Although the overall weight was an amazingly light 2.3 oz, the swing weight was a fairly heavy 8.0 oz about equal to the Scott G series. After fifty years in the fly fishing business as a guide, shop manager and shop owner, Ive learned a lot about what it takes for a fly rod to perform well. Id even go so far as to say the Zephrus Ultralite deserves to be in the conversation for best fly rod on the planet, alongside rods like the Sage X, Orvis Helios 3, Loomis Asquith and NRX-LP, Scott Radian, and Winston Boron IIIx. A dark gray wood burl insert is used that matches the blank. 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 like a lot of things about this rod. In my performance scores, it was nearly as good as the Pure at 25 feet. The top three rods were a lot better. The stiffer tip didnt allow for much feel or accuracy. 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. The DXF and Imperial were much better. He has been a very important and integral part of our Shootouts and tackle comparisons over the years. Anglers used to high line speed, laser-tight loops, and the hiss of line shooting through your guides wont get that experience from the Zephrus Ultralite. The single uplocking reel seat is plain anodized gray aluminum with no insert. Perhaps surprisingly to some, where a blank is rolled or a rod is assembled doesnt impact its performance or quality. Shop Now. We have experimented with the ways to measure this in past Shootouts but we still prefer our tried and true approach using the postal scale since it provides believable and meaningful results. item 8 Hardy Zephrus Double Handed DH Sintrix AWS Fly Rod 13'6' #7/8 4 Pieces +Warranty Hardy Zephrus Double Handed DH Sintrix AWS Fly . The softer tip on this rod gave me good feel and decent accuracy at close range and the amount of butt and mid-section power seems about right for a 4-weight rod. Nothing to write home about. 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. Wraps are a darker red, (almost black), trimmed in brighter red on the butt. If you are looking for that perfect saltwater outfit, then use ourFavorite Saltwater Outfitslink. This is a light rod in swing weight almost as good as the Zephrus. I am surprised at how well it performed at closer distances considering how much power it has on tap. Like the Zephrus, casting off the tip of the rod was easy and fun and I was getting very delicate, precise presentations. Performance at 25 feet: 18.0 points out of 20. Use this link to go to ourFavorite Freshwater Outfitsfor the 3 through 8-weight rods, in our Online Store. Like the K2, no hook keeper is used, which I miss on a 4-weight. The blank is an attractive dark blue, with a matte non-glare finish. 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. This year SA has come up with an impressive new line series called the Amplitude Smooth. Performance at 40 feet: 19.0 points out of 20. #19. Fly Fishing Rods - Hardy Fishing (tie) Loop OPTI K2 9 #4 $549.00. However, nearly all manufacturers are charging a handling fee of $25-$100 to repair or replace your broken rod. But is that high priced rod really $400-$600 better? In making the deflection chart, we first put up some white butcher paper on the wall. Im confident that we can come up with the perfect rod or outfit that best fits your needs. The wide single ring was easy to grip and tighten. And since it was such a soft rod, the lack of butt and mid-section power killed its score at 60 feet, especially if there was any wind. The Galvan Torque reels have proven to be wonderful reels. Rods that have good power and backbone help me fire my cast accurately. We are just trying to call it like we see it, in an unbiased manner. When Im fishing dry flies Ill use a 12-foot leader most of the time as this keeps the fly line farther away from the fish, minimizing the number of fish you spook while casting. We can attest to this as these lines shoot like crazy! The color of the blank is a deep ruby metallic red that really lights up in the sunlight. This is a sharp looking rod. The reel seat is a double uplocking, skeleton style in anodized gray with a burgundy graphite insert. Connect, Follow, Share, Learn. 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! Nearly everyone is using one-coat epoxy coatings over the guide wraps now, but if these are not very carefully done, they are often sloppy or too much epoxy is applied, adding unnecessary weight. Usually takes 2 weeks. Beautiful presentation with terrific 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. Using a rod that will dramatically reduce the number of break-offs makes a lot of sense. The rest of the guides are hard chrome snake guides with nice, small diameter wire snake guides on the upper two sections. The nice soft tip allows me to cast off the tip of the rod with a flick of my wrist. The light swing weight made casting effortless, and Im getting excellent accuracy combined with delicate presentations. The feel Im getting is not that good either. The accuracy was not good either. This rod has a slower action than the fast action NRX LP, as well as a stiffer tip. The color of this rod is an attractive olive, with the guides wrapped in dark brown. Not very good at long range either. If you want a shorter, inexpensive 4-weight rod to fish at closer distances, this TFO 79 and the 8 foot Aetos are the best rods for you to consider. The DXF was significantly better. I love the handle design it tapers outward allowing you to quickly get and maintain a good grip on the handle. The guide wraps are in blue with some silver trim on the butt. The Hardy Zephrus series of fly rods features our award winning Sintrix . Sometimes the whole rod is replaced. Why? Taylor Lifetime warranty to original owner. Feels equal to the Avantt and Recon at mid distances. Craftsmanship is second to none, and is what we have now come to expect from T&T. Scott uses a stack of thinner cork rings on this handle and the quality was excellent. The craftsmanship on the LP is typical Loomis excellence. From 25 to the 40-foot mark, these lines were just magical, and