2015 5 Weight Shoot-Out

[LetortAngler]

Looking for a new 5 weight? Check out Yellowstone Anglers 2015 5 weight shoot out.

http://www.yellowstoneangler.com/gear-review/2015-5-weight-shootout-fly-rod-review-5weightflyrodcomparison-loomisnrxlp-scott-radian-orvis-helios2-hardyzenith-loop-optistream

 

[SteveG]

Performance at 70ft?

 

[salvelinus]

You mean 5.5 weight. Or 6.

 

[krayfish2]

Same couple of rods in the top 5....again. A few new additions did well in the budget rod category.

 

[Cold]

Same reaction as the rest of these 'shootouts' get from me: too many assumptions, too subjective, too narrow-minded. This all combines to make this sort of thing less than useless.

 

[dano]

salvelinus wrote:
You mean 5.5 weight. Or 6.

My thoughts, too.

Apparently, the recommended all-around 5wt for out west is a 6wt.

I would be more interested in seeing their conclusions casting these rods with the usual 140grain 5wt line, especially in the usual delicate trout tapered lines that many of us use in PA.

 

[salvelinus]

I love how they keep marketing faster and faster rods which require a heavier line to load it properly. If I buy a 5 weight I want it to be a 5 weight, not a 5.5 or 6 dammit. I guess you need to buy a 4 to get a 5 anymore.

Back in the day you could buy a rod and matching line, and be pretty sure it would cast well. Now every year new models are introduced which are promoted as better than the previous. And the myriad of lines to go with them. The average guy (or gal) hasn't the cash to try half dozen lines to see which one will work properly with the rod. Part of the reason why I sold my graphite and went back to glass.

 

[WildTigerTrout]

I think I will stick with my Sage SLT 9' 5 weight. It is a true 5 weight and cast 5 weight line.

 

[Big-Bass]

I feel the same way about my ZXL...they said in a previous shootout it was too soft to test. I like it just fine at less than 50' and if I fish over that with a #18 dry fly, I better have binoculars.

 

[Swattie87]

Marketing. Period. At some point, someone at a fly rod manufacturer figured out that we will sell more fly rods (and presumably make more money) if we can convince someone that every couple of years the $500+ rod they bought two years ago is now obsolete, and the technology in this year’s new $500+ rod will improve their casting experience and theoretically allow them to catch more fish. And apparently plenty of folks do this. Everyone should spend their own money as they see fit…If that’s your deal, and you have the means to do it, cool. You’re happy with your new rod, and the fly rod company is happy you bought it. Everyone wins.

That being said, the truth of the matter is that 95%+ (maybe more like 99%+?) of the fish I encounter and attempt to catch I could catch (or screw up and not catch) just fine on a $75 BPS or Cabelas job. Admittedly, there is something also to be said to be fishing with a rod that you enjoying fishing with and is fun to cast. So the question is, what makes the now two year old $500+ rod no longer enjoyable and fun to cast?…Marketing. Period. You become convinced you will enjoy the new rod more, and thus like your 2 year old rod less. Worth noting, it’s not always the rod manufacturer doing the marketing. Yellowstone Angler puts this review out once a year. They sell fly rods, most or all of the ones in the review. Seems to reason they would like to sell more of them…

Moral of the post…just fish with something that makes you happy to be fishing with. If that’s a new $500+ rod every couple years, cool. If that’s the same $50 rig you started with or picked up at a yard sale, cool. Everything in between, cool. Just don’t let someone else’s marketing convince you otherwise.

 

[JG63]

Yeah inexpensive $189 ...

 

[Sylvaneous]

salvelinus wrote:
I love how they keep marketing faster and faster rods which require a heavier line to load it properly. If I buy a 5 weight I want it to be a 5 weight, not a 5.5 or 6 dammit. I guess you need to buy a 4 to get a 5 anymore.
.

