Hardy Wraith and Hardy Zephyrs Fly Rod Review, 9' 5wt.

In the past, I provided information on the then new Hardy Zenith and how it compared to other rods out there on the market and what my thoughts were on them.  I've been able to fish them for 4 years now and when I heard they were discontinuing them, I wondered why and the hell this was happening!
In the last few years, amazing changes have been made in the fly rod world.  We have always had some great rods out there, but over the last five years or so, fly rod companies have upped their game.
Several of the high-end rods available this year can do everything you ever wanted them to do.  They are light, fast and a pleasure to fish with.  This year, Hardy introduced their replacement for the Hardy Zenith, the Zephrus and also a new rod, the Wraith.  I've been able to obtain both of these rods and cast them a few times and got them on the water as well to actually fish them.  First, let me tell you how they cast.
Casting

Hardy Zephrus-9' 5wt rod.  
The Hardy Zenith was almost perfect.  It could do it all.  The only thing I found it lacking was more touch on the really close casts.  I fish the South Platte River in Colorado and that means I usually start the day nymphing and then switch over to dry flies as the hatches began.  If you have ever fished on the S. Platte during a hatch or at any time, you realize that you can get close to the fish.  These fish see a few people throughout the year and they have learned to deal with it in order to survive.  That means that you can make point blank casts to these fish.  I am not standing 55 feet away trying to make them eat.  A lot of times, I am casting 15 feet or less.  I need a rod that can make that cast.
After taking these rods out for a spin on the lawn, I have found that the new Zephrus is much like the old Zenith, but it is somewhat smoother and even lighter.  The tip is a bit softer and therefore, those short casts become a reality.  At 30 feet, this rod was smooth and sweet.  The tip felt nice and the rod make accurate presentations on the lawn.  At 45-60 feet, the rod was great, nice and smooth and powerful.  There is no doubt that it would be fun tossing big hoppers with this rod and you would have no problem doing so.  Close in work, such as the 15 foot cast was certainly doable, but the rod was still a bit stiff for that cast.  Most rods struggle with this cast, unless you are throwing a glass rod because there is so little fly line out of the tip and therefore it cannot load the rod.  Usually there is about 5 feet of line and your leader.  If I can get the tip to flex a little, I can make the cast.  I can do it with this rod.  It's not perfect, but I can do it.  I can't say that with a lot of rods.  

Hardy Wraith 9' 5wt. Rod.
This is a new rod that utilizes Hardy's Sintrix 550 carbon fiber material. The Hardy Zephrus rod uses Sintrix 440.   It's a faster action rod the the Zephrus.  My initial reaction was that it was a fast rod and that it was smooth and powerful.  I cast this rod with a Rio Perception fly line and it liked it.  A 30 foot cast felt good, but I could tell that it was at the very beginning of loading the rod and that anything shorter was going to feel "dead".  It was smooth and powerful at that distance.  I felt that this was the rod to have on a windy day or for a "big bug" rod.  I was pretending that I was on the Arkansas River throwing #10 Chubbies followed by a Tungsten Glossy Back Baetis Nymph dropped 2 feet below and having no trouble getting it where I needed it to be.  Going out a bit further, the 45-60 foot distance with this rod was no problem and it actually felt great at this distance.  I don't fish this far all that often but I would love to!  This rod was made to fish at this distance.  Further out, I had no trouble making that cast.  I feel like this rod on the lakes would be awesome!  I switched to a SA GPX Textured line and I think this is the better of the two lines I tried.  The rod felt amazing at all distances with this line.  Going back to the 15 foot cast, there was very little feel to this rod.  This is not what it was designed for.  It could make the cast, but it's not the rod I want in that situation!

Fishing

Hardy Zephrus
I took this out to actually fish with to see how it handled a nymph rig and possibly dry flies.   Setting it up with a Thingamabobber, 3 flies and split shot would let me know instantly how good this rod was going to be-or not.   The first thing I noticed was how light the rod feels.  It almost feels "fake".   It's so light and casting it with a nymph rig was as easy as ever.  I fished it with the Rio Perception and it handled everything just fine.  It's a great rod.  Nice and smooth and powerful.  I wanted to try the Wraith but just couldn't put this rod down.  One thing I noticed was how effortless it was to make mends with this rod.  With just a flip of the wrist, I could make stack mends and I actually spent more time throwing mends into my drift.  I missed a fish by "playing" around with the rod and making too many mends on the drift.  After a break to another location of the river, I picked up this rod again and cast it.  It was sweet.  It brought a smile to my face.

