G
GreenWeenie
Member
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2008
- Messages
- 697
This year I decided I would finally invest in a nice 9 foot, 6wt fast action rod for the Delaware (my 9 foot, 5 weight medium action WT rod just doesn’t cut it on the Delaware). I have anxiously been waiting for my local fly shop to receive their shipment of Winston BiiiX and Hardy Zenith rods after reading Yellowstone Angler’s 5wt shootout results. They finally arrived two weeks ago and since then I have test casted them 3 times (no/slight wind twice and extremely windy once). The store also carries Loomis and Sage so both the NRX and Z-Axis were also considerations (as was the Winston BiiMX) but I really wanted to focus on the BiiiX and Zenith rods. Each rod got a good workout, which included all your standard casts plus high stick nymphing simulation and single spey casts.
Although George Anderson’s comments were related to the 5 weight models, overall, I would have to say his comments about both rods, especially as it relates to performance at short, medium and long distances, are spot on the same for the 6 weight version. The BiiiX rod has incredible feel at close ranges and I would probably give the slight edge to the BiiiX at casting ranges up to 25 feet. And by slight, I mean slight. The BiiiX simply has a softer tip than the Zenith and has that classic Winston feel. It truly feels like my WT series rod except in a faster action version. The Zenith actually has incredible feel and is deadly accurate at short ranges too but it is a different feel than BiiiX – not better or worse just different. It’s difficult to explain and some may actually like the Zenith feel better but I personally liked the BiiiX feel better up to about 25 feet so that got my vote.
From 25 to 50 feet both rods felt incredible and are very capable of throwing tight and open loops accurately but the slightly stiffer tip on the Hardy rod enabled the Hardy rod to throw slightly tighter loops than the Winston rod. But honestly, both rods cast effortlessly, felt great, and I wouldn’t be disappointed with either for fishing within this range. I probably would call it a dead tie for performance within this range.
Now at distances above 50 feet is where the two rods definitely started to show separation, especially in windy conditions. Whereas at distances up to about 50 feet the Winston rod cast effortlessly, above 50 feet it felt like I was fighting the rod even with no wind. The tip just didn’t seem to have the strength to really support the line and it felt like I had to overpower the rod in order to build up line speed and accuracy suffered. (I also struggled to maintain tight loops.) Now I will be the first to admit that I’m not a proficient distance caster and very rarely cast much more than 30 feet of line but in no wind conditions I was able to cast up to about 60 feet of line somewhat accurately with the Winston rod but I never felt confident in the rod or got a comfortable feeling and the BiiiX topped out at about 75 feet and I had very little idea where the fly was actually going to land.
Now the Hardy rod was in a league of its own at distances greater than 50 feet and I was able to toss 70 feet of line with complete ease accurately (very similar to the NRX). At 65-70 feet the Zenith rod felt and cast as good and as easy as it did at 30 feet and when I concentrated on well timed double hauls I really got the line speed up and was tossing 80-85 feet of line pretty accurately and with tight loops (couldn’t manage to toss the whole line, though). And unlike the Winston rod where I was limited to about 40-45 feet of line on the pickup and needed one false cast before letting it go and inaccurately topping out inaccurately at 75 feet, the Hardy rod was easily snapping up 50-55 feet of line on the pickup and shooting it out to 70-75 feet accurately and with no false cast.
Now in windy conditions the Zenith rod blew the doors off the BiiiX – plain and simple. One of the days I went to test cast had a steady wind about 15mph with gusts up to about 30mph. Casting directly into the steady wind the Winston rod made it to about 45 feet with relative ease but beyond that I started to struggle and ultimately topped out at a very inaccurate 60-65 feet. So just like casting at greater distances under no wind conditions, I never felt comfortable or in control with the Winston rod. While I will not blame the rod for my lack of technique, I just never felt confident with the rod. When casting into the stronger gusts, the BiiiX topped out at about 50 feet.
The Hardy rod, however, was easily hitting 50 feet with very little effort and with a decent double haul I managed to reach out to 65-70 feet easily. In the stronger gusts I was able to reach about 55 feet pretty accurately and never felt like I was horsing or overpowering the rod. (Unlike the Winston rod, I felt complete confidence in the Hardy rod.) The results were similar at casting through the wind at a 45 and 90 degree angles. The Hardy rod is simply able to generate higher line speeds and tighter loops than the Winston rod and just significantly outperforms the Winston rod at longer distances and in windy conditions. And I fish Winston medium action rods so I am partial to Winston and really was pulling for the BiiiX.
While I did try the BiiMX, NRX and Z-Axis, it really still came down to the BiiiX and Zenith and up to 50 feet the two rods were essentially dead even (maybe a slight edge to the BiiiX) but I felt the Zenith’s performance at 50+ foot distances and in the wind would make it a better suited rod for Delaware conditions. I honestly was very skeptical about Anderson’s comments and very skeptical that a fly rod could perform equally well over a wide range of distances but somehow the Zenith does. And on top of this the Zenith rod is priced $110 cheaper than the BiiiX ($755 vs. $645). The only area where the Winston rod blows the doors off the Hardy rod is in the looks departments. Not many rods except maybe a Tom Morgan rod will beat Winston in the looks department.
As for the other rods, I really liked the NRX rod and this rod really gives the Zenith a run for its money at the longer distances. However, at shorter ranges, the BiiiX and Zenith have more feel.
