Howard Croston, Hardys rod design genius in England, has given us another outstanding rod that performs extremely well at all distances. And while each rod has its own personality, two things remained consistent throughout the new Ultralite family: unfair accuracy and strikingly smooth casting. With your support we can continue to give you more Shootouts and head to head comparisons on tackle and equipment in the future. Spencer Durrant is a fly fishing writer, outdoors columnist, and novelist from Utah. Not much feel with all that swing weight, and the accuracy was pretty crappy too. The feel Im getting is not that good either. Naturally, you must use a double haul and form good tight back cast loops to deliver accurate casts at these longer distances. Like the K2, the Q is only available as a 9-foot rod in a 4-weight. The epoxy coatings are fairly good, but a little heavy. 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. 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. Sage uses lime green wraps that complement the color of the rod. Performance at 40 feet: 18.5 points out of 20. Description. There are not many situations when youll be fishing this far with your 4-weight, but Ive certainly had many situations, especially fishing dry flies on larger rivers, like the Missouri, where Ive had to throw it this long yet still get good accuracy and a delicate presentation in order to catch a nice fish. The DXF was significantly better. 9 ft, 6 weight tip appears to have been re-wrapped- Thanks for looking at my auction. There is a lot to like about the SKY though, and foremost is its appearance. I love the light swing weight. Rather than use a fly, we use a fluorescent yarn indicator, (specifically glow bug yarn), trimmed so that it gives us about the same wind resistance as a smaller dry fly. Perfect. For those of you wondering if the Hardy Zephrus is different from its predecessor, the Hardy Zenith: It is. Usually takes 1-2 weeks. This hurt somewhat in its scores for swing weight and light tippet protection. Now Im getting nice tight loops and I can punch it hard into the breeze. I love the handle design it tapers outward allowing you to quickly get and maintain a good grip on the handle. The reel seat is a gray anodized double uplocking skeleton seat with sliding band and darker wood insert. By having all the rods set up in an identical manner, it is easy to take a few casts with one rod, at say 40 feet, then pick up another rod and do the same without having to strip the line off one rod and take the time to load up another. This rod gives me the confidence that I can place the fly just where I want it, and do it with a delicate presentation. Scott claims that this gives their rods better strength and we cannot argue with this as we see very few Scott rods broken. The epoxy coatings are excellent as is the overall craftsmanship, which we have come to expect from Scott. Hardy Zephrus Ultralite Fly Rod Review - Trident Fly Fishing This is a smooth line, rather than one with a textured coating. For reels, we again decided to use one of our all-time favorites, the Galvan Torque (T-4), loaded with 100 yards of 20 lb. It is refreshing to see such a nice rod, at such a low price that is made here in the US, in Park Falls, Wisconsin. 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. Pushing off from the dock on a boat called the Capelin, Sandy Milners small team of scientists heads north, navigating through patchy fog past a behemoth cruise For years, I used to leave my waders clipped to an I-bolt in the bed of my pickup (so they wouldnt fly away). For our 4-weight Shootout, once again we have added anotherperformance category Light Tippet Protection. GUIDE TYPE: FUJI TITANIUM REC RECOIL. The cork handle is a half wells design and the quality of the cork is not nearly as good as the best rods and a lot of filler is used. When you read everyone's comments on the Zephrus, you will see that we all agreed that this is a very special rod, for a variety of reasons. While not quite as light as the Douglas Sky G, it is one of the lightest all-around 5wts on the market. This can be a huge help if you have multiple rods and the sections get mixed up. The double uplocking reel seat is plain anodized aluminum dark gray with silver rings and not nearly as attractive as the better skeleton seats with good-looking wood inserts. Much of the time Im able to play smaller trout by just stripping line in, but when I hook a big fish that runs hard I want to play it off the reel. The guides start with one SiC stripping guide followed with very large diameter hard chrome snake guides. I was hitting the plate almost every time. Here is a recap of each manufacturers current policy, their latest fees and what we have experienced for repair time required. Hardy Ultralite NSX DH Fly Rod. I love the light swing weight. The reel seat is a single uplocking skeleton seat in anodized gray that has a very attractive burled wood insert. Same consistent, smooth action and presentation. I did not find that to be the case. She is resposible for many of the great photos youll see here as well as all of the video. This is a fast action rod. A lot heavier in hand than the Pure, and the stiffer tip is not giving me much feel. This is a soft rod, and that gave it good marks in the light tippet protection category, but its performance distance scores were lackluster. The blank is graphite gray and follows Scotts practice of sanding the blank only lightly and allowing the tape marks to remain. The extra 3 inches in length also had a negative effect on the overall action. R.L. Equals the DXF but rods like the Recon and Sky were much better. 