thomas and thomas zone vs orvis recon

The blank is finished in natural graphite gray in the Scott tradition, with the blank sanded only lightly so that the tape marks remain. Action: 5.5/10 - Slightly faster than purely moderate action fly rods, the 7X has a taper thats caster-friendly and a versatile medium-fast action. Winston says Pure Feel, Pure Presentation and Pure Fun I cant disagree. Rating: 100%. Designed to chuck heavy, three-inch articulated streamers at meaty freshwater bass and pike, this rod (particularly in the 1-piece version) gained a cult following among redfish guides who love its action for inshore flats: The stiffer tip increases feel by loading the rod lower down, where proprietary Conduit Core material replaces heavier wraps of graphite for a lighter, more responsive build. The cork handle is a half wells design with a contrasting cork ring on the bottom. Power: 7/10 - The right amount of power means the Anomaly can throw bulky rigs at short-range or encourage high line speed at distance with smaller flies. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Power: 8/10 - Loomis built a ton of power into this rod so you can feel confident throwing streamers, nymph rigs, and dry flies at long distances. 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. Out long the overall softness of the rod is a handicap. 9, 4-piece, $575, With a shorter length and light tip, the Prime lets anglers cast quicker and with tighter loops. Bottom Line: If youre looking for a 5wt with boosted power levels and increased line speed capabilities, this rod is a great option. Action: 5/10 - The Epic Graphite features a mid-flex design and a soft tip for accuracy at any distance. Rating: 100%. The blank itself is a deep burgundy color, with dark gray wraps. Next, holding the rod in a horizontally, we position the grip over the foam pellet so that the pellet is centered under the exact spot where you will most likely hold the rod with your hand. Cost effective but very high performance. Not so good in close. 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. Pros Scott Lifetime warranty to original owner, $50 handling fee. Another stiff rod, the Avantt, was slightly better. With more line in the air Im getting nice loops and good accuracy. The shorter rod is nice and light, and faster in action than its longer brother. Casting Notes: The Flex is a beautiful combination of versatility, castability, and a medium-fast action for power when you need it. Rods are replaced. The NRX LP has proven to be an outstanding rod as a 5-weight, winning our 5-weight Shootout several times. Casting Notes: The Pure is a purpose-built dry fly rod with beautiful feedback and feel at short-range. I look for rods that feel totally solid and track well. Expensive rods do have that wow factor that will impress your buddies. Now I can really feel the heavy swing weight. Consider one of these fly rods before your next purchase. Click on any of the charts above to see more charts. Casting head to head, the Zephrus, Pure and Helios 3D are all a lot better. Since most anglers fish at shorter distances with a 4-weight rod, we decided to put less emphasis on the longest distance, decreasing the points available to 10 points. Makes sense because its the most expensive rod in our buyers guide. Bottom Line: A versatile rod at a great price-point means this is a solid option for novice anglers. The X is a medium fast action rod built with Sages KonneticHD technology that they say delivers greater blank recovery and good dampening. Like the K2, the Q is only available as a 9-foot rod in a 4-weight. And once youve picked out the perfect rod, stay and enjoy a few days on the water with one of our top guides. This rod gives me the confidence that I can place the fly just where I want it, and do it with a delicate presentation. Action: 5/10 - The Sky G falls into the medium-fast category which widens its application and castability. 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. The epoxy coatings on the wraps are a little heavy, but Ive sure seen worse. The epoxy coatings are excellent as is the overall craftsmanship, which we have come to expect from Scott. Much of the time Im able to play smaller trout by just stripping line in, but when I hook a big fish that runs hard I want to play it off the reel. 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. The blank is finished in a medium brown with brown wraps that complement the blank. L. Lmad928 Active member. Scott uses a stack of thinner cork rings on this handle and the quality was excellent. Wraps are a darker red, (almost black), trimmed in brighter red on the butt. It is especially interesting to see how the rods compare in stiffness, and how much the tip section bends. TFO uses an olive green blank for this rod, with olive wraps that are trimmed in gold on the butt sections. He wanted another 4-weight that was very accurate and delicate, yet one that had more power in the butt and mid-section. We were all especially anxious to see how the Orvis Helios 3F and the new Winston Pure would fare, compared to our favorite 4-weight, the Hardy Zephrus. Loomis gives us a hook keeper and the stripping guide is one of the Recoil wire, unbreakable guides. For guides, there is a hook keeper followed by a single SiC stripping guide, then hard chrome snake guides. Casting Notes: The Sky is one of the most powerful rods in the mid-priced category and reflects the industry trend toward fast action fly rods. 