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. 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. Better at the longest distances, much like the stiff IMX Pro. This had a negative effect on its scores, trying to compete with the best 8 foot and 86 rods. The fancy burl wood insert just jumps out at you with its striking color lots of red and orange mixed in very attractive. The handle is a half wells style, and is comfortable enough, but the quality of the cork is poor. The very light swing weight confirms this. We have awarded scores emphasizing the lowest repair charges and the quickest repair turn around. That it's supposed to be a tip flex rod but with less backbone to it than other fast rods? Where would Blue Ribbon land on the chart? About as good as the Imperial, but the Recon and Shadow were noticeably better. If you cannot find or cast the rods that interest you, we are here to help. Bottom Line: If youre an angler who prioritizes line speed and is capable of a powerful double-haul, this rod will allow you to throw bulky rigs and big flies with accuracy at distance. Here it matches the NRX LP and the Recon. #22. 810, 2-piece or 4-piece, $470 Thomas & Thomas Zone Thomas & Thomas Zone Courtesy Thomas & Thomas Thomas & Thomas Zone Courtesy Thomas & Thomas 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. The swing weight was fairly light, but not quite as good as either the Hardy rods or the Orvis rods. Only out long did I feel at a disadvantage to the best rods and I think part of this was due to the lighter Trout line. The locking ring is a little harder to grip and tighten than others. The handle is a half wells design and the quality of the cork is decent better than what we saw on the Loop Q and the TFO rods. St. Croix Lifetime warranty to original owner, $85 handling fee. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. The Ultralite has a proportionally stiffer tip than the Zephrus, and much softer butt and mid section. But in looking closely at the Hardy Zephrus, Ultralite, and the Douglas SKY, they are also definitely near the top end of the craftsmanship ladder. Bottom Line: If youre a serious dry fly angler, this is one of the best fly rods on the market. The wraps are brown with some amber trim. The top three rods were a lot better. Dont make this mistake. Muted power and action scores put this rod in the middle of the pack which means its a safe choice for the novice angler who wants a do-it-all 5wt. Non-original owner $150 per section. The Aetos was dramatically better for an inexpensive rod. The stiffness and slower action hurt its scores in a lot of categories. Epoxy coatings on the wraps were a bit too heavy, adding unnecessary weight. Better than the Sky but cant match the Shadow. At long range, the lack of power now becomes evident. If you look at the best performing rods in general, they have stiffer butt and midsections and softer tips. But confirmation arrived when we were able to cast and compare the Pure with all the other top 4-weight rods. Out long the K2 seemed to hold its own with the Recon, and it was better than either the Shadow or DXF. This is a rod thats pure Sage at a price-point that is tough to beat. The feel was also superb, giving me confidence in the direction of my cast. Makes sense because its the most expensive rod in our buyers guide. Shipping isfrom their US warehouse, usually takes 2 weeks. The Pure puts in an impressive performance, especially at the shorter distances, and finishes in 2ndplace in both the overall and performance results. Logan and Francis have worked here for many years and are both great casters and anglers. Black anodized premium aluminum reel seat. Performance at 25 feet: 18.5 points out of 20. For guides, there is a hook keeper just above the handle, and then one SiC stripping guide followed by hard chrome snake guides. 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 epoxy coatings on the guides are pretty good but a little heavy in spots. The guides start with a single SiC stripping guide followed with fairly large diameter but thin wire hard chrome snake guides. The two locking rings are large and easy to grip and tighten. $50 handing fee. Leaders are a critical element in making accurate presentations and fooling spooky trout. The Avantt matches the Helios 3D in swing weight and feels nice and light in hand. Size: 7'6" 2wt. Action: 7/10 - This is a rod with a medium-fast action that provides feedback at longer distances and accuracy at short-range. It also lost a huge number of points in the price and warranty categories that it couldnt pick up in the casting distance performance categories. This is a very pleasant rod to cast, with a medium fast action. The quality of the standard size cork rings was very good. The quality of the