stretching the distance out to 60 feet was easier than with a standard belly line. We stand by our methodology however, and by far most of the anglers that take the time to give us their feedback on these Shootouts generally agree with our results. In close, I could not cast off the tip of the Ultralite nearly as well as with the Zephrus. This 86#4, however, is just too heavy and too stiff to perform well as a 4-weight. Heavy, slower action rods never perform well. If you have something about the right size and color, you can often force-feed a selective fish by making repeated accurate and delicate presentations that are right in the fishs window. Im sorry if we offend some people or manufacturers. Description. The wraps are all in blue, and the epoxy coatings are all extremely well done. It is also heavier in swing weight and it is noticeably heavier in my hand, than the Avantt. The quality of the cork is not too good either and it used a lot of filler. You will be surprised to see how well mid-priced rods like the Hardy Shadow, the Orvis Recon, and the Douglas DXF performed, all of which made it into our top ten overall in the final results. The locking ring was fairly large and easy to grip and tighten but didnt have a plastic ring like some that allow them to lock up more securely. If you look at the performance scores, youll see that the Aetos finished in 11thplace here also. However, if all rods are measured on the same day, the relative numbers will be consistent. It is also a lot heavier in overall weight and swing weight, mainly due to the fact that Loop is using a much lower modulus graphite than in their more expensive K2. The stiff tip and heavy swing weight both contributed to a lack of feel and accuracy in close. Once again we give you a Performance Only chart, which zeros in on the very best performing rods, which is the real meat of our Shootout. If you look at the best performing rods in general, they have stiffer butt and midsections and softer tips. The 8 foot Pure had a much heavier swing weight, and would not be as much fun to false cast all day as this 8 footer. The result is often that the cheap outfit is mothballed, sold on e-bay or handed down to one of the kids. This rod is insanely lightweight and maneuverable; in fact, it has the lightest swing weight of any rod we've tested here at Trident. LoopLifetime warranty to original owner. Once the grip of the rod is placed precisely on the foam pellet, with the rod horizontal, we apply pressure, by pressing down with a fingernail to the very end of the reel seat, and then read (and note) the weight indicated by the scale. George Anderson, and the rest of the Yellowstone Angler crew, Armstrong Spring Creek on the OHair Ranch. It does feel very comfortable to me when Im casting it. Inexpensive rods built in both Korea and China are surprisingly good. This rod gave me better control and accuracy at long range than any other rod in our Shootout. We have found that the Asquith rods are terrific rods in the heavier line sizes from 6-weight right up through 12-weight. Blank performance Of these rods built in Korea, the Hardy rods are designed in England, the Douglas rods are designed here in the U.S., the Loop rods are designed in Sweden. The skeleton reel seat is a gray anodized double uplocking with a dark gray laminated wood insert. Head to head, the Radian and Avantt were better. Performance at 25 feet: 19.5 points out of 20. The attractive cork handle is a half wells design with a flare on the bottom end, a comfortable swell in the middle, and a nice forward taper. Nice and light in hand with very good feel and accuracy in close. No handling fee. This was the best distance for me with the Zone. backing and fly line. 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. $75 handling fee to original owner, $150.00 charge to all others. Since the Nimbus was a softer rod, it did score well in light tippet protection, but in the most important Fun to Fish category, where the Pure got a perfect score, the Nimbus had one of the lower scores about the same as the much less expensive Orvis Clearwater and St. Croix Imperial. The idea here is to measure the swing weight at the middle of where your palm is likely to sit on the grip. The Helios 3D and Sage X lead the pack in that regard. Heavy in hand! But there are a lot of good reasons. The reel seat is an unusual, triangular shaped silver anodized seat with no spacer. We knew it would be good when the Pure won an award for the Best New Freshwater Rod at the 2018 IFTD show in July. We found most rods performed better with the Amplitude Smooth Infinity, which is a half line size heavier. The rods rated 9.5 rods had a $50 fee. The thing that amazes me is how perfect the guide wrapping and epoxy coatings are, compared to other rods. 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. Effortless, delightful, accurate, and FUN. It had the power to hit 60 feet easily enough but my accuracy was not very good. I could hit this distance easily enough, but I had much better feel and accuracy with the faster, lighter rods. Ive found that it is almost impossible to judge accuracy and presentation if you have strong gusty winds, but having a little wind tells you a lot about how the various rods perform, especially at long distances. hardy shadow. The stiff tip didnt allow me much feel but the accuracy was decent. Certainly the Hardy Zephrus is a bargain as our choice for as the number one 4-weight rod. Our hand tied leaders, using stiffer clear Maxima for the butt and midsections, turn over better and more accurately than any of the knotless leaders on the market. G. Loomis ASQUITH 9 #4 $1000.00. The cork handle is too thin, (for most anglers). For an 86 rod, the Zephrus packs a punch and can deliver casts out to 60 feet as easily as it can at 25 or 40. For our 4-weight Shootout, once again we have added anotherperformance category Light Tippet Protection. Alignment dots are placed at the ferrules, which is handy. I was tempted to give it a perfect score for craftsmanship. Winston says Pure Feel, Pure Presentation and Pure Fun I cant disagree. I still had to give the edge to the Zephrus and Pure. 2. When we first saw this new rod from Hardy, we all had two impressions: 1. I love the way this rod tracks and the accuracy is good too. No other rod was remotely close at doing everything well that is to say casting accurately (and delicately) in close off the tip of the rod, having lots of feel at all distances, and having plenty of reserve power for handling windy days and playing larger trout. 