replaced. For the lighter rods, we used their Amplitude Smooth Trout. The rod also has the power to slug it out with sizeable game, and the fighting butt to tuck in your gut and settle in for the fight. And for a rod that is half the cost of the Helios 3F, the overall weight and swing weight are actuallylower! Casting Notes: The SX is a beefy 5wt built into a series designed for saltwater fly fishing. First we try to determine what we felt were the best performing rods. I love the handle design it tapers outward allowing you to quickly get and maintain a good grip on the handle. The stiffness hurt in close but this is one of the very best performing rods at long range. This year SA has come up with an impressive new line series called the Amplitude Smooth. Performance at 60 feet 10 points available. 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. I was tempted to give it a perfect score for craftsmanship. I liked the full wells cork handle better than the odd grip on the Reaper X. Im sure this is another one of those pre-formed grips that gets slapped on inexpensive rods, and there is a huge amount of filler that tends to chunk out over time. Casting Notes: Fenwick designed the AETOS to represent a practical marriage of castability and power. The AETOS is powerful enough for double nymph rigs and small streamers or dry flies at longer distances. Im having trouble casting off the tip well and this is hurting the accuracy. How about TFO Blue Ribbon series ? We knew it would be good when the Pure won an award for the Best New Freshwater Rod at the 2018 IFTD show in July. I think this is due to the fact that this is a stiffer rod than the other good 4-weights, including Scotts own G-Series. Winston BIIIX 5wt. Broken sections are replaced. That being said, its not a rod that will provide the angler with tons of feedback and feel. I loved the look of the Mod, with its standout, jazzy lime green color. Performance at 60 feet: 7.5 points out of 10. 7 Reviews. Rods are repaired, not replaced except for broken sections. 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 with one SiC stripping guide followed with very large diameter hard chrome snake guides. With any breeze at all, Im dead. Temple Fork Outfitters (TFO) Lifetime warranty to original owner. 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. A sliding band and wide locking ring is used that is easy to grip and seemed to lock up well. 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. The Hardy Shadow that tied for 4thplace sells for only $350.00. 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. 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. 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. I didnt have the confidence I could put my fly exactly where I wanted it, as I do with the 5-weight NRX LP. The Asquith is available in only a nine-foot model, and it is stiffer than most of the tested 4-weight rods. The cork handle is a half wells design with a stack of thin corks as on the Helios 3F. The new X has a nice medium fast action that delivers the best performance at short to medium distances. It also has a relatively stiff tip when compared to the winners. I could really notice the heavy swing weight in my hand. Heavy, slower action rods never perform well. Below the final results charts we give you the exact repair charges for each manufacturer. Power: 5/10 - Low power levels reflect Scotts intentional design; this isnt a versatile rod or a rod for streamers/heavy nymph rigs. This is a great rod for the angler who needs extra power for large dry flies out of a drift boat but wants a taper thats slightly more refined than the Zone. Flytyingonline.com.This domain provided by wildwestdomains.com at 2016-03-03T18:56:28Z (6 Years, 358 Days ago), expired at 2024-03-03T18:56:28Z (1 Year, 6 Days left). 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. With your new rod they include a FedEx call tag so that it does not cost you anything to return your broken rod.
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