It is also a soft rod, so it scored very well in light tippet protection. The lower ring uses a thin nylon spacer that helps it lock up securely to the upper ring. The cork handle is Winstons cigar grip, like the Pure, with the center swell a little forward of the center of the grip and a flare on the bottom end. Sage uses lime green wraps that complement the color of the rod. Rating: 100%. Im really surprised it is so far down in our finishing order as a 4-weight. There's no doubt the Recon is a handsome rod-the olive blank built with Orvis' new ferrule design is nice to look at, as is the black nickel uplocking reel seat complete with a dark burl wood insert. This is the best way to examine the action of each rod the faster action rods have tips that bend more, with stiffer butt and mid sections, while the more medium action rods will have softer butt and mid sections and stiffer tips. Sometimes the whole rod is replaced. WinstonLifetime warranty to original owner. Power: 7.2/10 - More refined than other high-powered 5wts, the Radian has enough power for larger rivers but is a little more versatile than technical rods like the 3D. The thing that killed this for me was the cheap looking reel seat. However, nearly all manufacturers are charging a handling fee of $25-$100 to repair or replace your broken rod. is hung from the tip-top of the rod. They inscribe the sliding band with the line size, which is a nice touch. 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. 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. 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 now own 4 H2s and fish them all the time. Cost effective but very high performance. 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 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. A sliding band and wide locking ring is used that is easy to grip and seemed to lock up well. Action: 5.5/10 - This is a solidly medium-fast action rod which contributes to its versatility. Better than the Sky but cant match the Shadow. T&T uses multiple coats to produce a finish that is simply beautiful. The soft, slow action produces a delivery I noted as mushy. Heavy, slower action rods never perform well. But then rather than a beautiful piece of burled wood insert as on the Avant, there is a plain piece of blue colored graphite that also shows the tape marks. Heres a category that we used in our last 4-weight Shootout, that we deemed important when you are trying to judge the best 4-weight rods, that will often be used with very light 5x, 6x, and 7x tippets. Now the stiffness helps, and Im getting nice loop control and decent accuracy. The reel seat is a gray anodized skeleton seat with a band and large single ring that is easy to grip and tighten securely. 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. The epoxy coatings on the guides were excellent. The quality of the cork is superb. We can attribute this to the use of one-coat finish rather than multiple coats as seen on the T&T rods. Nice tight loops and good control. Bottom Line: If youre a serious dry fly angler, this is one of the best fly rods on the market. $279.99. Sage X. Winston Air 4wt. Feels great out long! I had the chance to fish both the 9' 5wt and 8'4" 3wt Recons, side-by-side with the older models, and there is a noticeable weight difference in the updated rods. If you find yourself fishing more hoppers and larger dries, you will like this rod as it will really fire them in there with authority. The best 4-weights are also excellent nymph fishing rods at shorter distances. We value your comments about the Shootout and invite any questions you might have about it or your tackle needs. The feel is perhaps not quite as good, but the accuracy is excellent. All rights reserved. The accuracy was good but not as good as the DXF or all of the best rods. 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. The best rings use thin nylon spacers between them to assure a positive lock up. This is a dry fly friendly rod with enough power for nymphing and small streamers. Good, just not nearly as precise but the Zephrus and Pure. The Orvis RECON, at $429 wasn't far behind! I just didnt care for the moderate action that was a lot slower than the X. Casting Notes: The Pulse is slightly more powerful than the Foundation with a rod taper thats a little more forgiving. Usually takes 1-2 weeks. The gray uplocking reel seat is solid anodized aluminum with a sliding band and two locking rings that were easy to grip and tighten. Rods are repaired or replaced. 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 TFO rods, the Taylor rods, the Mystic rod, and the Waterworks rods are all designed here in the U.S. and built in Asia. If broken from neglect or any other cause, you must use the Expeditor service. Thomas and Thomas Zone. The blank is olive green with matching olive wraps that are trimmed in gold on the two lower sections. The quality of the standard size cork rings was excellent. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. The locking ring is a little harder to grip and tighten than others. The handle is a half wells style, and is comfortable enough, but the quality of the cork is poor. Performance at 40 feet: 19.7 points out of 20. The Zone series pushes the envelope in both performance and price, bringing the latest R&D from Thomas & Thomas to more fly anglers than ever before. With your support we can continue to give you more Shootouts and head to head comparisons on tackle and equipment in the future. Power: 6/10 - This rod has some reserve power and can definitely carry line in the air and present flies at longer distances. I dont know how Orvis pulls this off, but we like the results. Casting head to head, the Zephrus, Pure and Helios 3D are all a lot better. But the stiffness of this rod and its heavy swing weight hurt the performance scores, especially at the shorter distances. A contrasting dark composite cork ring is used at the top of the grip. Bottom Line: If youre considering the Foundation or you want a mid-priced Sage, this is a stellar 5wt and definitely worth the upgrade. 