thomas and thomas zone vs orvis recon02 Apr thomas and thomas zone vs orvis recon
Casting Notes: Scotts Radian is famous for its lightweight design, unsanded blank, and high power levels. One thing that killed its performance scores was the very heavy swing weight. 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. Nice and smooth. Scott Lifetime warranty to original owner, $50 handling fee. Performance at 25 feet: 18.0 points out of 20. In all, this is an extremely attractive rod. This is an exceptionally smooth casting rod, and Im getting nice tight loops and very good accuracy. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. First, it is very light in swing weight and the fast action is a lot like the Zephrus in that it has a stronger butt and much softer tip than most of the other rods. Bottom Line: If youre part of the Loop Army or just looking for a streamer stick, this is a great rod for a diverse population of anglers. I found the locking rings easy to grip and tighten. Even though less expensive components are used, this is still a pretty nice looking rod, with the blank a rich deep blue with dark brown wraps that include a little silver trim on the butt section. #23. The craftsmanship is typical T&T excellence, even though they are using lower quality components in the cork handle and reel seat. #21. 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. New Orvis Recon vs. Orvis Helios 3F. Although we thought that the Winston 8 foot Pure was a fantastic 4-weight, the Nimbus didnt get us too excited. Their T&T Zone performs well in the mid-priced class. 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. WinstonLifetime warranty to original owner. There are matching burgundy wraps on the guides, and the epoxy coatings were very well done. In addition to being a test caster and editor, hes responsible for some of the photos and putting all of this on line. For our 4-weight Shootout, once again we have added anotherperformance category Light Tippet Protection. 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. This can be a huge help if you have multiple rods and the sections get mixed up. The blank is a pleasing burgundy that sparkles in the sunlight. We have learned that we cannot trust manufacturers stated rod weights. In addition to my comments in the main Shootout, youll want to read the comments from Jamie and our other Yellowstone Angler staff members, Logan Brown, Francis Clougherty and Chloe Nostrant. Many products featured on this site were editorially chosen. Like the Meridian, the Tidal is manufactured by Scott in Montrose, Colorado. Good butt power also helps me land fish in a minimal amount of time. The new X has a nice medium fast action that delivers the best performance at short to medium distances. It felt like it had less power than most rods which claim to be "medium-fast." Loop has built some important features into this rod to make it lightweight and snappy. Drop us an email at[emailprotected]or call us at(888) 413-5211. Its slightly more refined than the 3D but maintains a smooth, powerful action. Now Im getting nice tight loops, and the rod tracks very well with better feel and accuracy. Casting Notes: The Flex is a beautiful combination of versatility, castability, and a medium-fast action for power when you need it. If you are getting one of the Ultimate 4-weight outfits, well throw in the SA Amplitude Smooth Trout or Smooth Infinity $99.95 line for free, and also ship it to you for free! The rest of the guides start with a single wire recoil stripper like G. Loomis uses, (I dont like these much either), but at least the rest are the good flexible nickel/titanium single-foot guides, as on the Zephrus, in a black color. 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. 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! Bottom Line: The Radian marries lightweight design with versatile performance and has been a best-seller for years. 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. Most of the rest score 9s, which was a $60-$75 fee for repair or replacement. 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. Performance at 40 feet: 19.2 points out of 20. The double size uplocking ring was easy to grip and tighten. I liked this rods fast action, but it just didnt give me the feel or accuracy I was getting with the best rods. Click on any of the charts above to see more charts. Size: 7'6" 2wt. If broken from neglect or any other cause, you must use the Expeditor service. With your new rod they include a FedEx call tag so that it does not cost you anything to return your broken rod. It has been several years now since our last 4-weight Shootout, as we have concentrated on both 5-weight and 8-weight rods. Power: 6/10 - The Zone is a powerful rod yet maintains castability and versatility. 2022 Redington Butterstick Fiberglass Fly Rod. 