Hardy Wraith
After fishing the Zephrus, I switched over to the Wraith to see how it felt.  I changed the reel and used the exact same rig as used before.  This is a fast, strong rod!!!  The best way to explain this is this:  Have you even been to a restaurant or in a room where the music was just 3 or 4 clicks to high?  The music was great and the speakers sounded great, but it was just a bit much?  This rod is like that.  I felt to was about 3-4 clicks too stiff.  It cast like a dream, but it was stiff!  It had very little bend at about 20 feet out with the nymph rig.  It was certainly that much stiffer than the Zephyrs.  I almost wanted to put it away but I kept with it and I found that it was getting easier to "feel".  The mending was a bit harder to do as the tip is stiffer and it is noticeable.  I am not saying it was hard, but not as smooth to do as the Zephyrs.  Eventually, I wanted to go find some rising fish if there were any.  I walked and found some.  I immediately switched rods back to the Zephyrs.

Hardy Zephrus with dry flies.
After seeing fish rising to BWOs, I added tippet to my leader and put on a size 22 BWO Emerger.  As mentioned above, I wanted to be point blank to these fish.  I set myself up and across to them.  I was about 12-15 feet out with a 12 foot leader.  This was the moment of truth!  It cast great.  It put the flies where I needed them to be.   It cast #22s and even #26 emergers perfectly.  I have no doubt that I could do this with Tricos and BWOs anywhere within 15 feet and not feel overpowered.  After casting this for a while and missing a few fish, I switched back to the Wraith to see how it felt.

Hardy Wraith with dry flies.
After the Zephrus passed with flying colors, I was afraid to put this rod on the fish.  Actually, it felt ok casting that close.  I was surprised, but still felt it was a bit too much throwing a # 26 Emerger with this rod.  My first thought was similar to driving a diesel truck as a commuter vehicle, without owning anything to pull behind it.  It could do the job, but certainly not be my first choice.  Again, I picture myself on a bigger river with lots of room and big flies tied on and having fun throwing the long bomb.

So is the Hardy Wraith worth it?  Depends on what you want to do with it.  As a go to rod on the South Platte River?  No.  It's just too fast of a rod.  It's a great rod and fun to cast and fish, but it's not for everyone, maybe not for most people.  On bigger rivers with heavy nymphing and big dries, This may be one of the rods to have.  It would be fun.  If you throw lots of streamers, this is a great option for you.  If you make long casts on lakes, this might be a great option for you.  For throwing # 26 Tricos in Elevenmile Canyon, this is not the rod for you.  Its a wonderful looking rod and a wonderful casting and fishing rod.  It all depends on what you like your rods to be.  It's fast and smooth.  I am struggling to find a place for it in my line up, but I keep going back to throwing big dries on The Arkansas River with droppers as well as double streamer rigs.  That would be the perfect situation for this rod.  Also higher water at Deckers and Cheeseman Canyon when you can throw big Pat's Rubber Legs and Cranefly Larva with indicators.  Or maybe at Spinney making long bombs to rising trout or throwing streamers.  

Is the Hardy Zephrus worth it and is it better than the Hardy Zenith?  Yes and yes.  The Zenith is a hell of a rod and many people love it.  I love it.  It does everything you need it to do.  But I always come back to the point blank work throwing dries.  It could be better.  The Zephrus closes that gap and allows you to make that cast better.  If you are looking for a new rod, make sure to check out this rod.  I have no doubt that I could be on the Arkansas River throwing long bombs with chubbier and tungsten droppers with no problem.  I could also go to Elevenmile Canyon and throw #26 Tricos to rising fish.  I could go to the Dream Stream and throw big nasty streamers all day long too.  It can do it all for you and yes, I do think it is better than the Zenith.  It's lighter and smoother than the Zenith.  Does it blow it away?  No!  Like I said before, the Zenith is a hell of a rod and there are very few rods out there that are better than it and I think the Zephrus is one of them.  I hoping to be able to test some other rods in the series as I know those will all be winners.

