8 weight shoot out......by George Anderson

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

http://yellowstoneangler.com/8weightshootout.saltwaterflyrodreview.flyrod.compa rison.flyrodtest.LoomisNRX.HardyProAxis.BVK.St.Cro ix.LegendElite.SageXi3.asp

[Jed Peters]

Bill:

I wanted to post my own information regarding an 8 wt shootout of our own that myself, and other Customer and Brother-in-law Stephen did with Keith Kaneko.

We tested the following rods:

Sage Xi3
Sage TCX
Loomis NRX
Loomis CrossCurrent GLX
TFO BVK

Neither Stephen nor myself are proficient casters or anglers with big rods. I'm pretty decent at catching trout, but not a very proficient angler. I can get by though.

One thing we found was that rods were good for the INDIVIDUAL, there were no rod that commanded attention from either of us.

I personally thought the Xi3 was the best, then the BVK, then the TCX, followed by the NRX. Stephen liked the BVK the best, then the TCX.

I think it's all preference. It's interesting that the Loomis product consistently comes out on top of the shootouts that Yellowstone has.

Wonder why that is?

Lastly, I will say this--that BVK is pretty awesome. We bought three of them from your shop (8 and 9 wts) and I think they are friggin unreal, especially for the money!

[mems]

Hey Bill, interesting article. I really like the new BVK 8wt rod I have been using. As a sales rep for TFO I am very pleased with its performance. The only problem I would see in the comparison done was the use of a tibor everglades reel. I have the same tibor reel and love it only it is too heavy for the BVK and other light rods like the helios and others. I paired up the BVK with a lamson ula force reel and liked it, only the drag got smoked by some big hawaiian bones. I now have the new BVK reel and will test it out shortly. Weight wise it is a great match. I will let you know how it holds up to some hawaiian oio's. Casting this rod and reel feels like a 4wt. I think we are infor some great new rods and reels in the future. Thanks for the link to the article, Don.

[Jgoding]

I like my 9wt Legend Elite... My 8wt is awesome too but it's the older 5 piece that they don't make anymore.

[ronkenyon]

Bill,
I have both the 8 WT Xi3 and TCX. I love them both but I use the TCX when I am casting sinking lines for stripers all day. It is much more lively and less of a stick. I have used both for flats fishing. Come to think of it, I prefer the TCX for casting into the wind too. It is a gun! I like fast rods and don't really find the TCX harder to cast than the Xi3. I would consider myself to be a good caster but not an expert. Just my 2 cents.

[LNelson]

I have had the opportunity to cast and fish quite a few 8wts, and I still enjoy fishing and casting my Powell Tiboron II more than any other. Powell simply nailed it on this particular rod in the series. I only wish they spent a little more money and put 2 locking rings on the reel seat instead of the one.