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. Scott Lifetime warranty to original owner, $50 handling fee. The guide set up starts with a hook keeper, then one relatively small SiC stripper, followed with good sized black hard chrome snake guides that are nice thin diameter wire. Gear Review: Douglas Sky G 8'6" 4wt | MidCurrent But when I need to reach out and make casts at 60-70 feet, as I often do fishing bigger rivers like the Missouri, the Zephrus has tons of power on tap to get the job done. Rods are repaired or replaced. The length and model on each rod section is inscribed as on the K2. I could really notice the heavy swing weight in my hand. But its become a moot point since rods like Winstons IM6 or Sages XP hit the 3.5oz or lighter mark. The action seems about right and Im getting nice loops. The reel seat is a simple gray anodized double uplocking, solid aluminum seat with sliding band. WinstonLifetime warranty to original owner. The JXP was also better. Nothing beats this rod at 40 feet. Mystic Reaper X 86 #4 $299.00. R.L. Better now, with more line in the air, but the G series was still a little better in both feel and accuracy. The Radian has a faster action than the G Series, with more power in the butt and mid section that allow it to cast better at the longest distance. The Hardy Ultralite is a slimmed down version of the Zephrus made for small water fishing and delicate presentations. That gives it a perfect score of 10 along with the Aetos. Both were perfect at 40 feet, and then the Zephrus was better at 60 feet. Our advice is that if you feel one of the top rated, expensive rods works best for you, go for it. This is one fantastic looking rod one of the very best in our Shootout. 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. The components are not in the same class as the Helios 3F, but that is to be expected considering the price. The epoxy coatings were excellent. Mystic Lifetime warranty to original owner. The uplocking skeleton seat is anodized in a dark gray to complement the blank with a beautiful piece of black ash burl for the insert. w/ Hardy Reel + Rio Backing & Line. The Expeditor service fee for the Asquith rods is $250.00 for ground or $275 for 2-day air. LINE RATING: 4WT. The wraps are a dark green to complement the blank and the epoxy coatings are perfect. We have awarded scores emphasizing the lowest repair charges and the quickest repair turn around. Slower action rods with a heavy swing weight are not much fun to cast and as youll see the performance figures for this rod are dismal. Personally I dont care much for the five inches of white just above the cork handle but this has been the Helios 3 trademark and I think that Orvis feels that it will help the rods visibility on the rod rack in fly shops or out on the stream. ROD HANDLE TYPE: RHW. The swing weight was fairly light, but not quite as good as either the Hardy rods or the Orvis rods. We value your comments about the Shootout and invite any questions you might have about it or your tackle needs. Some anglers may not be, though. Smooth, light in hand, excellent accuracy and feel. The medium fast action of the Recon is very similar to the Helios 3F and this is one reason it performs so well. Logan and Francis have worked here for many years and are both great casters and anglers. The quality of the standard size cork rings was terrific. #23. Performance at 40 feet: 19.5 points out of 20. The guides start with a hook keeper, and then one relatively small silver SiC stripping guide, followed with hard chrome single-foot guides. Shop Now. Will they make you a better angler? Annette McLean, Winstons long time rod designer did a great job with the Pure, giving us a rod that is Pure fun to cast and fish. Starting at under $700 and offered in weights 2-5, the Zephrus Ultralite provides performance equal to or exceeding other rods priced much closer to the $1,000-mark. Hardy ZEPHRUS 8'6" #4 $679.00 George's Comments: Hardy has given us another magical rod that produced an absolutely stunning performance to blow away all the contenders. 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. In our important swing weight category, this rod was one of the worst. 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. We think that the best are the flexible nickel/titanium single foot and snake guides, but these are much more expensive than the heaver, hard chrome versions. As they are reviewing 5wt rods in this article they do not talk about why it is their favourite 4wt rod. Im getting effortless tight loops, and I had complete confidence on where the fly was going on every cast. hardy zephrus for sale | eBay We also kept on hand, and compared, what we felt was the very best rod the Hardy Zephrus. Forty feet was definitely the sweet spot for this rod. It was a little better than the Avantt here, but not as good as the H3F. I like the action, which is medium fast. We didnt award any points for this category but we know that for many people this is a factor in a decision to purchase a rod, so we wanted to list this in our Objective Observations table and also in our Final Results table. Get this rod out in the sunlight and it really lights up. Its medium action is far slower than the Recon or their H3F, and it didnt perform nearly as well, especially at 25 feet. 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. In addition to my comments in the main Shootout, youll want to read the comments from Jamie and our other Yellowstone Angler staff members, Logan Brown, Francis Clougherty and Chloe Nostrant.
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