New Rod Advice

[CLSports]

I am looking into a new 8'-6" 4wt fast action rod and I have narrowed it down to three likely candidates. I wanted to see if anyone has any of these rods in a simialr size/weight that they could offer their opinion on:

Scott E2
Winston Vapor
St. Croix Legend Ultra

There are not many dealers close to me that carry these rods and none that have all three, so before I make a long road trip to one of the shops that does have at least one of these rods I wanted to get some general opinions on these three.

My guess is they are all very nice. I am leaning towards the E2 since it is a closeout and there are good prices on them and I have dealt with Scott customer service before and they are great. I am also trying to keep it around $300.

Thanks, Rob

 

[afishinado]

CLS,

Nowadays there are a whole bunch of decent rods to look at near your price point. Most of these rods (below) can be found at Cabela's. Consider taking the 1 hour or so ride to Hamburg to try them out.

Some of the rods are 9' 4wt and not 8.5', but that 6" makes little difference, and the extra length at times is a small advantage.

Good luck in your search.

Echo

Redington

Sage Launch

Sage Flight

TFO

 

[gfen]

FWIW, they don't carry Echo in the store.

There's also their own line of rods, including several fast action rods.

 

[CLSports]

I went to Cabela's with the intention to check out the Echo Carbon and St Croix Ultra rods, but as mentioned they did not have the Echo Carbon rods in the store and they also did not have the exact size of the St. Croix I was considering. It is tough to do any comparison shopping outside of a trade show.

I guess I am just looking to see if anyone has one of these rods and what they think of it in general.

 

[CPR]

If you are going to spend more than 300.00 on a fly rod then you should always look into having a custom rod built. It will be designed exactly to your needs and specifications. They look better, perform better and are a much better value dollar for dollar.

Contact me if you need a few names of custom builders in the South Eastern area of the state.

matt

 

[Bruno]

I have the 8'6 St. Croix Legend Ultra and like it very much. I am a St Croix fan. I own 4 of them. The make great rods for the money. The rod is very fast IMO. I would suggest overlining the rod if you fish small tight water it will slow it down a bit and make the rod load quicker. The hardwear is nice and I have never had any issues with it. Also, St Croix has great customer service. I once mailed them a rod in an old beat up St Croix rod tube for repair. They repaired the rod and sent me a free new tube as well as the old one back.

 

[tobewan77]

i 2nd the st croix line. Amazing rod for the $ opposed to $$$$.

 

[MJL1983]

I have the legend ultra 8'6 4 weight. Its a great rod everything about it is nice i would see no reason why you would be dissapointed if you went with stcroix

 

[dryflyguy]

Can't help you on the specific brands that you're looking at, but I have an Orvis HLS 8'6" 4 weight that is a perfect all around rod for dries IMO. I've even been using it lately on big water like the yough and delaware rivers. No problems. I highly recommend that length and weight

 

[tomb]

I too have an Orvis HLS 4wt,8.5 ft. Bought it new in August 1992,and it still works as good as new. You can't beat Orvis quality.Over the years Ive dealt with their sevice dept. several times.Top notch professional people. I have used that rod in small mountain streams for natives, and in the Yough River where sometimes long casts are necessary. Perfect,casts amazingly well. Try one ,you'll like it.