cork was much better too, but still not in the class of what we found on the Recon or Shadow. Add beautiful componentry and a slick rod design and its easy to see why this rod is one of our favorites. A single uplocking, gray anodized skeleton seat is fitted with an attractive burled wood insert. Casting Notes: The Epic Graphite 5wt is one of our favorites. Line Recommendation: RIO Gold Elite Fly Line. The quality of cork was excellent. The medium fast action of the Recon is very similar to the Helios 3F and this is one reason it performs so well. Performance at 35 feet: 18.5 points out of 20 Stiff, slower action rods are NOT what you are looking for in a 4-weight, where accurate, delicate presentations are the keys to success. This rod is finished in a dark green color with darker green wraps, trimmed in silver on the butt. You are familiar this term if you play golf. Rating: 91%. This is also a great rod for terrestrials from a boat or smaller dries at long range. 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. The blank color is a non-glare, graphite gray with slightly darker gray wraps and alignment dots. You can read about these warranty policies later in our Shootout. Simply put, its the lightest 5wt weve ever tested and designed for versatility and finesse. Add to Cart. 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. Im really surprised it is so far down in our finishing order as a 4-weight. Those rods are both a lot lighter in swing weight and faster in action. Thomas & Thomas introduced the Contact series of Euro-nymphing rods a handful of years ago and they almost immediately garnered a cult-like following, with many an experienced nymph angler raving about their performance and build quality. 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. Even better than the Helios 3F. It is a very smooth rod to cast and was excellent at short and mid-distances, but at the longest distance the Radian, Helios 3F, and Avantt were much better. Still not so good with very little feel or accuracy. Performance at 60 feet: 7.5 points out of 10. Its somewhat embarrassing for a $1000 rod to finish below one that costs only $198.00, but there are some good reasons for this. Its a great all-around rod and less technical than the 3D. In close, I could not cast off the tip of the Ultralite nearly as well as with the Zephrus. This is a comfortable grip and the quality of the cork is superb. 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. Usually takes 1-2 weeks. #2. The Douglas Sky was both heavier and stiffer, and didnt perform as well, except out long at 60 feet. Rating: 100%. The reel seat is a single uplocking skeleton seat in anodized gray that has a very attractive burled wood insert. 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. At short range I like to cast off the tip of the rod, using mostly my wrist and little arm movement to power the tip of the rod through the stroke. Standard corks are used and the quality is excellent. Even with the lighter Trout line, it is hard to maintain good loops and get any kind of decent accuracy. My favorite length for a 4-weight rod is 8 feet. I did not find that to be the case. This is one fantastic looking rod one of the very best in our Shootout. Im getting nicely controlled loops and good presentations. I wish they would had used the lighter, flexible nickel/titanium snake guides found on the Helios 3F, or even better, the nickel titanium single-foot guides found on the Hardy Zephrus, which would have improved its heavy swing weight. I was getting decent feel in close but accuracy was not that great. In this Shootout, we again used the Scientific Anglers lines, which we have found to cast better and last longer than other brands. This rod, similar to the TFO Pro II, allows anglers to utilize popular trout techniques and embodies ultimate freshwater versatility. If you look at the deflection chart, youll see that the Zehprus has one of the stiffest butt and midsections, yet then it progresses to a nice soft tip. The new rod is a lot more powerful and handles those mid to long distances with ease, tracking well and giving me nice tight loops. For lines, we had two on hand, one a standard size SA Amplitude Smooth Trout, and then their half size larger line, the Amplitude Smooth Infinity, both in WF-4-F. For leaders, we used our own Yellowstone Angler hand-tied 12-foot 4x leaders that use a two-foot tippet. In our important swing weight category, this rod was one of the worst. Certainly the very best craftsmanship is still found in rods produced here in the U.S. We gave perfect scores to the R.L Winston Pure, the Thomas and Thomas Avantt, and the Loomis Asquith. 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. Using a rod that will dramatically reduce the number of break-offs makes a lot of sense. 