hardy zephrus 8' 6 4wt hardy zephrus 8' 6 4wt

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. For this 4-weight Shootout, we decided to make the short distance 25 feet, the mid-distance 40 feet, and the longest distance 60 feet. $75 on recent rods within 10 years, $125 on classic olderrods. If I remember correctly, the 864 also won YA's 4wt shootout, adding to its popularity. Loomis designed these IMX Pro rods to be tough and very durable, and pro guides love them because they are so hard for clients to break. 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. 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. The Pure has it beat for me, but if you are looking for the best all around rod, look no further. Hardy Aydon Single Handed Fly Rod. It does feel very comfortable to me when Im casting it. Picking up this rod, I'm immediately impressed by its light weight and responsiveness. Surprisingly, this is often true. Some good alignment dots and lines are used. I normally prefer an 8 foot rod in a 4-weight but when we cast the two rods heads up, and put them on the deflection board, it was obvious that these rods had two different actions. At 45 feet the Zephrus is a champ. The heavy swing weight and stiffer tip gave me very little feel. This is one of the worst scores at long distance in our Shootout. With the Ultralite at hand, your shoulder will be thanking you after a long day on the water. The epoxy coatings are excellent as is the overall craftsmanship, which we have come to expect from Scott. The quality of the cork is not too good either and it used a lot of filler. Logan and Francis have worked here for many years and are both great casters and anglers. But confirmation arrived when we were able to cast and compare the Pure with all the other top 4-weight rods. The best rods will throw very tight loops at this range with consistently good accuracy. Craftsmanship is second to none, and is what we have now come to expect from T&T. In past Shootouts we tried measuring swing weight in other ways, including calculations for the Moment of Inertia, taking the weight of all 4 sections individually and then plugging these figures into an equation. Standard corks are used and the quality is excellent. If you do a lot of nymph fishing, the extra length will help, and this rod has enough butt and mid-section power to also chuck some smaller streamers. Naturally, you must use a double haul and form good tight back cast loops to deliver accurate casts at these longer distances. Here Im getting nice loops and decent accuracy, but Im working a lot harder than with the Avantt or the Helios 3F. The heavy swing weight hurt, and I wasnt getting the kind of feel or accuracy I got with the G Series Scott or the Orvis Helios 3F. Hardy is using their best Sintrix 440 graphite in this rod, also used in the Zephrus. I love the appearance of the DXF, with the blank finished in a flat, non-glare dark green. Nothing beats this rod at 40 feet. And thats saying something, given that the past half-decade or so has seen most rod makers touting the light weight of their blanks. orvis recon. 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. For this we downgraded the craftsmanship a half a point. A nice piece of dark hardwood is used for the spacer. #6. The quality of the standard size cork rings was excellent. Hardy has given us another magical rod that produced an absolutely stunning performance to blow away all the contenders. Only you can make that decision. Youll find these on our Yellowstone Angler home page atyellowstoneangler.com.If your favorite local shop stocks the rods you are interested in, by all means visit them, try a few rods and purchase an outfit from them. The shorter rod is nice and light, and faster in action than its longer brother. The Douglas Sky was both heavier and stiffer, and didnt perform as well, except out long at 60 feet. The tracking isnt as tight as something like the Sage X or Orvis Helios 3, but its pretty damned close. This is a soft rod, with a slower action than the Pure. Hes also the Managing Editor of The Modern Trout Bum. 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. As I put more line in the air, it tracked beautifully and was just a delightful rod to cast at 40 feet. Rodis repaired, or sections replaced. In fact, the new Zephrus Ultralite from Hardy is likely my favorite fly rod currently on the market. Now the stiffness is becoming an advantage, and Im getting some nice tight loops. Fun to Fish/Got to Have 10 points available. The other reason is that this 9 #4 SKY is just too stiff for a 4-weight. In general, the Zephrus was very popular as Hardy's all purpose fast action rod. In terms of performance, the Recon was actually better at mid to long range. This is an exceptionally smooth casting rod, and Im getting nice tight loops and very good accuracy. Whats really eye-catching, though, is the reel seat. The Aetos was dramatically better for an inexpensive rod. There is a lot to like about the SKY though, and foremost is its appearance. 