This is one fantastic looking rod one of the very best in our Shootout. . For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. For 4-weight rods, when you are fishing at shorter distances, (most of the time), it is particularly important that leaders turn over well. If you look at the best performing rods in general, they have stiffer butt and midsections and softer tips. The single uplocking reel seat is plain anodized gray aluminum with no insert. With any breeze at all, Im dead. This is a rod that encourages finesse, delicacy, and accuracy at short-range when targeting picky trout in a variety of scenarios. Power: 6/10 - This rod has some reserve power and can definitely carry line in the air and present flies at longer distances. The benefit of a slightly refined rod taper is the versatility that faster rods dont necessarily have. It is especially interesting to see how the rods compare in stiffness, and how much the tip section bends. This rod encourages high line speed and wind-cutting power in technical situations. Bottom Line: If youre in the market for one of the most innovative rods in fly fishing, this is a beautiful 5wt that provides a ton of performance. The ultimate dry fly trout rod, the NRX+ LP is lighter than ever before and provides the angler with tons of feedback and feel. With the inexpensive warranties that most manufacturers offer, your new rod is one that will last you for many years. 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! Sage R8 Core Fly Rod. Action: 7/10 - This rod sports a medium-fast/fast action blank thats ideal for a variety of freshwater fishing techniques. Heavier in hand than some of the best rods and Im not getting as much feel or accuracy as the G Series. I now own 4 H2s and fish them all the time. The guide wraps are in blue with some silver trim on the butt. Thomas and Thomas Contact 10'8" . It tracks well and I was getting very nice loops and good control, especially at mid to longer distances. The guides start with a hook keeper, and then one relatively small silver SiC stripping guide, followed with hard chrome single-foot guides. $60 handling fee. Remember that it will cost you an additional $15 or more to send your rod in unless you are using the G. Loomis Expeditor program. There are lots of ways to break a fish off on light tippet, but the rods that score high in this category are going to give you a far better chance of landing a big fish. Rods are repaired or sections replaced. The craftsmanship is second to none and it earns a perfect score along with the Winston Pure and T&T Avantt. This rod doesnt encourage high line speeds or powerful performance at long distances. 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. Nice and light in hand and the softer tip is giving me pretty good feel and accuracy, about as good as the DXF. The accuracy was good but not as good as the DXF or all of the best rods. As in the past we are using our own Brecknell official postage scale to calculate the weight. In addition to being a test caster and editor, hes responsible for some of the photos and putting all of this on line. This isnt a rod that will give you feedback and feel at short range. 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. Casting Notes: The Sky G offers the latest fly rod technology with a Graphene build (if youre curious, check out our product page). $279.99. 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. Casting Notes: Loomis new LP rod is built for delicacy and finesse. T&T uses multiple coats to produce a finish that is simply beautiful. The action is much slower, this being more of a medium action rod. No other rods were as good. This makes for a very comfortable grip that improves casting at longer distances. Action: 8.2/10 - The Sonic is a tip-flex rod bordering on extra-fast action. For guides, there is a hook keeper just above the handle, and then one SiC stripping guide followed by hard chrome snake guides. The cork handle is a half wells design with a stack of thin corks as on the Helios 3F. The epoxy coatings are fairly good, but a little heavy. All line recommendations are for the WF5F version of the line unless otherwise stated. When you pick up this rod, youll first notice how light it is in swing weight. (Click here to see more deflection charts). Both the feel and accuracy were outstanding. 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. The epoxy coatings on the wraps are a little heavy, but Ive sure seen worse. The wraps are dark blue to match the blank and the epoxy coatings are excellent. Here is a recap of each manufacturers current policy, their latest fees and what we have experienced for repair time required. The amount of power seems to be about right, and it performed best at the longer distances where I could punch it hard without throwing tailing loops. Bottom Line: If youre looking for power and feel, this is one of the better 5wts on the market. For this reason, we are again using our own Yellowstone Angler Clear Butt leaders in 12-foot 4X. Casting Notes: The Anomaly is a rod that provides the angler with state-of-the-art componentry and a high-performance blank at a moderate price-point. We actually cast two #4 line Pure rods- the 8 footer you see here and its 86 brother. TheHardy ZEPHRUSsteamrollered all contenders by combining a very light swing weight with unmatched accuracy and feel at close to medium distance. Casting against the Scott G series it felt about equal, and better than the Asquith. 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. Hardys half wells cork handle is used, similar to the Zephrus. Alignment dots are placed at the ferrules, which is handy. The Asquith tracks beautifully and is giving me nice accurate tight loops. The accuracy is only fair. The action seems about right and Im getting nice loops. Now were talking! $50 handing fee. Casting Notes: The Pulse is slightly more powerful than the Foundation with a rod taper thats a little more forgiving. Orvis Recon 5wt. The thinner cork handle may actually be an advantage for some anglers, especially children or women with smaller hands. Very little feel or accuracy. 