Basically, or exactly... The last (and possibly THEE last) fly rod I bought was a Helios 9ft 4 wt mid-flex. My friend guides out of an Orivs shop out west. He recommended it, but I never cast the thing beforehand. He suggested a 5 wt line, and it works great. Actually bends a little down the rod. that's how the guys out there fish them.

I forget this man's name, but he wrote for American Angler or something. He did lots of professional things BESIDES fly fishing, so he wasn't a hack for anybody. Almost all the rods he reviewed had a mention that it would cast better with a heavier line. George Anderson is a great guy and caster and fisherman. I've never SEEN a Tom Morgan made rod, but from what I hear, a guy who has input on that rod must know how a real fly rod should cast. He seems to put a lot of weight on the 60-70 foot cast. I can do that and have it not just be getting line out there, but it's not real easy and certainly not really productive. Simply, not many people can. While it shouldn't be a strong critique, I still don't want a rod that is getting pushed to cast 70 feet. It should do that pretty well, but it better do REALLY well at 20 to 50 feet.

Now, when you don't have 20 rods to compare a rod you like should be just fine. But if you have a chance to nit-pick, you can find one that is closer to an ideal. Even one that got a high rating, if it doesn't FEEL right to you, if you aren't comfortable fishing it, it isn't the rod for you. The Orvis Recon got a good rating, but for PA, it's a little fast. It would be excellent for bigger lines and longer casts, but when I cast it against a Winston Nexus, I thought the Nexus would be a better rod to live with, day in and out. (Even if I wished it had a slightly springier tip). You'll never cast that many rods in YEARS, so you wouldn't know just how exactly great one rod would be compared to another.

All that being said, I really doubt that any rod would fish better than a G Loomis NRX. They are superb. I have to say Loomis left Sage in their dust.

 

[Sylvaneous]

Swattie87 wrote:
At some point, someone at a fly rod manufacturer figured out that we will sell more fly rods (and presumably make more money) if we can convince someone that every couple of years the $500+ rod they bought two years ago is now obsolete, and the technology in this year’s new $500+ rod will improve their casting experience and theoretically allow them to catch more fish.

I was making enough money in the mid/late 90's that I could buy decent equipment. I can't hold a candle to some old timers as far as historical gear goes, but I quite happily fish a 9 ft. 5 wt Double L Bean's rod from 1996? 1997? that I have no interest in replacing. Not that I curmudgeonly cling to old gear; I don't WANT to use another rod. My 9 ft 6 wt RPL (2 piece, of course) is all I want to use for steelhead. An 8 ft 4 wt Diamondback Aeroflex is as sweet a dry fly rod for smaller to medium streams as I could want. I can cast well (though often don't!) so the rod marketing guys can't convince me I'll do any better with their new Wonder Rod.

I've seen enough rod series come and go. It seems like the companies indulge trends that screw-up rods, just to go back and introduce another rod series to fix their mistakes. Some shop hands felt this way about Sage's Z-axis and some other top end rods. They get a great selling series for 3 or 4 years like the VXP and then dump it for who knows... a 4 pc. 9 ft. 5 weight that weighs more than comparable rods did 10 years ago. They'll be fixing that mistake in about 3 years with the VXP 'revival' or whatever. Suckers.

 

[Sylvaneous]

Big-Bass wrote:
I feel the same way about my ZXL...they said in a previous shootout it was too soft to test. I like it just fine at less than 50' and if I fish over that with a #18 dry fly, I better have binoculars.

If it's a 9 ft. 5 wt, you should be able to cast it 55+ ft without even thinking much about it. When I was comparison casting the XP against the SLT, the precursor to your ZXL, I could more easily cast more line easier and faster with it than the XP at trout ranges, up to 60 ft, (marked on a casting pond). Really, your rod should lack nothing for trout fishing except maybe some stiffness for fishing larger nymphs. It will bend deeper and sling weighted streamers (within weight limits of a 5 wt) more easily than fast rods. My 8.5 SLT is one of my most pleasurable rods to fish. I don't DO it that much, and that's kinda weird, now that I think about it! Durrrr.