In my short time with this rod, I know it's going to be a favorite of many.  The only thing keeping it from being a "favorite" of many people is the lack of dealers in my area.  It seems that everyone loves the Winston and Sage rods and aren't even aware of Hardy as a fly rod manufacture.  I can tell you that you need to find a dealer and cast these rods.  They are better than 95% of the rods out there.  There is no doubt that these rods will be a standard and a benchmark as to how rods should be created.   As of today, the only other rod out there that can compare to the Zephyrs is the G. Loomis NRX LP fly rod.  It is just as good and feels great.  It's a bit different in the way it cast, but as I may have mentioned before, one is Manning, the other is Brady (Circa 2012).  Both good, but different in the "feel".  The Scott Radian is another great rod but is still a bit behind both of these rods in terms of feel for me.  The swing weight is heavier and for me, it feels a bit fast for the point blank casts.   There are five rods out there that I have spent time casting and fishing that I think are the best.  The Hardy rods, Zephrus, Wraith and Zenith, along with the G. Loomis NRX LP and the Scott Radian.

Goodbye to the Hardy Zenith?

Recently, I have heard that my favorite rod, The Hardy Zenith is being discontinued.  Like all great rods before it, it has come time to replace it with a newer material, a newer idea. While I have done many "experiments " on different rods over the last two years, I found that this rod is just a perfect all around rod for me.  Specifically, the 9' 5wt rod is perfect as an all purpose rod that can handle anything.  My favorite rod in the series is the 8'6" 4 wt. rod.  Perfect for the dry fly fishing, it is delightful.  The rods will be going on sale at your local Hardy dealer, so I'd try to find one if you can. Otherwise, you could wait for the latest and greatest to be announced.  I it appears that there will be two new line ups in the Hardy world.  The Hardy Zephrus is what I assume is the replacement for the Zenith.  It uses Sintrix 440, which was used in the Zenith series.  I am assuming that these rods will be similar in sizes and price.   Hardy has not released any information yet, so this is only speculation on my part. (I have confirmation that this is the case).
One other rod that will be released is the Hardy Wraith, a high dollar, ultra fast action fly rod.  Think Sage one and Sage Method style.  This is based off of Sintrix 550, which is the best material available in the Sintrix line up.  If you remember, Hardy used this material in the Hardy Artisian, which was featured in the Yellowstone Angler a couple years ago and got awesome marks for feel, even better than the Zenith.  The Artisan was produced in England so the cost was prohibitave to most of us and I've never even seen one.   So hang on and go grab a Zenith rod or wait to see what is coming out later this year.  I am sure they will be something special.

 

New 5wt. Fly Rod Shoot Out results

If you've followed this blog for a while now, you understand that I love gear.   I have in the past, compared different fly rods and line to go with those rods and gave you my opinion.  Here and here and here.  My hands down favorite fly rods are the Hardy Zenith rods.  I don't think there is a better fly rod out there right now.  The Scott Radian came closer but couldn't touch it.

Over the last few years, there have been a couple of 5 wt. shoot outs done by George Anderson's Yellowstone Angler.  These are great rod comparisions on the best rods out there.  Just today, I received an e-mail about a new, different rod Shoot out.  Trident Fly Fishing did their own shoot out and came up with a different winner.  Take a look here.
What interested me the most with this review was that the Hardy Zenith came in 2nd place.  It was tested by various anglers and scored accordingly to how they thought it felt.  It did great and it just goes to show that that rod is definately one of the best all around rods out there if not the best!    Another thing that popped out to me was the comments on the Sage ONE rod.  Some said it was "too fast for the average angler".  I have been saying this all along!!  The Scott Radian is also another one of those rods who has a great following.  I cast this rod along several others and felt it was a bit too stiff for an all around rod for me.  It also felt that way to others in the review.  I think it is a great rod, but just a tad bit too stiff and fast.  I would love this rod in a 6wt. for streamers. The winner, the Orvis H2 is another top both rod.  Do I think it is better than the Zenith?  NO!  It is pretty darn special though.  

In truth, I think I might like the H2 4wt. over the Zenith.  That 4wt. is a special rod.   It's light and fast and smooth.  The 5 wt. is strong and accurate and better than the One and Radian in my opinion but not as smooth, powerful and light as the Zenith.  The Radian does have a special place in my heart though.  It was created here in Colorado and my casting style was formed by Scott rods.  The look of those rods are unique and there is nothing that compares to the hand scribed writing.  I don't own one.....yet.

So what are your thoughts on rods you own now? What rods do you like? Dislike?

A few more thoughts on rods and the new Scott Radian.

My initial thoughts on the Scott Radian were whoa!