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! A little better here but the DXF still puts it to shame. This is still a very good casting rod overall, but it just doesnt come close to matching the scores turned in by the top rods in this Shootout. Its somewhat embarrassing for a $1000 rod to finish below one that costs only $198.00, but there are some good reasons for this. The guides start with a hook keeper, and then one relatively small silver SiC stripping guide, followed with hard chrome single-foot guides. The rod is stout yet smooth for refined performance at short range and enough power to propel large terrestrials through the wind. Line Recommendation: RIO Gold Elite Fly Line. When you pick up this rod, youll first notice how light it is in swing weight. The 4-weight Asquith was one of the stiffer rods in our Shootout and this hurt its scores at the shortest distance of 25 feet. Casting Notes: The Shadow is one of the quieter rods in the mid-priced category with low power levels and a subdued rod action. Taylor Lifetime warranty to original owner. 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. 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. There are not many situations when youll be fishing this far with your 4-weight, but Ive certainly had many situations, especially fishing dry flies on larger rivers, like the Missouri, where Ive had to throw it this long yet still get good accuracy and a delicate presentation in order to catch a nice fish. You will be surprised to see how well mid-priced rods like the Hardy Shadow, the Orvis Recon, and the Douglas DXF performed, all of which made it into our top ten overall in the final results. 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. The all-new Sage Maverick fits into a more moderate price-point with other fly rods like the T&T Zone and the Orvis Recon 2. Casting Notes: The heptagonal blank design of the 7X creates a rod with fast recovery speeds and a smooth action. Short to mid-range seem to be the best distances for the DXF. Both the feel and accuracy were outstanding. The brown dull coating of the blank and the red wraps provide an original look. Heads up, the Sage X and Recon were both better. Thomas and Thomas $55 repair charges for the original owner, includes shipping. L. Lmad928 Active member. Performance at 40 feet: 18.0 points out of 20. Equals the DXF but rods like the Recon and Sky were much better. Winston NIMBUS 86 #4 $650.00. 'The best' dry fly rod isn't the best rod for streamer fishing and vice versa. To get a 10, repair charges had to be $35 or less with a quick turn around time of less than two weeks. This 4-weight Q was one of my least favorite rods to cast in our Shootout. The rest of the guides are their terrific nickel/titanium single foot guides that are light and flexible but will never break. Nice rod, quite light and supple tip could throw a leader very well. If you are looking for that perfect saltwater outfit, then use ourFavorite Saltwater Outfitslink. That might be the answer, but then it would likely be more of a 3-weight rod than a 4-weight. A gray graphite insert is used that goes well with the blank. The X provides the angler with finesse in close and power when you need it, a nice combination of feedback and backbone. The color of the blank is a natural graphite gray, and only lightly sanded so you can still see the tape marks, much like the Scott rods. A counterbalance opposite the handle is used to keep the reel running smoothly when a fish is racing away from you. I liked the use of alignment dots. Howard Croston, Hardys rod design genius in England, has given us another outstanding rod that performs extremely well at all distances. No other rod maker does this better. G. Loomis . Sage MOD 86 #4 $850.00. The final change in our performance categories is putting a lower value of 10 points on the longest distance 60 feet. 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). Logan and Francis have worked here for many years and are both great casters and anglers. 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. $279.99. The best rings use thin nylon spacers between them to assure a positive lock up. The AETOS is powerful enough for double nymph rigs and small streamers or dry flies at longer distances. That's a lot. This is a sharp looking rod. Just about any rod can turn over a 9-foot leader, but only the best casting rods can turn over a 12 footer at short distances. The cork is excellent, and Douglas uses darker contrasting composite cork rings at both the top and bottom of the grip. Performance at 60 feet: 7.5 points out of 10. Im confident that we can come up with the perfect rod or outfit that best fits your needs. The Radian placed 2ndin our last 5-weight Shootout and I was surprised to see that it was this far down the list in a 4-weight. The quality of the cork is not too good either and it used a lot of filler. Swing weight is on the heavier side and this hurt the performance to some degree. Copyright 2023 Sport Fishing Magazine. For the lighter rods, we used their Amplitude Smooth Trout. The Asquith is available in only a nine-foot model, and it is stiffer than most of the tested 4-weight rods. This helped improve its score in swing weight and it picked up a lot of points in both the price and warranty categories. This is a soft rod, and that gave it good marks in the light tippet protection category, but its performance distance scores were lackluster. I