IFTD 2018 Fly Rod Review

Like most years, there is always some hype when it comes to the “latest technology” in graphite or some new nano resin that supposedly makes rods stronger, lighter, and more accurate.  Tip tracking, hand weight, balance, feel and soul are all things that casters talk about when picking up new rods.  Fly rod representatives fill your head with so many buzzwords that they practically make up your mind for you before you cast the rod.  Cutting through the hype, buzzwords and other non-fishing related terms I have come up with a review of this year's rods that I had a chance to cast at the 2018 IFTD show in Orlando, Florida.

Orvis Helios 3D and 3F

D is for distance, F is for feel.  The best part about this rod is the grip.  Orvis has a very unique grip that is almost a full wells grip, but not as bulky as other full wells grips.  It really reminds me of a grip from R.L. Winston’s “Joan Wulff Favorite” rod.  The grip is extremely comfortable yet, has a small enough diameter to allow the angler to feel the rod.  If I were to start my own rod company…, I would put this grip on all of my rods.  The rod itself casts nice and smooth and is very accurate.  I wasn’t able to do any strength testing on this rod, but I would be inclined to fish this rod for a few days and maybe even purchase one, especially if it came free with a dog bed.

Winston Saltwater Air

This rod has great shelf appeal but failed at the pond.  I would have like to have tried this rod with different lines to get a true feel for it.  The shelf appeal is great, like all Winston rods, it was light in the hand, looked great and that cork… I love that cork.  However, once we started to work line through it, I was left unimpressed.  The rod did not load at short distances, and it still felt stiff with the entire line out.  The rod did okay at 50-60 feet but nothing I would spend $800 or more for.

Winston Pure

The Winston Pure brought me back to the old days of R.L Winston fly rods.  It reminded me of a WT but with better balance and hand feel.  The rod features a “traditional Winston action” and is perfect for casting open loops and presenting dry flies to wary trout.

Sage Igniter

I have a love/hate relationship with Sage.  I have loved them my entire life and hate that they keep putting out better and better rods.  The Ignitor brought me back to the pond five or six times to show my friends and keep casting again and again.  The 7-weight series will be in my arsenal soon.  This rod felt better than any other rod at the show, and it out-performed them all.  Balance, swing weight, flex, power, you name it.  The rod loads at close distances and can shoot the entire line easily with no false casts.  The rod isn’t a broomstick either.  It actually has feel, unlike its predecessor the Method.  I am a fan of this rod.

Sage Salt HD

This rod didn’t impress me much.  It had the broomstick feel and probably needs to be overlined to perform in most fishing conditions.  The rod shoots a lot of line with ease but doesn’t really have much feel or load properly at shorter distances.

Thomas and Thomas Zone

The new Thomas and Thomas Zone rod is an offering from T&T that retails for $495.  The 9-weight took away the best in show for new saltwater rod at this year's IFTD show.  These rods are still made in the United States and have less finished features than other T&T rods.  The rods still look great, cast nice, and are a perfect way to get into a T&T rod for under $500.  There is nothing really special to say about them, other than that they seem to perform at most casting distances.

Want to know what else we thought was the Best of IFTD this year? Read this.

Speaking of the Thomas and Thomas Zone. This year's Pond Hog casting competition was done with the 7’6” 3-weight zone.  Heavy hitters, like the Rajeff brothers, were there to put on a show and cast this rod as far a possible.  Tim Rajeff ended up beating his brother by two feet or so with an 88’ cast and won the manufacturers division.  I had the pleasure of casting against them as well and pushed the rod to almost 88’ and won the retail division of the casting competition.  The highlight for me was getting to stand with my childhood hero, Tim Rajeff, and accept trophies for the casting competition.  Every year I learn more and more from watching these guys cast and can’t wait to put it to use against them on a pond somewhere.