If you have followed me on this blog for a while, you may know that I love fly rods and I love comparing them to each other.  I try to give you my feedback on how they feel to me, but every angler is different.   Some could care less about new gear and some just love it and want to find all the info they can get.
I have always considered myself a Scotthead, loving all the Scott Fly rods.  The old Gs, the newer G2s and the S4s.  The problem I was having with Scott was that they had old rod designs for the standard freshwater rods.  The S4 was released in 2007.  Newer rods had been coming out every year but the S4 was not being replaced.  The S4 was great when it was released, but 6 years later it was still their flagship fast action rod.   In early 2013, I got word that there was a new rod in the works and would be released in July.  A new S5 I thought.   When the Scott Rep came by Anglers Covey, I hopped in the car and drove as fast as I could to the shop to cast the new prototype.  I wasn't too impressed.  It was still a prototype and sometimes they are heavy and unfinished.
When the new Scott Radian was released, I was excited.  It won best of show at the 2013 IFTD show and many people were praising the feel and look of this rod.  I had to get my hands on it.
I rigged up the 9' 5wt rod and took it on Angler Covey's casting pond.  Dang!  This rod is sweet.  It felt great and I was already trying to figure out which rod I could sell to buy one of these rods.
A few days later, I brought one of my Hardy rods over to the Covey to compare to the Radian.
I was a little afraid the Radian was going to feel better than the Hardy Zenith.  It was a 1-piece rod I threw in the car that morning.  Both rods were casted by me and by a few others at the Covey and the unanimous decision was that the Radian was a sweet rod, but the Hardy was just that much smoother, lighter and overall pleasant to cast.  Now, this was the 1-piece rod we were casting, vs. a 4 piece rod but the 4 piece  9' 5wt. Zenith is the next smoothest rod I have ever cast in a 5wt.  Earlier in the week, I was able to cast the 9'4wt G. Loomis NRX LP and I was impressed.  That is a sweet rod also!  It has a very soft tip and cast like a dream up close.  I tend to fish up close, within 20 feet to rising fish eating tricos in 11-Mile Canyon and BWOs on the Arkansas River.   I rarely make longer casts than 40ft.
In my opinion, the top rods out there right now are the Hardy Zenith, the G. Loomis NRX LP, the Scott Radian and the Orvis  Helios 2.  I have casted all of these rods, but have only fished 2 of them.  In the future, I will do more casting and more fishing with different rods to follow up with more information.  2 rods that I really didn't like:  The Sage ONE and the Winston BIII-SX.  I'd like to beat the Winston BIII-SX with the ONE.  I am sure the One would survive and then I could fish it.  The Winston 9' 5wt is just that bad.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on rods.   My favorite rod may be the one you would like to beat with my least favorite rod. We all fish differently and rods are different to all of us.  That is what is great about it all.
Would I suggest a new Scott Radian?  Yes.  It is a great rod, but to me, not the best one out there.

The best 5wt. rod in the world!

Don't be surprised if I change my mind on that later down the road.  That rod still makes me say whoa!

Hardy Zenith vs. Orvis Helios 2, Lawn Test and Notes

I took out three rods on the lawn to conduct a mini shoot-out.  The Orvis 9'5 wt. Helios 2 (H2), the Hardy 9' 5wt. 4pc. Zenith and the Hardy 8'10" 1 piece Zenith.  What did I think?  Here are some notes.

• H2 with SA Textured GPX- The rod felt a bit heavier with this line.  It had more swing weight than the Hardy 4pc.  It cast the line just fine, but I felt like I had to push a bit harder.  
• Hardy 4pc. with SA Textured GPX- This rod also felt a bit heavier than with a standard line.  The GPX felt good, but again as with the H2, I felt I had to push it a bit more.  The swing weight was lighter than the H2 with the same line.  There was a bit more tip bounce with the heavier line.  
• Hardy 1 Pc.  This rod can handle the GPX line better, but I still felt it was needing a standard line.  It matched better than the other 2 rods with this line. 
• My pick with this line:  Hardy 1 Piece, then Hardy 4 pc. 

          ___________________________________________

• H2 with Rio Gold- This rod certainly felt better and this is the line for this rod.  It was easier to cast and felt like a different rod.   It was smooth and it was impressive.  
• Hardy 4 pc with Rio Gold-This was blowing the doors off the H2 with the GPX line on the H2.  Once I switched lines, things evened out a bit.  The Rio Gold line is great with this rod.  It was certainly effortless casting this line and I felt this was one of the smoothest casting rods I have ever cast.  
• Hardy 1 Piece with Rio Gold-If I didn't have this rod, the Hardy 4 pc. would be top dog.  Well, this rod is top dog.  It cast great with the Rio Gold.  With 2 inches shorter, it makes a difference.  So does a single, continuous blank.  