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. Orvis Recon. Performance at 60 feet: 9.7 points out of 10. (tie) St. Croix IMPERIAL 86 #4 $270.00. Wouldn't it be a better general 5# rod choice than Pro3 with MF action ? That gives it a perfect score of 10 along with the Aetos. At 40 feet you need a rod that is light and pleasant enough to do a lot of false casting, as you will when fishing dry flies, but you shouldnt have to double haul to get the rod to perform and hit this distance. This is a smooth-casting, lightweight rod that is well-rounded and surprisingly versatile. The heavier swing weight makes casting at longer distances a workout. The JXP is also very stiff. The epoxy coatings on the wraps were excellent. That might be the answer, but then it would likely be more of a 3-weight rod than a 4-weight. There's no other place online that has as many or as comprehensive reviews as you guys, and it really helps. I look for rods that feel totally solid and track well. The perfect line: SA Amplitude MPX WF-5-F. (However we tested the rod with the WF-4-F Infinity.). I liked the use of alignment dots. The perfect line: SA Amplitude Smooth Infinity in WF-4-F, Performance at 25 feet: 20 points out of 20. George Anderson, and the rest of the Yellowstone Angler crew, Simms Ms G4 PRO Powerlock Boot Vibram, Armstrong Spring Creek on the OHair Ranch. Only one way to find out cast and compare them all. This rod is great for dry flies at long distances or small streamers. The quality of the cork was much better too, but still not in the class of what we found on the Recon or Shadow. Equals the DXF but rods like the Recon and Sky were much better. Bottom Line: The Radian marries lightweight design with versatile performance and has been a best-seller for years. The lack of butt power made it difficult for me to get the delivery or accuracy I was getting with the Zone or DXF. Power: 4/10 - While this is a dry fly rod, it has a little reserve power to allow anglers to present dries accuracy at medium-long distances, too. I found the locking rings easy to grip and tighten. The light swing weight made casting effortless, and Im getting excellent accuracy combined with delicate presentations. My favorite length for a 4-weight rod is 8 feet. Well indicate which line proved best with each rod later in the individual rod write-ups. I wish that we could have tested an 86 Aetos, but this rod is only available in an 8 foot #4. 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. A 5wt can be used in a variety of freshwater angling scenarios but is most commonly used to target Trout. Both the Zephrus and Pure were far lighter in hand, and far better in performance at 40 feet. To read their comments, simply click on their photo above at the beginning of our Shootout. 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. No handling fee. 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. 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. Action: 7/10 - This rod is a tip-flex rod but on the deeper-flexing side of fast-action. If your favorite rod breaks in the middle of the summer and you dont get it back for a month and a half, you are going to be very angry! The Helios 3F and G Series Scott were also slighty better at mid-distance. #25. Accuracy is good, just not great. The 79 TFO Finesse was far better. 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. The stiff tip and heavy swing weight both contributed to a lack of feel and accuracy in close. 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. Thomas and Thomas Zone Fly Rod Review - T&T's Best Mid Priced Fly Rod Precision Fly and Tackle 627 views 3 months ago Trident Fly Fishing 2.3K views 1 month ago Thomas and Thomas Zone. #4 (Tie) Thomas and Thomas AVANTT 86#4 $845.00. Performance at 25 feet: 19.5 points out of 20. 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. Casting Notes: The G Series is Scotts moderate/slow action dry fly-specific rod series with a focus on refined feedback and delicacy at short-range. Rodis repaired, or sections replaced. Add to Cart. Taylor Lifetime warranty to original owner. What gives? You call in and incur a credit card of $100 but you get a brand new rod in 3-4 days. Action: 4/10 - This is a deep-flexing rod that requires a slow casting stroke and patience. 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. 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. Now it tracks perfectly and Im getting nice tight loops. Standard corks are used and the quality is excellent. The wraps are done in a dark brown with some silver trim on the butt section as well as in the center of each guide foot wrap, that look nice. Bottom Line: A versatile rod at a great price-point means this is a solid option for novice anglers. The best handles now use a stack of thinner cork rings or standard size rings with very few defects that are laid up individually and then sanded down. The cork handle is a Steve Rajeff design; a half wells but with the swell slightly larger towards the front of the grip, and smaller back where the heel of your hand rests. Rods are repaired or replaced. There are a few 8 foot and shorter rods as well as a few 9-foot rods in the mix, especially when manufacturers dont offer an 8 foot model. #19. Not very good at long range either. The Trace casts well at short/middle distances and provides the angler with enough feedback/feel for accuracy and finesse. Performance at 25 feet: 18.5 points out of 20. (tie) Thomas & Thomas ZONE 86 #4 $495.00. Rods are replaced. The 8-weight Asquith won our recent 2018, 8-weight Shootout, putting in a marvelous performance. This rod wore me out casting long. 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. 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