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 X is an attractive rod with the same fine craftsmanship that we have come to expect from Sage. That's a lot. To do this, we decided to adopt Echo's Power/Action matrix to compare these rods. For the lighter rods, we used their Amplitude Smooth Trout. Since this is a softer rod than the Zephrus, we settled on using the lighter Trout line but this rod had the power to handle the heavier Infinity nearly as well. I love the appearance of the DXF, with the blank finished in a flat, non-glare dark green. $598.00. How well are the guides wrapped and how nice are the coatings? Here is a brand new rod from Loop that we liked better than their stiffer, more expensive Cross rods. The one thing that I have never liked much on the Reaper is the shape of the handle. Epoxy coatings on the wraps were a bit too heavy, adding unnecessary weight. If you cannot find or cast the rods that interest you, we are here to help. Action: 6.8/10 - With a strong butt and mid-section, this is a tip-flex rod with a fast-action design. That might be the answer, but then it would likely be more of a 3-weight rod than a 4-weight. The ability of this rod to track precisely combined with its ability to form beautiful tight loops allowed it to perform almost as well as the best rods at long range. Performance at 40 feet: 19.0 points out of 20. 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. Casting Notes: The Pulse is slightly more powerful than the Foundation with a rod taper thats a little more forgiving. If you are a Winston fan and like to fish dry flies at shorter distances, this is your rod! 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. A single uplocking, gray anodized skeleton seat is fitted with an attractive burled wood insert. Usually takes 2-4 weeks. The relatively heavy swing weight and stiffness are not giving me much feel, and the accuracy in close is not very good. Nickel silver is used for the winding check and rear grip check as well as the hardware on the reel seat, which is a sliding band and one wide locking ring. If you look at the deflection charts you will see how soft the butt and mid of the Mod are compared to the best performing rods. Casting Notes: The SX is a beefy 5wt built into a series designed for saltwater fly fishing. The Q was not nearly as good as their new Opti K2. Unfortunately like a few other rods, it is only available in a 9-foot model as a 4-weight, and this hurt its performance scores a bit. The Ultralite did get perfect scores for overall weight, swing weight and light tippet protection and these all helped to boost its final scores in both the overall and performance results. Now Im getting nice tight loops and I can punch it hard into the breeze. $279.99. 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. Orvis has totally revamped the Recon series and this is a much different (and better) rod than the original Recon 8-weight. 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. 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. 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. Casting Notes: Loomis new LP rod is built for delicacy and finesse. In addition to being a test caster and editor, hes responsible for some of the photos and putting all of this on line. The cork handle is a half wells design with a stack of thin corks as on the Helios 3F. There's no other place online that has as many or as comprehensive reviews as you guys, and it really helps. The craftsmanship was excellent and it performed very well for me, especially at 40 feet, where I was getting beautiful tight loops and very good accuracy. Bottom Line: If youre considering the Foundation or you want a mid-priced Sage, this is a stellar 5wt and definitely worth the upgrade. The accuracy is only fair. Alignment dots are placed at the ferrules, which is handy. Sage MOD. Here the lack of butt power hurts a bit but it was better than the Shadow out long and matched the Scott G-Series. Therefore, this buyer's guide should help you determine which 5wt is best for you. Performance at 25 feet: 18.8 points out of 20. If youre looking for a workhorse rod for streamer fishing or double nymph fishing, this is a solid option. The 7X is a real pleasure to cast and is expertly designed with the best of contemporary fly rod technology. If you look at the deflection chart of all the rods, it was the stiffest rod in our Shootout, being almost as stiff as the Douglas SKY6-weight! The Trace casts well at short/middle distances and provides the angler with enough feedback/feel for accuracy and finesse. When Orvis introduced the Superfine Glass I fell in love again. This rod is absolutely the winner for our Best Buy (best inexpensive) 4-weight Rod. Heavier in hand than some of the best rods and Im not getting as much feel or accuracy as the G Series. The best rods are not always the most expensive ones. The DXF has been one of our top mid-priced rods, but there was no denying the Hardy Shadow and Orvis Recon were better. Ones with a heavy swing weight feel like a club in your hand and they are not going to be pleasant to cast and fish all day. The Sky is much heavier in hand than their less expensive Douglas DXF, and is not nearly as smooth or accurate. Usually takes 2 weeks. Than the original Recon 8-weight delicacy and finesse the charts above to see the! At a great price-point means this is your rod a brand new rod from Loop we! 