I'm afraid to fish my Powell LGA 8.5 5 wt.. If I break the tip, I fear I'll intentionally drown myself. I've had people offer me cash for that rod on the stream. (Always Penns, it seems). Poppier than the SLT. More back-bone. Man is it a great rod. I think the Powell company should have remained and would have allowed Scott, an admirable company itself, to pass into history. I've cast more, better Powells than Scotts.

 

[Cold]

It seems like the companies indulge trends that screw-up rods, just to go back and introduce another rod series to fix their mistakes. Some shop hands felt this way about Sage's Z-axis and some other top end rods. They get a great selling series for 3 or 4 years like the VXP and then dump it for who knows...

Funny you'd use that as an example.

Literally every single other thing I've read about those two rods in this sort of discussion seems to be directly opposite from your take on it: they hit a home run with the Z-Axis, with the VXP being a weak follow-up (or the One series being a decent-to-good follow up and the VXP being an awkward middle step). Additionally, I've read many reviews that claim that the Accel is returning more to the Z-Axis and is generally preferred over the VXP for that reason.

It's all very deeply subjective, to the point that one "informed opinion" is almost less than worthless.

 

[PennKev]

I'll summarize this article for those who didn't care to read:

According to some rando fishing dudes, almost every rod from a reputable manufacturer was great. Buy whatever makes you feel warm and fuzzy.

P.s. They draw some deflection charts using super scientific sharpie markers and split shot containers.

 

[dano]

So, Today I fished a friends 9' 5wt sage One lined with a Rio wf5f Perception. IMO, the rod doesn't need to be overlined.
Definitely a dry fly rod and through a cross wind, I picked off fish rising to grannoms from 10 to 50ft. I liked it better then my XP and much better than the Z-Axis and my friends H2 tipper.
I was expecting broomstick stiff. What I found was a very nice casting rod with a nice feel.

 

[krayfish2]

Summary of the shootout.... Once again, the St Croix Legend Elite proves to be the best bang for your buck.

I've cast a One and a H2 tip flex. To me, the orvis felt lighter and not as harsh when casting. If I were to separate $700 from my wallet, the One would be behind H2, Zenith, Legend Elite and probably a few others

 

[fishngun]

The ONE is a stiffer stick for sure. It has feel if you load it properly. In my opinion the NRX and H2 are better sticks for typical trout fishing. The ONE has PLENTY of power and you will have no issue getting the line out there but I feel like it has a touchier sweet spot as far as casting goes, or perhaps it's just a line snob of a rod. Of course this is all subjective to the user. I might like one thing and you another. The Shootouts are what they are and I feel they give you a chance to get an idea of how the different rods stack up. I've called them before, told them where I live and how i'll fish and have gotten what I felt was a pretty unbiased opinion and was actually suggested to save my money and go for the lesser priced rod of the ones I asked about. Trident does shootouts too and I like them as well. You have to read between the lines and apply the information to your personal situation.

 

[Cold]

So, Today I fished a friends 9' 5wt sage One lined with a Rio wf5f Perception. IMO, the rod doesn't need to be overlined.

To be fair, the Perception is one of the "1/2 wt. heavy" lines. I'm sure some of the AFTMA cheerleaders would have been along to "enlighten" you at some point.

I totally agree with your assessment though. I have a 9' 6wt One that I've used with a small variety of lines (Wulff Ambush, Rio Gold, Rio Perception, Cortland 444, and an Outbound WF6S1/I (though that one doesn't really count in this context)), and the Perception is far and away the best line for that rod (for me). The Gold was a close second, but I had to take care not to overpower it...definitely the best distance combo I've used...not just for getting it out there, but maintaining control and accuracy downrange...but in close the One was a bit fast for the Gold front taper.

With the WF6F Perception, I get 85% of the Gold's performance way out there, but with fantastic ability up close as well. Easily the most versatile setup I've ever used.