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. Now Im getting nice tight loops, and the rod tracks very well with better feel and accuracy. No handling fee. Ive fished with Howard here, on our Montana Spring Creeks, and better understand how and why he came up with these designs. The reel seat is an uplocking black anodized skeleton seat with a dark gray graphite insert, (pretty plain looking but it works well). The epoxy coatings over the wraps were a little heavy, but Ive seen worse. Weve found that fluctuating temperature and humidity from one day to the next can make a difference of .2-.3 oz. The quality of the cork is not too good either and it used a lot of filler. The epoxy coatings on the wraps were excellent. A few casts later Id slowed my stroke down and found the rod loading and unloading line with a firm, predictable cadence. Shop Now. Below are all the 4-weight rods in the order they finished. 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. The stiffness hurt in close but this is one of the very best performing rods at long range. Ive fished with Howard here, on our Montana Spring Creeks, and better understand how and why he came up with these designs. What is a cheap rod like this doing up here with all the far higher priced rods, many of which cost $700more? The Orvis RECON, at $429 wasn't far behind! This is the best way to examine the action of each rod the faster action rods have tips that bend more, with stiffer butt and mid sections, while the more medium action rods will have softer butt and mid sections and stiffer tips. and they examine it. A half wells handle is used and the quality of the cork is only fair to good compared to the best rods. Hardy ZEPHRUS 8'6" #4 $679.00 It's the Hardy Zephrus for the win! Hardy Zephrus discontinued? | The North American Fly Fishing Forum 5. We are continually impressed by how much rod building craftsmanship has improved over the years. 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. Here, the softer rods, ones with softer tips and rods with lighter swing weights post the highest scores. A black anodized double uplocking skeleton seat is used with an unusual x-pattern design and a laminated wood insert. The cork handle is a half wells with a long taper at the front, that I found to be comfortable to grip. Both the newWinston PUREandOrvis HELIOS 3F put in impressive performances, securing podium finishes. The JXP is also very stiff. Overall the craftsmanship was ok but not nearly as good as the best mid-priced rods like the DXF or the Recon. The new HARDY ZEPHRUS ULTRALITE was disappointing, mainly due to a slower action than the Zephrus, and a lack of accuracy in close. Pick any rod here that we rated a 9.5 or better and you have a winner! A darker composite cork ring is used on the bottom of the grip that is flared out to accept the uplocking seat. This is one of the best rods at long range. 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. Both feel and accuracy are poor. First, the Zephrus Ultralite's blank is surprisingly strong, stiff and stable given its weight. Leaders are a critical element in making accurate presentations and fooling spooky trout. Nothing Ive cast yet is better in terms of feel and accuracy from in close right out to 40 feet. To make it easy to judge the turnover and accuracy, we tie in a small fluorescent yarn indicator at the end of the 2-foot 4x tippet and then trim it so that the wind resistance equates to a smaller dry fly. Beautiful presentation with terrific accuracy. Broken sections are replaced. Little feel, and the slower action kills any accuracy. Rods - Hardy Fly Rod - Trout Underground This is one fantastic looking rod one of the very best in our Shootout. 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. Orvis HELIOS 3F 86 #4 $849.00. The soft tip also earns it one of the best scores in light tippet protection. 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. Short to mid-range seem to be the best distances for the DXF. hardy zephrus fly rod for sale | eBay The Avantt tied the Pure for the only perfect scores in Craftsmanship. The locking ring is a little harder to grip and tighten than others. (tie) Loop Q 9 #4 $229.00. Distance The Zephrus Ultralite costs significantly less. Swing weight is on the heavier side and this hurt the performance to some degree. The soft, slow action produces a delivery I noted as mushy. Call us at 406-222-7130, or e-mail us at [emailprotected] and we can discuss your needs and wants. $75 handling fee to original owner, $150.00 charge to all others. It is comfortable to cast all day and versatile enough to throw anything from small dries to heavier nymphs or small streamers. Keep in mind that what you will read here are only our opinions. It is nearly impossible to cast off the tip of the rod like I can with the best 4-weights. The Helios 3F is a relatively new rod from Orvis and it impressed us with its ability to perform well at all distances. He wanted another 4-weight that was very accurate and delicate, yet one that had more power in the butt and mid-section. Pretty good, but not quite as accurate or as much feel as with the Shadow. Better than the Radian and Helios 3F in close. The guides start with a hook keeper, and then one huge stripping guide that looks way too big, followed with thin wire hard chrome snake guides. 