          _____________________________________________

• H2 with Rio Classic, a standard size line-This line felt good with this rod, but I would use the Rio Gold for this rod.  
• Hardy 4 pc with Rio Classic, a standard size line-This rod handled it just fine.  I would use the Rio Gold for this rod also, but it felt better on this rod than on the H2.
• Hardy 1 pc. with Rio Classic, a standard size line-This rod felt just fine.  If you used this line on this rod, you would never question it.  This rod is just that good.  _____________________________________________

• H2 with a Cortland Precision, a standard size line-It felt great, but I still think the Rio Gold is the one for this rod.  
• Hardy 4pc. with a Cortland Precision, a standard size line-This line felt really good on this rod. If I were to choose between a Rio Gold and this line, it would be hard.  Actually, I don't know if this line is made any more, so I guess the choice is clear, however if it is still made or there is a similar line, I would blink twice putting this line on this rod.  
• Hardy 1 Piece with a Cortland Precision, a standard size line-This rod can handle the widest range of lines than the others.  It worked just great with this rod.  _____________________________________________

After spending about an hour casting these rods, I would say that the Hardy 4 pc., in my opinion is a better feel for me than the H2.  It is close, but I would have to say the swing weight on the H2 is a bit heavier and more noticeable.  A Hardy with a Rio Gold vs. a H2 with A GPX is no contest. The Hardy felt so much better, but when you switch lines, it wasn't so apparent.  At that point, I would give the edge to the H2 in feel as the GPX line is just too heavy for me on the Hadry.  At this point, you are really splitting hairs.  Both rods are special in their own way.  The Orvis H2 is lighter in physical weight, but the swing weight is heavier.
Even with these two top notch rods dueling it out, the Hardy 1 piece rod is the top dog.  It handled the various lines better than the other 2 rods.  It was lighter in physical weight than the other 2 and the swing weight was lighter also.  Remember that it is 2 inches shorter than the other 2 rods.  But it just handled everything better and felt the best to me.  The Hardy 4 pc. would be my second choice using a Rio Gold or even a Standard line. It was able to use various lines better than the H2.   The H2 was right behind the 4 pc. with the Rio Gold, but because it was only liking the Rio Gold, it wasn't as versatile as the other 2 rods using the same lines.  The SA GPX isn't the best choice for these rods and I would recommend a Rio Gold or a standard size line for these rods.   There may be better choices out there, but this is all I had to use for my testing.  I hope this helps people out there decide what lines may work better for a rod, but you really have to go out there and cast them and get your own feel for these rods.  Rods and lines are just like socks and shoes.  Some feel better with different socks and not everybody likes the same kind of shoes or socks.  Just because I recommend a shoe, will you go out and buy them with out trying them out?  No, at least I hope not!  Let me know if you have any thoughts on this.

Hardy Zenith Fly Rods

Keeping with the theme of rods, I'd like to share with you some thoughts on the Hardy Zenith Fly Rods.  I like to fish with the rods before I go spitting out my thoughts on the  different rods out there.  Casting the rods gives us all a great idea of how they feel, but it isn't until we rig them up and cast them that we really know how they feel and act on the water.  As some of you may know, I recently picked up some Hardy Zenith fly rods. Let me start by saying that these rods and all the hoopla about them is just not people making some noise.  These rods are the real deal and these rods, I think, are the pinnacle of modern production fly rods today.  The 9' 5wt., 4 piece rod is as great as it can get.  It has great feel and power.  I started using these on guide trips last year when I needed a rod to cast dries up close and none of my faster rods had the feel to make those casts up close.  The rod excelled at throwing the small stuff within 15' with feel.  They also could throw the streamers as needed and the nymph rigs were very easy to cast.  The 9' 5wt. is as versatile as they come.

I just received a 8'6" 4wt. and fished it yesterday on the Arkansas River.  I landed 5 fish, all on dries with this rod.  That was great, but I was really enjoying casting this rod.  It is super accurate and effortless to cast.  I can see this being a great guide rod for chasing BWO hatches and trico hatches.  I was hesitant to get one as I had that rod length in the past and never really used it much nor did I have a great connection to it.  This rod is completely different though.  I instantly fell in love with it.   It is that good.  I figured you would only need two rods in your arsenal; a 9' 5wt and a 8'6" 4 wt.  At least that is a good start to cover most bases.   Both rods can cover it all for trout.

