We are fortunate here to be able to get out on the water and test out most of the gear that we sell. On a breezy late June day, five of...
We know that we don't have every rod brand out there. We love the rods we carry and know that there are some really nice sticks in our lineup. Here are the rods that we tested:
Beulah Platinum
Beulah Guide II
Big Y Nano
Douglas DXF
Douglas Sky
Douglas Upstream Plus
Fenwick Aetos
Loop Cross S1
Loop Evotec CAST (3 models)
Loop K2 (2 models) - Not available as of publishing
Loop Q
Mystic ReaperX
Redington Classic Trout
Redington Hydrogen
Redington Vice
St. Croix Avid
St. Croix Legend Elite
Syndicate Aquos (10' nymph rod)
TFO Axiom
TFO BVK
TFO Finesse Glass
TFO Pro II
TFO Impact
Three of us cast each rod and traded them around. We independently gave our feedback to Ben, who took notes and kept track of what rods went well with what lines.
That being said, Nikolai, Rob and I all ended up with a very similar top four. We were casting 30-50' and generally casting for accuracy and given the circumstances, judging the rods' abilities to push through the wind. This was not a distance competition, nor a chance to see how big of a rig we could cast. We understand that if you fish hopper/droppers out of a drift boat, pounding the banks, then what you are looking for in a rod may be different. This is basically what rods felt the best to cast if one was just taking a rod out to practice their casting.These rods were judged with zero inference on price. A good rod is a good rod. We are not saying that one is better because it cost more, and we wouldn't move one up the list because it is cheaper, but "better for the money". These are the rods that we liked the best, period. But, there are definitely some rods that have low-end components and it has an impact on the rod. The Fenwick Aetos and St. Croix Avid are both in that category. I think they would feel nicer if they had nicer components, but it didn't change where they ended up in our list. Here is what we chose for our favorites out of the bunch.
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| Douglas DXF, our favorite 9' 5wt in the shop. |
Rob's Top 4:
Douglas DXF
Beulah Platinum
Loop Q
Loop K2
Andrew's Top 4
Douglas DXF
Loop Q
Temple Fork Impact
Loop K2
Nikolai's Top 4
Beulah Platinum
Douglas DXF
Loop K2
Loop Q
Honorable Mentions: A couple of rods that were impressive, but didn't make each of our top 4. These were all close and I think that any of them could have easily cracked any of our list.
Fenwick Aetos
Douglas Upstream Plus
Loop Evotec CAST med/fast
We thought that Douglas and Loop were definitely building the most consistently nice rods out of our brands. All of the rods from these two companies were top notch, while all of the other companies had a flop or two.
The Douglas DXF, Beulah Platinum, as well as the Loop Q and Loop K2 were clearly our favorite 5 wt rods. We were all fairly shocked at the results, considering that none of us talked with each other about any rod at all, and we all came up with similar conclusions. These results all came independently of each other.
Here are a few notes about each of the rods that we cast:
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| The Beulah Platinum is gorgeous |
Beulah Guide II: Similar to the platinum, but it felt a little less responsive and a little stiffer. We all liked it. We tried it with an S/A MPX at first, but thought it was better off with the Amplitude Trout. The rod is light in hand and has good feel and is responsive.
Big Y Nano: Thought it was much like the Beulah Platinum, but "not as pretty". It doesn't quite have the light touch for presentation as the Platinum, but we were actually all impressed with our little rod that could. We used an S/A MPX and then the Amplitude Trout, and thought it can handle a wide range of lines, but the Amplitude Trout was our favorite line on this rod, and most others.
Douglas DXF: We all thought this rod had great touch and feel, built up good line speed with little effort, and had a great combination of power and accuracy. This was one rod that we tried a traditional double taper with, and it was a thing of beauty. All of us were very impressed with this rod, and still like it very much after several weeks and a few more casting sessions with it. We liked the Amplitude Trout, and loved a Cortland 444 Sylk Double Taper on it. While not unanimous, it was the favorite rod from our casting day.
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| Douglas Upstream Plus is really nice |
Douglas Upstream Plus: Another impressive rod from Douglas. We thought that it felt like a glass rod in that you can really feel it load, and it is very accurate. The rod has a heavier feel to it, but really isn't any heavier than many of these other rods. We all thought that it was one of the better dry fly rods out there, but is a little slow for this to be a big water, all-round rod. I really enjoyed casting it, and would definitely put it on the top of the list if I was in the market for a dry fly rod. Another rod that is better with a light line like the 444 Sylk or the Amplitude Trout.
