Forty feet was definitely the sweet spot for this rod. The Recon is a very pleasant rod to cast wonderfully light in hand, and responsive. 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. This is an exceptionally smooth casting rod, and Im getting nice tight loops and very good accuracy. Also right up at the top are the Scott rods, like the Raidan and G series as well as the Orvis Helios 3F. It was very light in swing weight, and quite accurate in close, but it just didnt have much feel in close like the best rods. #28. Like many of the other 9-foot rods in our Shootout, it was at a disadvantage in weight to the shorter 8 and 8 foot rods. The stiffness did not allow much feel but the accuracy was surprisingly good. Sure, most of these 4-weight rods will turn over a 9-foot leader, but having to turn over a 12-foot leader requires a rod to perform at a higher level. Nothing beats this rod at 40 feet. w/ Hardy Reel + Rio Backing & Line. The swing weight of the rod is the weight you feel out ahead of your hand, holding the rod horizontally. Both offer terrific performance at half the price of the best rods in our Shootout. The guides start with a hook keeper on the butt, then a single SiC stripping guide, followed with hard chrome single foot guides that seem sturdy enough, but are not nearly as good (or as light) as the nickel/titanium single foot guides used on the NRX LP. In general, the Zephrus was very popular as Hardy's all purpose fast action rod. A beautiful rod to begin with, this Hardy is as elegant as is it high performing. Matches the Aeteos here, but still nothing to get excited about. The Zephrus was able to turn over our 12-foot hand-tied leaders with ease. Like the Zenith, Wraith, Zephrus and all Hardy rods from the last decade or so, the blanks for the new Zephrus Ultralite family are rolled in Korea. Great feel, power, accuracy, and a light swing weight. 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. At short distances like 25 feet, you dont have much line out of the tip of the rod, so the best leaders must flex like an extension of your fly line. The cork handle is a western style grip with a flare on the lower end to accept the uplocking seat, and a nice taper forward providing a very comfortable grip. I still had to give the edge to the Zephrus and Pure. The JXP is also very stiff. The quality of the cork is superb. The softer tip is giving me a good amount of feel and the accuracy was better than the Zone or Nimbus. The fancy burl wood insert just jumps out at you with its striking color lots of red and orange mixed in very attractive. HardyLifetime warranty to original owner. The amount of power seems to be about right, and it performed best at the longer distances where I could punch it hard without throwing tailing loops. With the inexpensive warranties that most manufacturers offer, your new rod is one that will last you for many years. Rather than give us their beautiful nickel silver uplocking seat with a fancy wood spacer of birdseye maple as on the Pure, the Nimbus uses a silver anodized uplocking aluminum skeleton seat with one wide ring and sliding band. As they are reviewing 5wt rods in this article they do not talk about why it is their favourite 4wt rod. The cork handle is a half wells with a long taper at the front, that I found to be comfortable to grip. But there are a lot of good reasons. The Zephrus Ultralite has a gorgeous dark green finish that glistens in the sunlight, along with some really intricate cross-wraps from the winding check up to the end of the rod inscriptions. This rod really excels at short to mid range distances. 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. The guides are one hook keeper; a single SiC stripper and then all the rest are hard chrome snake guides that are durable but heavy. I do like the 8 foot rods over the 9 footers as they are lighter and the shorter length allows me to strike more quickly, and they often provide better light tippet protection than the longer rods. Performance at 60 feet: 9.5 points out of 10. Features Sintrix 440 Blank construction REC Black pearl recoil guides Fuji Titanium stripper guides For the lighter rods, we used their Amplitude Smooth Trout. hardy zephrus fly rod for sale | eBay Fenwick-Lifetime warranty. $895.00. Performance at 60 feet: 8.0 points out of 10. The color of this rod is an attractive olive, with the guides wrapped in dark brown. The Pure puts in an impressive performance, especially at the shorter distances, and finishes in 2ndplace in both the overall and performance results. #8. Inexpensive rods built in both Korea and China are surprisingly good. Fly Fishing Rods - Hardy Fishing I liked the nice loops I was getting and the accuracy was also pretty good, but could not match the Recon or the NRX LP. Their choices sometimes differ from mine, but we are almost always in general agreement on the top 4-6 rods in the 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. Torsional stability affects tracking, which affects swing weight, which affects the action and feel of the rod itself. Its somewhat embarrassing for a $1000 rod to finish below one that costs only $198.00, but there are some good reasons for this. 