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. If the rod is broken because of a defect, or while fishing, replacement is free. Better as I get more line in the air, but still not nearly as good as the NRX LP or the DXF. The guides start out with a small hook keeper, then a single SiC stripper, followed with black, hard chrome single-foot guides. Every high-end rod (which I classify as $650+) handles average wind just fine. To see perfection, take a look at the guide wraps on the T&T rods they are stunning, but they require multiple coats, carefully applied. 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. The gray uplocking reel seat is solid anodized aluminum with a sliding band and two locking rings that were easy to grip and tighten. Although we thought that the Winston 8 foot Pure was a fantastic 4-weight, the Nimbus didnt get us too excited. Hardy Zephrus Double Handed DH Sintrix AWS Fly Rod 15'1'' # 10/11 - 4 Pieces Brand New $1,202.36 fishingonline4 (18,829) 100% Buy It Now Free shipping from Australia 5 watchers Sponsored Hardy Zephrus Double Handed DH Sintrix AWS Fly Rod 12'6'' #7/8 4 Piece +Warranty Brand New $1,055.99 fishingonline4 (18,829) 100% Buy It Now Free shipping Many of the best rods are built in one factory in Korea. Also get an 8'6" 4wt Echo Carbon XL ($150) and Echo Base Reel ($35), coupled with a good line ($80) for $265. It is also a stiff rod almost as stiff as the SKY and IMX Pro. Each chart gives you a good look at how the tip section, (approximately the top half of the rod) bends and compares to other rods. The DXF and Imperial were much better. This is a very pleasant rod to cast, with a medium fast action. An absolute dream to cast. The blank color at first glance looks black, but is a very dark green called Black Spruce. The thread wraps are dark green, trimmed with metallic gray on the butt section. Buy It Now. The 8'6" 4wt Zephrus FWS is a fine rod. Of course, accuracy is more dependent on the angler than the rod, but a great rod helps. Overall a very good performance. This rod has the gusto to launch it out to 60 and then some! Im impressed with the guide set up, starting with a hook keeper, then one SiC stripping guide, followed with the best nickel/titanium and flexible single-foot guides as on the Zephrus and Sky. Id gladly pay another few dollars to have one. Performance at 25 feet: 19.2 points out of 20. Rods are repaired or sections replaced. Marc Barnwell replied on Sat, 01/12/2019 - 20:06 Permalink. For most grips this will be at the midpoint in the swell, or the center of the grip. TheFenwick AETOS, at $179.95 is unquestionably our best performing inexpensive rod. 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 wraps are a dark green to complement the blank and the epoxy coatings are perfect. Dont make this mistake. With the inexpensive warranties that most manufacturers now offer, you are going to use your new rod for many years, which makes it easier to justify buying a more expensive 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. Ive fished with Howard here, on our Montana Spring Creeks, and better understand how and why he came up with these designs. At long range no rod has more power. Distance Guides start with a hook keeper, then a single titanium SiC stripping guide, followed with our favorite nickel/titanium snake guides that are flexible but unbreakable. The Scott G series was definitely better. Heavy, slower action rods never perform well. And for a rod that is half the cost of the Helios 3F, the overall weight and swing weight are actuallylower! The rest of the guides are hard chrome snake guides with nice, small diameter wire snake guides on the upper two sections. 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. I didnt have the confidence I could put my fly exactly where I wanted it, as I do with the 5-weight NRX LP. The back half has a thin bit of hardwood veneer, striking a unique balance between the classy look of wood and the light weight of cork. Remember that it will cost you an additional $15 or more to send your rod in unless you are using the G. Loomis Expeditor program. I could hit this distance easily enough, but I had much better feel and accuracy with the faster, lighter rods. A dark green graphite insert is used that complements the color of the blank. So many aspects go into blank performance that its hard to single out one of them. 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. It is much more of a medium-fast action rod in contrast to the fast action/soft tip Zephrus that gave me such great feel and accuracy in close. Performance at 60 feet: 9.0 points out of 10. A beautiful birdseye maple insert is used. The thing that killed this for me was the cheap looking reel seat. You are familiar this term if you play golf. 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. To read their comments, simply click on their photo above at the beginning of our Shootout. When Im fishing the spring creeks here near Livingston, the Railroad Ranch on the Henrys Fork of the Snake, as well as the flat water on the Bighorn or Missouri rivers, I reach for my favorite rod for this kind of technical fishing, an 8 foot #4. If a rod looks like a million bucks and casts like it too, fly fishermen are going to lust for it. 