The Redington Vice, meanwhile, felt the heaviest, with a chunk butt that, though it provides good power when handling hooked fish, produced considerable arm-fatigue by the end of the day. The Thomas & Thomas Exocett, meanwhile, was about the same physical weight as the Salt HD but felt a touch heavier thanks to a slight butt-heavy swing weight. The Salt HD moves efficiently through powerful casts, delivering long-range presentations with modest effort. The Sage Salt HD was a close second in comfortable casting comfort and performance. As a result of that great balance, and comfortable fit in hand, the H3D was able to ensure your last cast of the day was long and accurate as the first. The Orvis Helios 3D (H3D) boasts a great swing-weight, making it the most comfortable in this group to cast all day. Fatigue aside, the action and sensitivity of the rod influence how it reacts when hooking, and landing, fish. So ensuring the rod is both well-balanced and fits comfortably in hand is vital. Weight/BalanceĬasting an 8-weight rod all day, frequently in bright sun and high temperatures can be exhausting Swinging that run, loaded with heavy lines and big flies, products a lot of arm strain over the course of hundreds of casts and false-casts.

We focused on 9-foot 8-weight models since this configuration provides the most popular, and most versatile, performance for a wide variety of species and conditions. Saltwater rods tend to be designed 6-weight to 12-weight lines and built to handle the stress of the corrosive environments of briny waters. The rods in this group feature some of the most accurate, furthest-casting rods we’ve encountered to date. This year’s roundup of rods shows that the saltwater category of specialty rods continues to evolve in all performance measures. Each rod was fished for at least a week, though most got more use as the team forced themselves to “work” diligently with the rods. We threw light surface poppers, weighted jigs, and bulky crab patterns and streamers.

We cast the rods with floating lines as well as heavy sinking lines. We fished for bonefish in Belize, Mahi Mahi in Hawaii, salmon and sea-run cutthroat in Puget Sound, and even bass and carp in the warm pothole lakes of Eastern Washington. The test team used these rods in a variety of locals and conditions. In the end, four new models - all 9-foot, 8-weight rods - made it through our testing processes. We dropped one rod from testing after we found unforgivable flaws (poorly fit ferrules) and held back another after its maker indefinitely postponed its production and release date.

We had guides, salt-water junkies, novice anglers, and committed enthusiasts checking out new rods from Sage, Orvis, Redington, Thomas & Thomas and a couple others. Nearly a dozen individuals committed significant time to this endeavor. To thoroughly test and evaluate a host of rods, we recruited a solid team of testers. With that in mind, we set out to find the best new rods for the category. Saltwater fishing consistently ranks as one of the fasting growing segments of the fly fishing market, and a 9-foot, 8-weight rod might be the most versatile configuration available for salt enthusiasts.

Orvis helios 2 saltwater