These single foot guides are finished in a dark color to complement the blank. Perhaps the best example here is our winner, the Hardy Zephrus. Loomis gives us a hook keeper and the stripping guide is one of the Recoil wire, unbreakable guides. Only you can make that decision. It has been several years now since our last 4-weight Shootout, as we have concentrated on both 5-weight and 8-weight rods. Nice and smooth. One thing I like is that there is a serial number on each rod section. 5. When you read everyone's comments on the Zephrus, you will see that we all agreed that this is a very special rod, for a variety of reasons. Overall a very good performance. This is not a pleasant rod to do a lot of false casting with, as you would fishing dry flies. These are very light, and will flex but never break. 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. WinstonLifetime warranty to original owner. When we first saw this new rod from Hardy, we all had two impressions: 1. For sure, one of the worst in our Shootout. Performance at 25 feet 20 points available. Better than the Radian and Helios 3F in close. Usually takes 2-4 weeks. Performance at 25 feet: 20 points out of 20. With any breeze at all, Im dead. 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. Matches the Aeteos here, but still nothing to get excited about. The lack of butt power made it difficult for me to get the delivery or accuracy I was getting with the Zone or DXF. For guides, they use one SiC stripping guide followed with hard chrome snake guides that are thin and light on the tip sections. This fast action produced extremely good feel and accuracy, especially at 25 feet. No other rods were as good. #19. The quality of the cork was much better too, but still not in the class of what we found on the Recon or Shadow. #6. This rod wore me out casting long. There is not much swell in the middle of the grip and it tapers just slightly forward. Shop Now. If the rod is broken because of a defect, or while fishing, replacement is free. Armstrong Spring Creek on the OHair Ranch. #24. TheFenwick AETOS, at $179.95 is unquestionably our best performing inexpensive rod. Light in hand but the stiffness in the tip is not giving me as much feel in close as the Zephrus, and the accuracy is not as good as the best rods. Surprisingly, this is often true. A little wiggle helps you to feel this. An attractive X-pattern graphite wrap is used behind the logo, just above the cork handle. Performance at 40 feet: 18.5 points out of 20. I dont have the feel I can place the fly just where I want it, as I can with the Zephrus. A dark gray wood burl insert is used that matches the blank. Now were talking! For $699.95 you can get the 9' 5wt Zephrus Ultralite with Hardy's lifetime warranty, superior build quality, and all the incredible performance attributes mentioned above. The guides start with one SiC stripping guide followed with very large diameter hard chrome snake guides. As in our past Shootouts, it is important to keep everything apples to apples in an effort to eliminate the variables that will have an effect on the scores. #28. The guides start out with a hook keeper, then one SiC stripper followed with hard chrome snake guides that are nice and light on the tip sections. Whats impossible to notice until you actually fish the rod, though, is its backbone. But that was about all I liked, other than the very light overall weight that earned it a perfect score. The blank itself is unsanded natural graphite gray, much like the Scott rods, leaving the tape marks visible. When you read everyones comments on the Zephrus, you will see that we all agreed that this is a very special rod, for a variety of reasons. It would also one of the best 4-weight rods for throwing streamers. At $650 I expected it to do better. Also get an 8'6" 4wt Echo Carbon XL ($150) and Echo Base Reel ($35), coupled with a good line ($80) for $265. $759.00 0 bids 6d 8h +$19.99 shipping. Good, just not nearly as precise but the Zephrus and Pure. As long as there wasnt much wind I could easily hit 60 feet but accuracy suffered. This had a negative effect on its scores, trying to compete with the best 8 foot and 86 rods. Im sorry if we offend some people or manufacturers. Then it will cast and perform much better. The Recon was much better. I like a lot of things about this rod. Once we determine how the rods perform at the various distances and compile these point values, we then add in points earned from all the other categories to determine the final finishing order. The Pure is unquestionably one of the best looking rods in our Shootout, with some of the best craftsmanship. 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. 