The 1 piece rods are available also and these rods are just sweet.  If I say the 4 piece rods are the smoothest rods available, then these rods are just a notch above them.  Less transportable they are, but I think they are more versatile than the 4 piece rods.  Many people say there is no reason for a 1 piece rod.  If that is your feeling, then cast one and you will have a different opinion.  If you still think that is B.S., fish with one and you will want one.  These rods cast a bit differently than the 4 piece rods.  They are better, dare I say.  Using the correct lines on any fly rod is important and on the 1 piece rods, they work well with a Rio Gold.  A standard SA Trout line would work great as well, I just haven't casted it yet on these rods.  There isn't a lot of info on these rods on the internet and as time permits, I hope to provide more info on these rods as I fish them more.  I would suggest that you at least look at them if you can.  Sage, Winston, Scott and Orvis all have great rods and some people are loyal to them as was I, but these rods are just that good to not give them a shot.  Look for more reviews in the future, but for now, find a shop that carries them and give them a shot.  I don't think you will be disappointed.

Sage ONE v. Orvis Helios 2

As most of you may have figured out already, I am a fan of fly rods.  I love to compare and see what others think about different rods.  In all this study and self data collection, I have come to one conclusion:  If you ask 10 guys what they think of a certain rod, you will get 13 answers!

Here is a great comparison of two great rods, the new Orvis Helios 2 and the established Sage One.   I think both are great rods, but I would like to see where the Hardy Zenith would rank in this particular comparison.  I wouldn't be surprised to see it thought of as a better all around rod than either one of them.  I have only spent only 2 minutes with the ONE on the water and zero time with the H2.  I hope to get both the Hardy Zenith and the H2 out together soon to see what I think.  I'll let you know.
Check out the link HERE!

Thanks to Headhunters for taking the time to do this.
EDIT:  The link is gone as Headhunters lost all their data this summer.  

Cream of the Crop

Which will be the best?  I have a feeling that neither one will be better than the other.  One may cast better in close, one may have some "extra" kick on the long shots, but both of these rods are at the top of the list.  That list has 3 rods on it and two are in the picture above.  It's going to be fun fishing this winter and summer.

Hardy 1 Piece Fly Rods

  A great opportunity was presented and I jumped on it.  After reading and hearing that the Hardy Zenith rods were the cream of the fly rod crop, I knew I had to give one a wiggle.  I did and I ended up with a 9' 5wt.  It has been my go to 5wt. for the last 6 months.  I have thrown nymphs and dries with the thing and haven't been disappointed in any way.   Back in December at the Fly Fishing show, Hardy was there and had some new models of the Zenith rods on hand.  They had the new 1 piece rods there.  I figured what the heck and gave them a shot.  HOLY CRAP!  The 8' 10" 4 wt. rod was a dream.  I am not the world's best caster but certainly thought I was for the few minutes I had that thing in my hand.  Fast forward several months.  The super long package shows up at my office and I proceed to take the 1 piece rods out of the cases.  Seriously, how do I get these darn things out without breaking them?  Maybe I was a bit off in my thinking that 1 piece rods wouldn't be much of a hassle.  When I got them out on the lawn, I immediately remembered why I wanted to have a 1 piece rod.  They are super light, smooth and responsive.  They feel like no other rod I have ever cast.  The 6wt rod feels like a 4wt.  The 4 feels like a 3wt.  That is until you lay the gas on to them.  That is when you can feel the power you have in them.  I took them out to a local pond and cast them around.  There was a good head wind and the 4wt. did fine casting into the wind.  The 6 wt. was just spectacular.  I wasn't really fishing, I was just casting a hookless fly.  It was fun and I can't wait to get these rods out on the water soon.  I'll have more for you later on these fine rods.  Gosh, I can't wait to cast these on the water and really give them a workout.
George Anderson's Yellowstone Angler recently did their 4 wt. shoot out and the 8'6" 4wt. Hardy Zenith came out with top honors.  The one thing I came away with from that shoot out was the Hardy is good and I couldn't get this comment out of my head..... "The only other 4-weight rod in the world that might do everything better?  Hardy's 1 pc version"..... James Anderson

**These rods were obtained knowing that I would not be able to take them along every time I go somewhere.  I can safely carry these in my car rigged up and store them rigged up, ready to go.  I cannot take these on any family trips or when there is no room for a full 9' rod case.  That is where the 4 piece rods come in.  I guess you could say these are "specialized" rods.  For me, the advantages were clear.  **