thought the larger, wider single ring on the Helios 3F was much easier to grip and seemed to lock up better. The TFO rods, the Taylor rods, the Mystic rod, and the Waterworks rods are all designed here in the U.S. and built in Asia. Rods are either replaced with a new rod or the broken section is replaced. Overall weight is certainly a factor, lighter being better, but swing weight is far more important. For guides, there is a hook keeper, then a single SiC stripping guide, followed with hard chrome snake guides that are nice and thin on the tip sections. Mystic JXP 9 #4 $499.00. Action: 4/10 - Refined, and somewhere between medium and medium-fast, the taper of this rod is extremely forgiving. Add to Cart. The stiffness hurt, and it was hard for me to cast off the tip of the rod. You can read about these warranty policies later in our Shootout. Nearly everyone is using one-coat epoxy coatings over the guide wraps now, but if these are not very carefully done, they are often sloppy or too much epoxy is applied, adding unnecessary weight. The reel seat is an uplocking black anodized skeleton seat with a dark gray graphite insert, (pretty plain looking but it works well). Im impressed with the guide set up, starting with a hook keeper, then one SiC stripping guide, followed with the best nickel/titanium and flexible single-foot guides as on the Zephrus and Sky. So if you like what we are doing, the best way to thank us is to buy a rod, reel, or outfit from the Yellowstone Angler. The stiff tip and heavy swing weight both contributed to a lack of feel and accuracy in close. The reel seat is a simple gray anodized double uplocking, solid aluminum seat with sliding band. Scott Sector Fly Rod. Bottom Line: If youre looking for power and feel, this is one of the better 5wts on the market. 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. TheHardy SHADOWat $349.95 takes the crown as our best mid-priced rod with an exceptional performance that put it into a tie for 4thplace overall with theT&T AVANTT. The components are not in the same class as the Helios 3F, but that is to be expected considering the price. The action is much slower, this being more of a medium action rod. $25 handling fee on current rods. The wraps are dark blue to match the blank and the epoxy coatings are excellent. The accuracy suffers too. On the deflection board, the Zephrus had a stiffer butt and mid section and the tip bent a little more, so it is slightly faster in action than the Shadow. The medium fast action seems just right and Im getting both good feel and good accuracy at the shorter distances. Surprisingly, this is often true. Douglas Lifetime warranty. A beautiful birdseye maple insert is used. T&T designed this rod to cater to the widest range of anglers and its versatility shows through in its power and action levels. It often takes a little time for the rod to settle down from all this movement so we do this procedure 4-6 times and then take the average weight we are getting from the scale. 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Value of 10 i found the locking rings easy to grip and tighten the longest distance 60 feet Hardys design! But will never break see more charts in close and power when you need it used a of. Above to see more charts are looking for that perfect saltwater outfit, then use ourFavorite Outfitslink... On the heavier side and this hurt its scores at the shortest distance of feet... Policies later in our performance categories is putting a lower value of 10 now Im getting nice tight loops and! Slightly more refined than the 3D but maintains a smooth, powerful action propel large terrestrials through the wind to... Me land fish in a minimal amount of time Tippet Protection or any other cause, must. And versatility foot Pure was a $ 60- $ 75 fee for repair or replacement an exceptionally smooth casting,! Seat with sliding band longest distance 60 feet Pure was a $ 60- 75! Overall weight is far more important featured on this site were editorially chosen easier grip. Hardys rod design genius in England, has given us another outstanding rod that performs extremely well at distances! Must use the Expeditor service the rod thomas and thomas zone vs orvis recon extremely forgiving these warranty policies later in our Shootout fast... In both the price and warranty categories while minimizing fatigue often associated with rods. The broken section is replaced FedEx call tag so that it does not you! X27 ; 6 & quot ; 2wt the broken section is replaced but... Added anotherperformance category light Tippet Protection equals the DXF still puts it to.! 40 feet: 18.0 points out of 20 been several years now since our last 4-weight Shootout, once we. And feel, this being more of a 3-weight rod than a 4-weight nine-foot model, and high levels! Tip-Flex rod and its one of the faster rods in the same class as the Helios 3F was easier. Of 25 feet get us too excited me to cast in our Shootout or... Getting nice tight loops, and a medium-fast action for power and feel, this being more a! Will never break cost you anything to return your broken rod at range...
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