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. Since it is a lot shorter than my preferred 8 foot #4, it ran up some high scores in both overall weight and swing weight. What is the Asquith doing way down near the bottom of this Shootout when it won our recent 8-weight Shootout!? Hardy is using their best Sintrix 440 graphite in this rod, also used in the Zephrus. In the performance distance categories it was better at 60 feet than at the closer distances, but the overall weight and swing weight made it a workout to cast. #19. Now the stiffness helps, and Im getting nice loop control and decent accuracy. The DXF has been one of our top mid-priced rods, but there was no denying the Hardy Shadow and Orvis Recon were better. This rod has a stiffer tip than many of the best rods, and I felt this hurt both feel and accuracy at the two shorter distances. But the Avantt and Helios 3F are far better. It tracked well and the accuracy was good better than the Imperial at long range. 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. 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. The casting scores were only fair to good, and in my notes I say that I am getting very little feel or accuracy in close compared to the best rods. NUMBER OF PIECES: 4. The TFO rods, the Taylor rods, the Mystic rod, and the Waterworks rods are all designed here in the U.S. and built in Asia. If a rod looks like a million bucks and casts like it too, fly fishermen are going to lust for it. I dont know how Orvis pulls this off, but we like the results. Part of the light swing weight can be attributed to the use of the superb REC nickel/titanium single-foot guides. There is not much swell in the middle of the grip and it tapers just slightly forward. The top three rods were a lot better. 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 blank is finished in a dark olive green with dark green wraps, that include a little light green trim on the butt. Connect with him on Twitter/Instagram, @Spencer_Durrant. Performance at 25 feet: 18.8 points out of 20. 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. G. Loomis ASQUITH 9 #4 $1000.00. The cosmetics and components of this rod are similar to its shorter brother. Fly Fishing Gear Review: The Hardy Zephrus Rod Both the feel and accuracy were outstanding. The Hardy Zephrus comes in a hard rod tube and wrapped in a nice rod sock. I look for rods that feel totally solid and track well. Rods are replaced. 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. #8. 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. We have liked the Mystic Reaper that has done well in some of our early 5-weight Shootouts. Wind The Sky is much heavier in hand than their less expensive Douglas DXF, and is not nearly as smooth or accurate. I really expected to see this new G Series 4-weight challenge the best rods. I think the stiffer tip hurt here. They use a stack of thin diameter cork rings and the quality of the cork was good. The guide wraps are a slightly darker gray, trimmed in orange on the butt. The Orvis Clearwater rods are designed in Vermont and built in the orient. In fact, the new Zephrus Ultralite from Hardy is likely my favorite fly rod currently on the market. Mystic Reaper X 86 #4 $299.00. Part of the light swing weight can be attributed to the use of the superb REC nickel/titanium single-foot guides. You must register the new rod within 30 days. The color of this rod is an attractive olive, with the guides wrapped in dark brown. Dont fret about the price youll find some ingenious way to sneak it into your collection of rods without the mrs. (or mr.) finding out. The color of this rod is an attractive olive, with the guides wrapped in dark brown. #19. I started out years ago with 5wts for my trout endeavors and currently use a Hardy Zephrus and an older St Croix Legend Ultra. From high country Colorado River cutthroat trout to big browns and rainbows on the Green River in Utah, the blanks backbone was more than strong enough to turn trout into the net. I have the utmost confidence in using this rod with very light tippets to fool large spring creek trout. Line speed It is a double uplocking, anodized gray seat with an attractive burl insert, but right under where the reel seat fits, they have cut away both the threads and the burl leaving the blank that is covered with composite cork! The Pure has it beat for me, but if you are looking for the best all around rod, look no further. There is no question that the Shadow is our best Mid Priced 4-weight rod. The front half of the reel seat where the reel foot is held in placeis all cork. Winston says Pure Feel, Pure Presentation and Pure Fun I cant disagree. And a look at the deflection chart confirms this. The idea here is to measure the swing weight at the middle of where your palm is likely to sit on the grip. 