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. Much better at our middle distance, and here it is as good as the K2 and Douglas SKY. Flex and Feel The Zone feels like most 'fast action' saltwater rods today. T&T designed this rod to cater to the widest range of anglers and its versatility shows through in its power and action levels. Sage promotes the MOD as a rod that will deliver delicate presentations with pinpoint accuracy. 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. Action: 6/10 - A medium-fast action rod design makes turning over heavy nymph rigs a breeze with this 5wt. That gives it a perfect score of 10 along with the Aetos. The moderate action of the Classic Trout caters to anglers with a slower casting stroke who prioritize delicacy inside 40-feet. The handle is a western style grip, without much of a swell in the middle but a flare on the lower end to accommodate the uplocking reel seat. The craftsmanship of the K2 was very good. The Shadow and Pure were far better. The reel seat is a gray anodized double uplocking skeleton seat with sliding band and darker wood insert. We've cast almost every mid-priced saltwater fly rod on the market including the new Recon 2 Rods (check out the review of the 5wt here and the 8wt here) and many others. Rods with heavier swing weights or ones with stiffer tips dont fare nearly as well.Ive often had a fish grab a halfway submerged fly in the surface film, when I havent been watching closely enough, and bolt off before I could react, snapping my 6x tippet. If a rod looks like a million bucks and casts like it too, fly fishermen are going to lust for it. Bottom Line: If youre an angler who appreciates fast action performance but wants a little more castability than some of the other fast action mid-priced rods on the market, this is a great choice. The uplocking black anodized skeleton reel seat utilizes a single ring that is easy to grip and lock down. The X is a medium fast action rod built with Sages KonneticHD technology that they say delivers greater blank recovery and good dampening. The blank is finished in a dark olive green with dark green wraps, that include a little light green trim on the butt. $598.00. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. This rod doesnt encourage high line speeds or powerful performance at long distances. Rods that have good power in the butt and mid-section help me set the hook quickly and allow me to throw a combination of flies and indicator along with a little weight. Action: 5/10 - The Epic Graphite features a mid-flex design and a soft tip for accuracy at any distance. Sage MOD. #8. Im surprised that both Sage rods are well down the list, but their performance scores were just not good enough to rate them higher. And if there was any wind, I couldnt make good enough back cast loops to hit the distance. Im convinced that the key to catching more trout, (and especially larger trout), is casting accuracy. The skeleton uplocking seat is one of the most unusual Ive seen. The nice soft tip allows me to cast off the tip of the rod with a flick of my wrist. The reel seat is an uplocking black anodized skeleton seat with a dark gray graphite insert, (pretty plain looking but it works well). For ex I was looking at the Scott Flex, and on their website they label it's flex profile as "fast." Rods are either replaced with a new rod or the broken section is replaced. At the head of the pack was the Orvis Helios 3. $60 handling fee. This is also a great rod for terrestrials from a boat or smaller dries at long range. Anyway, I tried it out in a local store and I have to say it did not feel like a fast action rod, or even a medium-fast action rod. The Pulse is a smooth-casting 5wt that works well for anglers carrying a lot of line in the air and delivering flies with accuracy at longer distances. Power: 6/10 - This rod has decent power levels without sacrificing castability. Hardy has given us another magical rod that produced an absolutely stunning performance to blow away all the contenders. The Helios 3F is a relatively new rod from Orvis and it impressed us with its ability to perform well at all distances. Nothing beats this rod at 40 feet. Performance at 60 feet: 7.0 points out of 10. A hook keeper is used just above the handle, and the one black SiC style stripping guide is followed with silver hard chrome snake guides, that are small and light out on the tip. He used Gartside's Super-Secret Stuff as a flash material but here we will use Hareline's Ice Wing Fiber as a substitute. The rest of the guides are their terrific nickel/titanium single foot guides that are light and flexible but will never break. 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. Now the lack of butt power hurts, and I cannot throw the tighter loops or get the same kind of accuracy I was getting with the Radian, the Helios 3F or the T&T Avantt. This isnt a rod that will give you feedback and feel at short range. 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. We set the casting line so that we generally had the wind at our back if possible, or at least off our left shoulder (all of us are right handed). I found the alignment dots handy. 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. Special Price $469.99 was $595.00. 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