TFO Axiom

[GreenWeenie]

About 2 years ago I let a friend use my TFO 9', 8wt TiCr.....and he broke the tip. I finally got around to sending it back to TFO about 4 weeks ago and the TiCr model is discontinued and they didn't have any replacement sections. Instead, TFO allowed me to select ANY model rod in any size/line I wanted as a replacement.

I ended up getting the 9', 8wt Axiom.

I finally took it out this morning for some smallie fishing and the thing is a cannon. It's definitely not a finese rod but it easily picks up 30 feet of line and fires out 60 without any false casting. One false cast and you can easily hit 80 feet on the release.

It is really stiff and a 2lb smallie barely puts a bend in the rod but if anyone is looking for a reasonably priced heavy fresh or light salt water rod that can chuck a big bug or heavy rig a country mile, this may be your rod.

 

[jabink84]

My buddy just sent his TiCr in last month and they did the same thing. He chose the same rod you did. I can second your review. Its a sweet rod and absolutely LAUNCHES line.

 

[elonDO]

I had the same thing happen a few weeks ago. I looked at the Axiom, but decided to go with the TiCrX. Haven't had a chance to get it out on the water yet, but I hope I have the same experience as you had with the Axiom!

 

[ryguyfi]

I also have the TFO TICR 9'8wt. Love that rod. Always felt that rod really punches the line out. I bass fish with it and also use it on steelhead. You feel the Axiom casts better?

 

[GreenWeenie]

The TiCr and Axiom are two completely different rods. The TiCr has a bit more tip feel and what I found different between the two is the TiCr takes more effort to get 70 feet of line out whereas the Axiom just flings it and is also able to handle larger and heavier flies better. The Axiom is definitely a long distance casting rod whereas the TiCr is more of a fishing rod that can cast for distance if needed. The TiCr rod definitely has a lot more feel at distances closer than 30 feet and if you don't have 20-25 feet of line off the tip, the Axiom has ZERO feel.

As an example, with the Axiom I can snap up 25 feet of line effortlessly, let another 20-25 sail out on the backcast, and with a quick stop, haul and flick of the wrist fire out another 30+ feet of line. I could not do that with the TiCr, a 70 foot cast would have required at least one false cast.

Overall I can’t say one is better than the other - they are simply different rods meant to do different things.

 

[ryguyfi]

Good description. So you're saying the Axiom casts much like a spey rod, just single handed? I rarely fish in places I need to do that, but the spey scene has me intrigued as of late. I might just have to swing out west to hit some wild steelhead streams to see if I like it or not...

Good post. I've been a fan of TFO. Their rods are known for being fairly stiff, but good performers at their price range. Their customer service is also fantastic. Never heard anything besides that, and this is another testament to that also.

 

[Ramcatt]

the axiom has no relation to the flex pattern of a two handed rod

the 8wt is a fast salt rod
reponsive with fast recovery in the tip... but not a deep flexing rod

the SA Titan taper is a great match for large streamers

 

[GreenWeenie]

Good add Ramcatt, the Axiom is not a deep flexing rod.

I bought the TiCr hoping to have a heavy fresh, light salt water rod and the TiCr served the fresh need well but wasn’t quite strong enough for salt. I by no means profess to be a great distance caster but if I was trying to lift 20 feet of sinking line with the TiCr, I found it took a lot of energy to get the line moving backwards fast enough to stay in the air (especially if using a large fly) because the rod bent too much and just didn’t seem strong enough. So many times I found myself taking in line to 10 feet out and taking 3-4 false casts to get back out to 60 feet or so. So for every one 60 foot cast executed I was making 3-4 false casts and after 30 minutes of fishing my arm felt like it was going to fall off. So when I was given the choice to get something else, I went with the Axiom because I wanted something better suited for light salt water fishing at the sacrifice of fresh water. For fresh water I bought a 9’ 7wt TFO Professional Series.

With the Axiom I can easily lift off 20-25 feet of sinking line with enough speed to keep the fly in the air and in one forward cast launch it back out 60+ feet.