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. Price is always a major factor when buying a rod and as you will see in this Shootout, the best rod was not the most expensive. Howard is a great angler and knew just what he wanted for the perfect 4-weight. This 86#4, however, is just too heavy and too stiff to perform well as a 4-weight. Casting head to head, the Zephrus, Pure and Helios 3D are all a lot better. Heads up, the Sage X and Recon were both better. 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. Availability: In-Store Only. The epoxy coatings are fairly good, but a little heavy. A darker composite cork ring is used on the bottom of the grip that is flared out to accept the uplocking seat. and comes complete with the original Orvis tube and bag. 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. For guides, there is a hook keeper just above the handle, and then one SiC stripping guide followed by hard chrome snake guides. If you feel your rod has broken because of a defect, you pay to send the rod to their warranty dept. 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. Performance at 25 feet: 18.0 points out of 20. It was a little better than the Avantt here, but not as good as the H3F. Here youll find our recommendations in three price ranges: The Ultimate Outfit, Mid Priced Outfit and Best Buy Outfit. Its medium action is far slower than the Recon or their H3F, and it didnt perform nearly as well, especially at 25 feet. However, nearly all manufacturers are charging a handling fee of $25-$100 to repair or replace your broken rod. Good-looking wood insert spacers that are finished well add to the attractiveness of any rod. Like the Avantt, each section is inscribed with the serial number of the rod so that you can avoid mixing up sections if you have similar rods. 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. I just didnt care for the moderate action that was a lot slower than the X. This is a test that anyone can duplicate. Usually takes 2 weeks. The 9' 5wt weighs in at 3.03 ounces and has a swing weight of 61.2 gm^2. The finished blanks are then shipped back to G. Loomis, where the rods are assembled, wrapped and finished at the G. Loomis factory in Woodland Washington. For most of my fishing with a 4-weight rod in critical conditions Im using one of our 12-foot leaders down to a 5X or 6X tippet, but in the Shootout we stick with 4X Rio Powerflex as a tippet in order to minimize breaking off the yarn indicator. I wish there was a hook keeper, which I find very useful on light rods, but there is none. I thought the Zephrus steamrolled the other rods in terms of being the bestall-around4-weight. Leaders are a critical element in making accurate presentations and fooling spooky trout. Brand New. Shop Now. 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. scott radian. A black anodized double uplocking seat is used with an attractive wood burl insert. The JXP was also better. No handling fee. The final change in our performance categories is putting a lower value of 10 points on the longest distance 60 feet. First, the Zephrus Ultralite's blank is surprisingly strong, stiff and stable given its weight. Why? At 45 feet the Zephrus is a champ. In addition it will cost you $15 or more to ship your rod in for repair or have your local dealer do it for you. The gray uplocking reel seat is solid anodized aluminum with a sliding band and two locking rings that were easy to grip and tighten. 9 ft, 6 weight tip appears to have been re-wrapped- Thanks for looking at my auction. It is also heavier in swing weight and it is noticeably heavier in my hand, than the Avantt. Epoxy coatings on the wraps were a bit too heavy, adding unnecessary weight. #26. At short and medium distances, it has great feel, but was lacking in accuracy. The Hardy Zephrus is still the best all around 4 weight made. Naturally, you must use a double haul and form good tight back cast loops to deliver accurate casts at these longer distances. The two locking rings are large and easy to grip and tighten. This rod is nice and light in hand, and performed well in close, where I was getting pretty good feel and decent accuracy. Inexpensive rods built in both Korea and China are surprisingly good. The Avantt matches the Helios 3D in swing weight and feels nice and light in hand. The cork handle is a western style grip with a comfortable swell in the middle and a nice taper forward. This year, as is the norm in the industry, all of the rods tested are 4 piece rods. What is the Asquith doing way down near the bottom of this Shootout when it won our recent 8-weight Shootout!? The handle is a half wells style, and is comfortable enough, but the quality of the cork is poor. I found the alignment dots handy. Year after year the Zephrus manages to maintain its top position. I love the way this rod tracks and the accuracy is good too. So many aspects go into blank performance that its hard to single out one of them. Guides start with a hook keeper, then two SiC stripping guides followed with fairly large diameter hard chrome snake guides.
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