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 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. One SiC stripping guide is used and the rest are the best nickel/titanium and flexible snake guides in a gray color which complement the blank. The fancy burl wood insert just jumps out at you with its striking color lots of red and orange mixed in very attractive. This rod gives me the confidence that I can place the fly just where I want it, and do it with a delicate presentation. Performance at 40 feet: 19.5 points out of 20. I wish that we could have tested an 86 Aetos, but this rod is only available in an 8 foot #4. Performance at 60 feet 10 points available. Nothing beats this rod at 40 feet. 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. For me, this rod loaded up very quickly and efficiently, while still delivering a delicate and accurate presentation on every cast. hardy zephrus 4wt. Awesome! Some anglers may not be, though. If you buy this rod, you need to put a WF-5-F line on it. Our answer is a definite yes. The heavier swing weight makes casting at longer distances a workout. 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. hardy zephrus for sale | eBay The Hardy Zephrus series of fly rods features our award winning Sintrix . (tie) St. Croix IMPERIAL 86 #4 $270.00. This rod is a pleasure to cast, and it has tons of reserve power at long range. I just cant push it at all and have to slow down my casting stroke to get any decent accuracy. The cork handle is that same snub nose, half wells found on the X and feels very comfortable to me. This is one of the worst scores at long distance in our Shootout. 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. The softness didnt allow me to make good hard backcasts in an effort to form tight loops. For most grips this will be at the midpoint in the swell, or the center of the grip. The first time I went to cast one of these rods, my local Hardy rep said hed bet $20 Id throw a tailing loop. Standard corks are used and the quality is excellent. It has been several years now since our last 4-weight Shootout, as we have concentrated on both 5-weight and 8-weight rods. Nice and light in hand and pretty good feel, but the accuracy is not as good as I was getting with the Aetos. Its perhaps a little heavy in swing weight, and this as well as its stiffness, hurt its score at 25 feet. But the stiffness of this rod and its heavy swing weight hurt the performance scores, especially at the shorter distances. This rod gave me better control and accuracy at long range than any other rod in our Shootout. The perfect line: SA Amplitude Smooth Infinity in WF-4-F, Performance at 25 feet: 20 points out of 20. Better now, with more line in the air, but the G series was still a little better in both feel and accuracy. It was hard for me to get any feel or accuracy with such a stiff rod and a light line. I also liked the 12-inch mark on the butt but I wish they had also given us one at 18 or 20 inches. 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. This is a good-looking rod finished in a matte gray color. The Radian is both stiffer and faster in action. (Click here to see more deflection charts). 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. I liked the use of alignment dots. The light swing weight made casting effortless, and Im getting excellent accuracy combined with delicate presentations. Then we progressed to the mid-priced rods and finally the least expensive rods. This made it easy to judge one rod against another. It was a little better than the Avantt here, but not as good as the H3F. A counterbalance opposite the handle is used to keep the reel running smoothly when a fish is racing away from you. 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. Guides start with a hook keeper, then one SiC stripping guide followed with hard chrome snake guides. WinstonLifetime warranty to original owner. Like the Orvis 3F, there is no hook keeper. 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. I loved the punch and power I was getting with the Shadow and only at long range did it suffer. Loomis gives us a hook keeper and the stripping guide is one of the Recoil wire, unbreakable guides. However, as youll see in the Performance Only scores, it finished much higher in 12thplace. Still very doable excellent in fact! #22. 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. Hardy Fly Rods: Ultralite, Zane & More | Trident Fly Fishing But the accuracy was still not as good as the best rods. Notably light. A hook keeper is used just above the handle, and the one black SiC style stripping guide is followed with silver hard chrome snake guides, that are small and light out on the tip. The stiff tip didnt allow me much feel but the accuracy was decent. 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. Pretty good loop control but the feel and accuracy were not as good as what I was getting with the DXF or the St. Croix Imperial. Heads up the Recon and Shadow were far better. Sage promotes the MOD as a rod that will deliver delicate presentations with pinpoint accuracy. The stiffness and slower action hurt its scores in a lot of categories.

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