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. Performance at 60 feet 10 points available. The rod itself is finished in a blue/gray color, Big Sky Blue but it doesnt jump out and grab you like the gorgeous Winston emerald green. 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. As youll shortly read, our top rated rod, the Hardy Zephrus is $679.00, nearly two hundred dollars less than the next three rods, which are each close to $850.00. The wide single ring was easy to grip and tighten. 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. The guides start out with two large SiC stripping guides, followed up with fairly large hard chrome snake guides and an oversize tip top. Finally, we trace the outline of the bend of the rod, first in pencil and then in different colored sharpies. Performance at 60 feet: 9.7 points out of 10. The Avantt tied the Pure for the only perfect scores in Craftsmanship. Action: 4/10 - This is a deep-flexing rod that requires a slow casting stroke and patience. For the price, it cant be beat. The epoxy coatings are fairly good, but a little heavy. How about TFO Blue Ribbon series ? Casting Notes: The newest Clearwater Fly Rod is dynamic, responsive, and beautifully versatile. Im getting nice loops and good control, but at mid-range the 3F and Scott Radian were better. Developed with new materials, actions, and tapers, the H3 certainly has some . Orvis HELIOS 3F 86 #4 $849.00. 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. 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. We found most rods performed better with the Amplitude Smooth Infinity, which is a half line size heavier. Head to head, the Radian and Avantt were better. Usually takes 2-4 weeks. 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 stiffer clear Maxima butt sections on our leaders achieve this. Mystic Reaper X 86 #4 $299.00. Orvis has totally revamped the Recon series and this is a much different (and better) rod than the original Recon 8-weight. Craftsmanship is second to none, and is what we have now come to expect from T&T. Its slightly more refined than the 3D but maintains a smooth, powerful action. The cork handle is that same snub nose, half wells found on the X and feels very comfortable to me. 4. Cost effective but very high performance. That gives it a perfect score of 10 along with the Aetos. Then we progressed to the mid-priced rods and finally the least expensive rods. Power: 7.5/10 - This was the second-highest power score awarded in the low-priced category. Action: 6.5/10 - A medium-fast action build creates a rod thats caster-friendly and can be used in a variety of angling scenarios. The cork handle is too thin, (for most anglers). It has a sliding band and single locking ring that seems to lock up well enough but squeaks a little as you tighten it. The 8 foot Pure had a much stiffer butt and mid-section and a soft tip that is much softer than what we found on the Nimbus. Power: 3/10 - While moderate in terms of power, the Pure actually does have some nice performance at longer distances in mild weather conditions (not a rod that cuts through the wind). To read their comments, simply click on their photo above at the beginning of our Shootout. Action: 4/10 - Refined, and somewhere between medium and medium-fast, the taper of this rod is extremely forgiving. Maps Not Included - Recon is the rod designed for the anglers who chase blue lines on topo maps and spend their nights bent over maps, plotting the next day's adventures. 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. It would be so much better with a WF-5-F. This rod uses the more conventional slip over ferrule design as on all but one of the other rods in our Shootout. We actually cast two #4 line Pure rods- the 8 footer you see here and its 86 brother. The components are not in the same class as the Helios 3F, but that is to be expected considering the price. #16. Im confident that we can come up with the perfect rod or outfit that best fits your needs. Usually takes 2 weeks. The stiffness hurt, and it was hard for me to cast off the tip of the rod. If you feel your rod has broken because of a defect, you pay to send the rod to their warranty dept. This 4-weight Q was one of my least favorite rods to cast in our Shootout. Thomas and Thomas just introduced a very light presentation rod called the Paradigm, which complements their outstanding Avantt. A contrasting dark composite cork ring is used at the top of the grip. Doing this with 6X or 7X tippet demands a good smooth drag with just the right amount of drag adjustment. What gives? Thomas and Thomas $55 repair charges for the original owner, includes shipping. The lock rings were a little harder than most to grip and tighten. There are matching