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| Fenwick Aetos, a great rod at a low price |
Fenwick Aetos: This rod is much nicer than most of us would think. It is very easy to cast. It didn't quite have the power as some of the other rods with similar fast actions. It paired well with the S/A Amplitude Trout line, and it did not dislike the MPX when we used that on it. Nikolai was indifferent to it, but said it would be more than adequate for most anglers. Rob thought it was a very easy rod to cast. Rob also compared it to the St. Croix Legend Elite, but with less punch. I thought it was a nice rod, but the rear end is a bit stiff considering how soft the tip is. That is what gives makes it powerful, but with the ability to cast softly and accurately. Overall it is quite a nice rod, especially for the money.
Loop Cross S1: This rod felt much like other high-end, lightweight, fast action rods. It has a nice, medium/fast action that is not too stiff, nice and powerful, yet precise. The lightweight materials lead to this lack of feel when trying to load the rod. It casts fine, and it feels nice in your hand, and it is darn accurate and powerful. We all agreed here that while it is a very nice rod, none of us had it in their top 5.
Loop Evotec: There are three models: Medium, med/fast and fast action. All three were pretty darn nice. The med/fast and the fast were more all-round rods that performed well. They are not terribly light weight, but they are really solid. The medium action model was truly medium, and medium is the new slow. It is a great dry fly rod, a little wobbly, but that is to be expected with how slow it performed. It is also very accurate, but I would not want to have to mend a big hopper/dropper setup with it.
The med/fast model was a real mama-bear rod. Very solid, all around, easy casting, while the fast action was really nice for a fast action, but it lacked a little feel. It was not too fast. There are a lot of really fast, stiff rods out there. This fast rod is nowhere near that. It has a softer touch to it than most fast action rods. The drawback to the Evotecs are that they are a little heavy, have a little wobble to them and don't have the most touch that we have seen. We all liked them and thought that they are nice rods at a good price. I think I would take an Evotec med/fast in a hot second. I thought it was one of the nicer rods of the day.
Loop K2: As of publishing, the Loop K2 has not been released, nor have we been able to even find out the MSRP so that we can build the product on the website. No date set as of 9/15/2018
Loop K2: The replacement for the uber-popular Loop Opti Stream has been worth the wait, although we are still waiting to see them for sale. This rod is very nice. We didn't get a chance to cast it with the other rods as it was unavailable at the time. We got a couple of them a week later to try out and return immediately. We were all impressed. Both the fast action and med/fast action are great. Rob liked it, said that the fast action model is what a fast action rod should be like, and the med/fast would be one of his top choices for an evening on the Madison. Nikolai and I took them to the lake for an evening of fishing. He likes a faster rod and I like a slower rod. He fished the fast with an S/A MPX, and I fished the med/fast with a S/A Amplitude Trout. Both of those lines matched extremely well. We caught a pile of fish on dry flies. Presentation was excellent, and both of them punched through the wind well. We both thought that this was one of the nicest rod that we had cast yet, but that the Douglas DXF or the Beulah Platinum were equally awesome.
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| Loop Q-most impressive rod under $300 |
Mystic Reaper X: A faster, stiffer rod than most, it has been well received by the public and our staff. None of us thought that it was super fantastic, but it has a nice feel and gets the job done. It is not too fast, but it is at the top end of what most anglers seem to like for fast action. Good recovery and it packs a nice punch. Colby really liked it and wrote a review of it which you can read here.
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| The Classic Trout is beloved by anglers |
Redington Hydrogen: Nikolai said this was "about 100 times better than the Vice". Rob said it was light and accurate, but it did not have much feel, and I thought it was a bit lifeless as well. We all agreed it had more potential for accuracy and presentation than the Vice, but none of us were super impressed. We tried an MPX on it, but agreed that a lighter line might do a better job.