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 is a lovely rod, finished in a non-glare flat gray with jet-black wraps that are trimmed in light gray on the butt. First we try to determine what we felt were the best performing rods. Then it will cast and perform much better. The locking ring is a little harder to grip and tighten than others. NUMBER OF PIECES: 4. A flare on the bottom end of the grip accommodates the uplocking seat. If you look at the deflection chart, youll see that the Zehprus has one of the stiffest butt and midsections, yet then it progresses to a nice soft tip. Hardy Aydon Single Handed Fly Rod. I was getting far better presentations and accuracy with both the Hardy Zephrus and Winston Pure. It has a larger swell than most rods, and the swell is set closer to the top of the grip, than most rods well forward of the center of the grip. The DXF was better and the Shadow was far better. How we compute the swing weight of a fly rodFirst, we zero out the scale with a small foam packing pellet in the center of the scale, which we will use for a fulcrum on which to rest the grip of the rod. The components are not in the same class as the Helios 3F, but that is to be expected considering the price. The stiffness hurt, and it was hard for me to cast off the tip of the rod. The serial number of the rod is inscribed on the ferrule of each section a nice touch. The epoxy coatings are good but too heavy for my liking. A 3-weight fly rod can be great fun on windless days, but those days seem to be rare. Softer tips on these 4-weight rods almost always equated to better accuracy and more delicate presentations, especially at shorter distances. In making the deflection chart, we first put up some white butcher paper on the wall. The heavy swing weight is perhaps the biggest reason the SKY didnt perform so well. There is no question that the craftsmanship is better on the very best rods, and with a few exceptions they do perform better than the less expensive rods. 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. The DXF was significantly better. But is that high priced rod really $400-$600 better? This is one fantastic looking rod one of the very best in our Shootout. This is one of the worst scores at long distance in our Shootout. 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. Conversely, looking at the most expensive rods in our Shootout, the G. Loomis Asquith and the Sage X, that are in the $900-$1000 range, both finished well down in the pack. 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. Thats the trade-off you make for light weight and insane feel in close and its one Im personally happy to make. If you look at the deflection chart, youll see that the Zehprus has one of the stiffest butt and midsections, yet then it progresses to a nice soft tip. 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. The Hardy SHADOW at $349.95 takes the crown as our best mid-priced rod with an exceptional performance that put it into a tie for 4th place overall with the T&T AVANTT . We have found that the only good way to pin down these subtle differences is to have at least a half dozen of the contending rods with the line stripped out and sitting there in front of you on the lawn, so that you can take a few casts with one rod, lay it down and pick up another rod, and make a few casts at the same distance, make some notes and then move on to another rod or the next distance. Here youll find our recommendations in three price ranges: The Ultimate Outfit, Mid Priced Outfit and Best Buy Outfit. Swing weight is on the heavier side and this hurt the performance to some degree. To my credit, I didnt throw a tailing loop, but my first cast wasnt exactly pretty. Most of the rest score 9s, which was a $60-$75 fee for repair or replacement. Rods are replaced. Personally, Im used to that sort of line speed, but most anglers arent. (tie) Sage X 86 #4 $900.00. I did like the flat, non-glare black finish used on the blank. The Zephrus makes me a more accurate and efficient caster. Sage could improve the MODs swing weight by using the more expensive nickel/titanium guides instead. For $699.95 you can get the 9 5wt Zephrus Ultralite with Hardys lifetime warranty, superior build quality, and all the incredible performance attributes mentioned above. For those of you wondering if the Hardy Zephrus is different from its predecessor, the Hardy Zenith: It is. Both the mid-price DXF and Imperial were better. The guide wraps are gray, trimmed with red on the butt section and first ferrule. The Hardy Zephrus series of fly rods features our award winning Sintrix material . It has been several years now since our last 4-weight Shootout, as we have concentrated on both 5-weight and 8-weight rods. Doing this with 6X or 7X tippet demands a good smooth drag with just the right amount of drag adjustment. The guide wraps are a slightly darker gray, trimmed in orange on the butt. I found the rings harder to grip than most and without any nylon spacer they will likely loosen up more easily than other rings with them. The rest of the guides are the excellent nickel/titanium one-foot guides in a silver color. 2. #19. Well come out with you and give you some help to fine tune your casting stroke, or just help you with the basics. Overall, the craftsmanship was decent for a rod that is manufactured in Asia, but not nearly as good as what we see in the Recon and H3F that are built in Vermont. The top three rods were a lot better. However, as youll see in the Performance Only scores, it finished much higher in 12thplace. The Pure is unquestionably one of the best looking rods in our Shootout, with some of the best craftsmanship. Ive fished with Howard here, on our Montana Spring Creeks, and better understand how and why he came up with these designs. The handle is a half wells western style grip with contrasting dark composite cork rings at both the bottom and top. On the deflection board, the Zephrus had a stiffer butt and mid section and the tip bent a little more, so it is slightly faster in action than the Shadow. With comments by the Yellowstone Angler staff. 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. 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.