burgundy wraps on the guides, and the epoxy coatings were very well done. But that nice soft tip produces great feel and exceptional accuracy. Rods are repaired, not replaced. The craftsmanship on the LP is typical Loomis excellence. Casting and rating the performance of rods at the different distances is the real meat of our Shootouts. (tie) Thomas & Thomas ZONE 86 #4 $495.00. Sage could improve the MODs swing weight by using the more expensive nickel/titanium guides instead. Action: 5/10 - This is a mid-flex, moderate-action dry fly rod thats ideal for short-distance delicacy and encourages the angler to slow down his/her casting stroke. The blank is an attractive dark blue, with a matte non-glare finish. We set out three sets of paper plates as targets, with plenty of distance between each casting line so that no one was getting tangled up. Action: 8.2/10 - The Sonic is a tip-flex rod bordering on extra-fast action. It also has one of the heaviest swing weights in our Shootout. 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. Natural finish carbon appearance. A buyer's guide is a little different, however. Built for versatility, this is a stand-out rod in this price range. Much heavier in hand than the Avantt, and the stiffer tip is not giving me as much feel or accuracy. Mayfly emergers are often stuck in the film for quite some time making them easy pray for hungry trout. Rods are repaired, not replaced, except for broken sections. We can attribute this to the use of one-coat finish rather than multiple coats as seen on the T&T rods. If you look at the performance scores, youll see that the Aetos finished in 11thplace here also. Reel seats should lock up easily and hold firmly, without having any tendency to come loose. We have found that the only good way to pin down these subtle differences is to have at least a half dozen of the contending rods with the line stripped out and sitting there in front of you on the lawn, so that you can take a few casts with one rod, lay it down and pick up another rod, and make a few casts at the same distance, make some notes and then move on to another rod or the next distance. The gray uplocking reel seat is solid anodized aluminum with a sliding band and two locking rings that were easy to grip and tighten. The thinner cork handle may actually be an advantage for some anglers, especially children or women with smaller hands. Here is a recap of each manufacturers current policy, their latest fees and what we have experienced for repair time required. $35 handling fee. Not so good in close. Chloe has been working in the shop for two summers and now works with us full time. $50 handling fee. The epoxy coatings over the wraps are nicely done, and I especially like the fact that they inscribe the rod length and weight on the bottom wrap of each section. In all, this is an extremely attractive rod. 2 Reviews. Hardy has given us another magical rod that produced an absolutely stunning performance to blow away all the contenders. Sage MOD 86 #4 $850.00. These will hold up longer, even with hard usage. The updated Recon ( aka the 'Recon 2') is incredibly light - Orvis claims it's the lightest rod in its class, with the 9' 5wt model clocking in at 3oz on the dot. We look at many hings to determine craftsmanship What kind of guides are used? Heavy, slower action rods never perform well. This is a medium action rod, and slower action rods like this SS have never performed well for us. As long as there wasnt much wind I could easily hit 60 feet but accuracy suffered. Performance at 40 feet: 18.0 points out of 20. I just didnt care for the moderate action that was a lot slower than the X. Power: 6.5/10 - The 5wt version of this rod has solid power at longer distances to complement its performance in close. Here is a brand new rod from Loop that we liked better than their stiffer, more expensive Cross rods. My son, Jamie is also a fanatical fly fisherman and a great caster. Usually takes 1-2 weeks. Ive fished this Zephrus myself for the past two years, and it has been my go-to rod when Im fishing small dries, emergers and spinners in the surface film. If you are looking for that perfect saltwater outfit, then use ourFavorite Saltwater Outfitslink. Add into the mix the Scott Radian and G-Series, the T&T Avantt, the Sage X, as well as the G. Loomis NRX LP and Asquith, and you have a full array of the best 4-weight rods on the market. 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. Certainly the Hardy Zephrus is a bargain as our choice for as the number one 4-weight rod. The big reason it didnt do better than middle of the pack was the action. Action: 5.5/10 - This is a solidly medium-fast action rod which contributes to its versatility. 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