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. At short and medium distances, it has great feel, but was lacking in accuracy. It would be so much better with a WF-5-F. The guide wraps are in blue with some silver trim on the butt. As the name implies, the new Zephrus Ultralite is light. The Pure puts in an impressive performance, especially at the shorter distances, and finishes in 2ndplace in both the overall and performance results. But if you look at just the three distance performance scores, it would have finished below the top dozen rods! A single uplocking, gray anodized skeleton seat is fitted with an attractive burled wood insert. Moreover, if you want to fish with a 4-weight we consider to be the optimal choice, you dont have to spend $850, $900, or $1000, but only $679 for the Hardy Zephrus. A black anodized double uplocking skeleton seat is used with an unusual x-pattern design and a laminated wood insert. 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. The perfect line: SA Amplitude Smooth Infinity in WF-4-F, Performance at 25 feet: 20 points out of 20. The blank color is a non-glare, graphite gray with slightly darker gray wraps and alignment dots. #16. 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. Pick any rod here that we rated a 9.5 or better and you have a winner! But its become a moot point since rods like Winstons IM6 or Sages XP hit the 3.5oz or lighter mark. Performance at 60 feet: 9.3 points out of 10. I wish that we could have tested an 86 Aetos, but this rod is only available in an 8 foot #4. Performance at 40 feet: 19.2 points out of 20. The stiffness did not allow much feel but the accuracy was surprisingly good. In my performance scores, it was nearly as good as the Pure at 25 feet. 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. 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. 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. Performance at 40 feet: 18.5 points out of 20. Rods are either replaced with a new rod or the broken section is replaced. Both of these lines utilize a slightly longer rear taper that allows superior mending ability as well as enhancing the ability to make medium to longer casts. This rod is a pleasure to cast, and it has tons of reserve power at long range. The rings should be easy to grip and tighten. The Zephrus was able to turn over our 12-foot hand-tied leaders with ease. Keep in mind that what you will read here are only our opinions. Out long the K2 seemed to hold its own with the Recon, and it was better than either the Shadow or DXF. At $650 I expected it to do better. Francis Comments:Its the Hardy Zephrus for the win! Features Sintrix 440 Blank construction REC Black pearl recoil guides Fuji Titanium stripper guides 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. 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. Here, the softer rods, ones with softer tips and rods with lighter swing weights post the highest scores. I found the locking rings easy to grip and tighten. The guides start with one SiC stripping guide followed with very large diameter hard chrome snake guides. The cork handle is what Sage calls a snub nose half-wells. Tell us what you think - opens in new window or tab. Wow It is super light in hand, and 2. This rod is insanely lightweight and maneuverable; in fact, it has the lightest swing weight of any rod we've tested here at Trident. For the price, it cant be beat. Hardy uses a comfortable half wells, western style handle and the quality of the cork is superb. We can attest to this as these lines shoot like crazy! Mystic Lifetime warranty to original owner. A contrasting dark composite cork ring is used at the top of the grip. For the lighter rods, we used their Amplitude Smooth Trout. Nothing beats this rod at 40 feet. Rods are repaired, not replaced except for broken sections. Now the lack of butt power becomes evident and it is hard for me to get any decent accuracy. The blank is finished in natural graphite gray in the Scott tradition, with the blank sanded only lightly so that the tape marks remain. Tracks beautifully with nice tight loops that are giving me great accuracy. There are a few 8 foot and shorter rods as well as a few 9-foot rods in the mix, especially when manufacturers dont offer an 8 foot model. This rod is so soft that I just dont have the power in the butt and mid sections to get good tight back cast loops, or the line speed I need to get the job done. The quality of epoxy coatings on the guide wraps was excellent and almost the equal of the T&T rods. If broken from neglect or any other cause, you must use the Expeditor service. Are you comfortable showing up with a $200 rod when everyone else has one of those hotshot $750 to $1000 rods in their hands? The quality of the standard size cork rings was terrific. The DXF has been one of our top mid-priced rods, but there was no denying the Hardy Shadow and Orvis Recon were better. A 12-foot leader also gives you a stealthier presentation. 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.