Redington Vice: None of us were a big fan of this rod either. We had heard some rather unbelievable reviews, and they turned out to be just that for us. We all thought it was really stiff. Nikolai called it "bulky" and I agree. Rob is really subdued about most things, and he stays in a safe middle zone when describing how he likes things. He said that it might be better if we had a different line on it, which is about as negative as Rob ventures. I agree. I thought it was stiff and clumsy. We used an MPX because the rod is definitely fast and stiff, but it just didn't feel good on it. We could spend a week trying to find a good matching line for it, but I don't know if we would ever be able to make it better.
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| St. Croix Avis casts better than the price tag indicates |
St. Croix Avid: We all liked this rod, mostly... It is not the fanciest rod, but it has a nice, moderate action, good power and nice presentation. It really does well with that S/A Amplitude Trout line. It weighs a bit more than we would like, but it's not overbearing. The components are clean and basic, and it doesn't have the most high-end feel to it. The biggest drawback that we saw is that it wobbles a bit, as do most soft, presentation style rods. Still, we found this to be one of the better rods for accuracy with the potential for more powerful applications. A great value, and one of our favorite USA built rods.
St. Croix Legend Elite: We're trying really hard to like this rod. We have all fished it, cast it and spent more time with it than most of the other rods in the shop this year. All three of us came up with similar feelings about it: Nikolai said it is nice, but not top-shelf nice. Rob liked it and said it cast well under a variety of challenging conditions. He thought that he could easily cast a good distance. I thought that it was a nice rod and is well built. It looks good and has a nice, comfortable feel. It does feel a little heavy, but it casts straight and accurately with little effort. It is definitely an all-around rod that can do everything. But in the end, I was not in love with it. We would all be happy fishing it all summer, but it was not our favorite.
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| We have mixed feelings on the Axiom |
TFO BVK: This rod has a nice, easy taper for casting bigger lines and flies. It is our best-selling rod in the 6wt-8wt category, and we can see why. It has a lot of power, but is not too stiff for trout fishing. While it seems a bit stiff and fast for a dedicated dry fly rod, it does cast well and would make a fine all-round rod. Nikolai said it was "pretty nice, but a bit stiff", Rob said it was better than he had expected, and I thought it was a little on the stiff side, but would work for most anglers. I think it would be a great rod for streamers and nymphing, but lacks in dry fly presentation. This rod also casts well with an S/A MPX.
TFO Pro II: It loads a line super easy, a good rod for a newbie. It has a faster action, but is not uber stiff. We liked that it casts well with a variety of lines, situations and skill levels. Nikolai said he was "lukewarm" on it, I said something like: "ehhhhhh, ok" and Rob said it cast well. While it doesn't blow anyone away, it works just fine and is easy to cast. I know tons of guides that prefer these, because of how easy to cast they are and how much abuse they can take. This rod did equally fine with an MPX, an Amplitude Trout and even the Infinity Taper, depending on your casting style and situation. A good all around rod that does multiple things well, but nothing extraordinarily well.
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| The Impact casts like a champ |
Specialty Rods: Here are a couple of specialty (not 9') rods that we cast. I just wanted to share our opinions on them:
Syndicate Aquos (10' nymph rod): We had to do a Syndicate rod. They sell really well and the company is friendly and easy to deal with. Nikolai said it was a bit stiff, but that is ok, because a 10' nymphing rod should be stiffer. Rob said it felt pretty good, but it felt heavier than a 5wt. He said he had nothing to complain about with it, but that it did not stand out as a special rod. I said that it was fine for a nymphing rod. I would happily fish it if I was going to go on a nymphing trip. Both an Infinity Taper and an S/A MPX were fine on it, as roll casting a nymph rig is not as dependent on having a presentation taper as dry fly fishing.
TFO Finesse Glass: This was a rod that we had all been looking forward to casting. I like glass rods and thought this one was going to be my new favorite. Nikolai said it felt okay, a little noodly and slow, but he doesn't have much experience casting glass, so he didn't have a lot to compare it to. Rob said it had "hardly any feel" and it felt "dead in his hand", but it was accurate and it "cast well". A good small stream rod. I liked it, but also felt that it didn't have a lot of feel. I liked it, but I don't think it is my new favorite small stream/presentation rod. It seemed pretty typical for glass rods. I like it better than the Redington Classic Trout that I currently use on small streams. Ben has this rod and loves it! This rod does best with that Cortland 444 Sylk.
-Fishing, usually not catching