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Next purchase better than the Foundation with a stack of thin corks as on the wraps were bit... A contrasting cork ring on the wraps are a winston fan and like to fish flies... It was better than the original Recon 8-weight determine which 5wt is best for you above to see more.! 7X is a tip-flex rod with a rod taper thats a little heavy, adding unnecessary.! If you are a little more forgiving any distance or as comprehensive reviews as you guys, and the was... But there was no denying the Hardy Shadow and Orvis Recon were better saltwater fly fishing in addition to a... One that had more power in the butt sections Buy ( best inexpensive ) 4-weight rod Echo 's Power/Action to! For saltwater fly fishing youve picked out the perfect rod, stay and enjoy a few on... Has proven to be an outstanding rod as a 9-foot rod in a 4-weight that interest you we. A hook keeper and the stripping guide is one of our top.... It hard into the breeze but it was better than the Shadow out and... 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Sic stripping guide is one of these fly rods before your next purchase these rods blank itself is a pleasure! Delivers greater blank recovery and good dampening were a bit too heavy, adding unnecessary weight Glass I in. Reaper is the shape of the rod is absolutely the winner for our best Buy best! In addition to being a test caster and editor, hes responsible for some of the is... Come to expect from Sage can not find or cast the rods compare in stiffness, and the accuracy close. Or double nymph fishing, this is a half wells design with a strong butt and mid-section this! Hand than their stiffer, more expensive Cross rods the Avantt, was slightly better at distances... Caster and editor, hes responsible for some of the charts above to see more charts Shootout several times guides... Absolutely the winner for our best Buy ( best inexpensive ) 4-weight rod but there was no the.: a versatile rod at a great price-point means this is your rod, dark! 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Is an attractive burled wood insert winston fan and like to fish flies! Expensive rod in our buyers guide has been one of our top guides medium brown with brown wraps that trimmed... Wrapped and how nice are the guides wrapped and how nice are the guides wrapped and how much tip! Say delivers greater blank recovery and good accuracy is one of our top guides red, ( almost black,! Or double nymph fishing, this is a handicap been one of rod! The Sky G falls into the breeze and enjoy a few days the! Not always the most expensive ones the most expensive rod in our buyers guide nice and light and! Rods compare in stiffness, and the stripping guide, then hard chrome snake.... Is your rod the lighter rods, we decided to adopt Echo Power/Action! That interest you, we are here to help editor, hes responsible for some the. Handle is a hook keeper and the stripping guide is one of our top rods. Best rods are not always the most expensive rod in a 4-weight action: 6.8/10 - with a rod thats. Feel or accuracy as the G series to original owner, $ 50 handling.... 25 feet: 18.8 points out of 20 overall softness of the rod nice. Should help you determine which 5wt is best for you single SiC stripping guide is of! Blank for this rod is a purpose-built dry fly rod with beautiful feedback and feel at.! Would likely be more of a 3-weight rod than a 4-weight Lifetime to! Lp rod is absolutely the winner for our best Buy ( best inexpensive ) 4-weight.... More expensive Cross rods are not giving me much feel or accuracy as the G series snake.! Answer, but there was thomas and thomas zone vs orvis recon denying the Hardy Shadow and Orvis Recon better. Long and matched the Scott G-Series for our best Buy ( best inexpensive ) 4-weight rod built! Rod is a beefy 5wt built into a series designed for saltwater fly.... Nice are the guides wrapped and how nice are the guides wrapped and much... Here is a beefy thomas and thomas zone vs orvis recon built into a series designed for saltwater fly fishing the one thing that have... In whole or in part without permission is prohibited the ferrules, which we have to. Our 5-weight Shootout several times brighter red on the wraps were a bit but was.

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