The Z-Axis is a great rod and casts nice. I think it has slightly better close range feel than the NRX but I simply am not a Sage guy.
The BiiMX is a nice rod but it is very similar to the NRX rod – excels at greater distances. The BiiMX definitely has better feel at shorter ranges than the NRX and Z-Axis but not as nice as the BiiiX or even the Zenith.
Although George Anderson’s comments were related to the 5 weight models, overall, I would have to say his comments about both rods, especially as it relates to performance at short, medium and long distances, are spot on the same for the 6 weight version. The BiiiX rod has incredible feel at close ranges and I would probably give the slight edge to the BiiiX at casting ranges up to 25 feet. And by slight, I mean slight. The BiiiX simply has a softer tip than the Zenith and has that classic Winston feel. It truly feels like my WT series rod except in a faster action version. The Zenith actually has incredible feel and is deadly accurate at short ranges too but it is a different feel than BiiiX – not better or worse just different. It’s difficult to explain and some may actually like the Zenith feel better but I personally liked the BiiiX feel better up to about 25 feet so that got my vote.
From 25 to 50 feet both rods felt incredible and are very capable of throwing tight and open loops accurately but the slightly stiffer tip on the Hardy rod enabled the Hardy rod to throw slightly tighter loops than the Winston rod. But honestly, both rods cast effortlessly, felt great, and I wouldn’t be disappointed with either for fishing within this range. I probably would call it a dead tie for performance within this range.
Now at distances above 50 feet is where the two rods definitely started to show separation, especially in windy conditions. Whereas at distances up to about 50 feet the Winston rod cast effortlessly, above 50 feet it felt like I was fighting the rod even with no wind. The tip just didn’t seem to have the strength to really support the line and it felt like I had to overpower the rod in order to build up line speed and accuracy suffered. (I also struggled to maintain tight loops.) Now I will be the first to admit that I’m not a proficient distance caster and very rarely cast much more than 30 feet of line but in no wind conditions I was able to cast up to about 60 feet of line somewhat accurately with the Winston rod but I never felt confident in the rod or got a comfortable feeling and the BiiiX topped out at about 75 feet and I had very little idea where the fly was actually going to land.
Now the Hardy rod was in a league of its own at distances greater than 50 feet and I was able to toss 70 feet of line with complete ease accurately (very similar to the NRX). At 65-70 feet the Zenith rod felt and cast as good and as easy as it did at 30 feet and when I concentrated on well timed double hauls I really got the line speed up and was tossing 80-85 feet of line pretty accurately and with tight loops (couldn’t manage to toss the whole line, though). And unlike the Winston rod where I was limited to about 40-45 feet of line on the pickup and needed one false cast before letting it go and inaccurately topping out inaccurately at 75 feet, the Hardy rod was easily snapping up 50-55 feet of line on the pickup and shooting it out to 70-75 feet accurately and with no false cast.
Now in windy conditions the Zenith rod blew the doors off the BiiiX – plain and simple. One of the days I went to test cast had a steady wind about 15mph with gusts up to about 30mph. Casting directly into the steady wind the Winston rod made it to about 45 feet with relative ease but beyond that I started to struggle and ultimately topped out at a very inaccurate 60-65 feet. So just like casting at greater distances under no wind conditions, I never felt comfortable or in control with the Winston rod. While I will not blame the rod for my lack of technique, I just never felt confident with the rod. When casting into the stronger gusts, the BiiiX topped out at about 50 feet.
The Hardy rod, however, was easily hitting 50 feet with very little effort and with a decent double haul I managed to reach out to 65-70 feet easily. In the stronger gusts I was able to reach about 55 feet pretty accurately and never felt like I was horsing or overpowering the rod. (Unlike the Winston rod, I felt complete confidence in the Hardy rod.) The results were similar at casting through the wind at a 45 and 90 degree angles. The Hardy rod is simply able to generate higher line speeds and tighter loops than the Winston rod and just significantly outperforms the Winston rod at longer distances and in windy conditions. And I fish Winston medium action rods so I am partial to Winston and really was pulling for the BiiiX.
While I did try the BiiMX, NRX and Z-Axis, it really still came down to the BiiiX and Zenith and up to 50 feet the two rods were essentially dead even (maybe a slight edge to the BiiiX) but I felt the Zenith’s performance at 50+ foot distances and in the wind would make it a better suited rod for Delaware conditions. I honestly was very skeptical about Anderson’s comments and very skeptical that a fly rod could perform equally well over a wide range of distances but somehow the Zenith does. And on top of this the Zenith rod is priced $110 cheaper than the BiiiX ($755 vs. $645). The only area where the Winston rod blows the doors off the Hardy rod is in the looks departments. Not many rods except maybe a Tom Morgan rod will beat Winston in the looks department.
As for the other rods, I really liked the NRX rod and this rod really gives the Zenith a run for its money at the longer distances. However, at shorter ranges, the BiiiX and Zenith have more feel.
The Z-Axis is a great rod and casts nice. I think it has slightly better close range feel than the NRX but I simply am not a Sage guy.
The BiiMX is a nice rod but it is very similar to the NRX rod – excels at greater distances. The BiiMX definitely has better feel at shorter ranges than the NRX and Z-Axis but not as nice as the BiiiX or even the Zenith.
