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8wt fly reel and rod for bones

10K views 26 replies 9 participants last post by  bananabob 
#1 ·
Advice fro you gurus out there. Looking for an 8 wt setup for bones and other flats animals. I am looking at the fenwick aetos 8wt and the cabelas atoll or cabelas tlr sally fly rod. The fenwick has great review and I found it for 100...the cabelas atoll is on from 299.00 to 179.00. The cabelas tlr is 159.00. I dont have a cabaleas near me as i am in south florida, so no test run for me. Also, i would love a nautilus, but don't want to spend the money. Anyone have an thoughts on the okuma slv large arbor? It is on 45.00 on sale and the reviews are good. I would prefer to buy an american made reel, but the ross will run 200.00 or so for the cheapest. Anyone have any suggestions or thoughts on this? Any places that have any closeouts besides sierra trading post? Thanks in advance
 
#4 ·
I had my Alpha II size 3 on my 8 wt. for several years and loved it. My Alpha III size 4 is on my 10. I just upgraded to the Kraken for my 8 which I also love, but don't have enough time with it to say how much better it really is.
 
#5 · (Edited)
If you can get that Fenwick Aetos 8wt for $100, then stop what you are doing and buy it! It's a great rod for the money and $100 is a really great deal on it.

One of my 1st fly rods was a Fenwick HMG and was a nice casting rod back then. Then Fenwick just sort of slipped out of the fly rods business in the late 90's and kept producing other spinning and casting rods, as well as conventional. Eventually, Pure Fishing Inc. purchased Fenwick. They also purchased Hardy, which Hardy owned Greys (out of England). Some of you may have heard of Greys-Hardy reels and fly rods. I owned a Greys-Hardy reel and it was a cool little fly reel with a cassette system to quickly change out multiple fly lines (instead of entire spare spools). Anyways, Pure Fishing moved one of the rod designers over from Greys-Hardy and he re-designed a flyrod for Fenwick that is very similar to some Greys-Hardy rods. So out comes the Fenwick Aetos. I haven't thrown the rod yet but personally heard all about it from George Anderson and he said it was an amazing rod for the money. In their 2016 8wt Shoot-out, it came in just 1 rod under the Sage Salt, which retails for big bucks! I have plans to throw it this summer at a fly rod mfg show.
 
#6 ·
Never casted but have played with the Atoll in the store multiple times, nice finish, super fast, pretty damn light, really nice Ti guides, very attractive rod. The great thing with Cabela's is they will take anything back for 90 days if it doesn't meet your expectations. If they made an Atoll in a 7wt I probably would have tried one by now for $180 sale.

Typically I'm not usually a fan of their house brand rods, with that said I do have a 5wt Stowaway model I keep behind the seat of my work truck at all times with a size 2 Guru, love it for a cheap truck rod I don't have to care about.

FYI the TLR is crap, finish is bad, it's heavy, swings heavy, pretty sure the cork isn't actually cork, and it's ugly. I don't think you'll like it but again you,ve got 90 days to decide.....

Good Luck
 
#7 ·
Interested in the same rods as well. Looking to pick up a back up 8wt and the Atoll and Aetos strike my interest. Ive read rave reviews on the Aetos and it can be had for a good price. Havent found anything on the Atoll, but looks interesting, and Cabelas has decent stuff sometimes (they also have complete crap). In the same boat, and dont have a Cabelas near me. How does the Atoll appear in hand LowHydrogen?
 
#10 · (Edited)
T Bone/mpl1978,

Help out a fellow member / leave work site / wander around fly shop......you're not twisting my arm haha

I was able to go look at the Atoll and they happened to have the TLR right next to it so I went ahead and looked it over closer as well. Initial impressions on both were affirmed and push further each direction.

TLR
  1. Finish. Finish is not bad. Evenly applied, looks durable, but in my opinion not as attractive as Atoll, matte as opposed to gloss.
  2. Grip. Cork is real cork but does not look as nice as the Atoll, a bit of filler here and there
  3. Guides. Standard stainless with ceramic looking inserts, The guide wraps had some very small gaps in the wrapping, not terrible and probably being too picky but in the spirit of informed decisions...
  4. Guide Finish. The epoxy had no significant bubbles, there were some but borderline microscopic, again probably being too picky but just have to be honest. I noticed epoxy on the TLR guide wraps was not quite as precise, not bad and acceptable for the money but still less precise. Guide wraps and ferrule wraps did not have any trim bands, (strictly aesthetics)
  5. Fighting butt was cork matching grip with EVA foam end, didn't look overly tough.
  6. Reel seat looks to be solid anodized aluminum double up-locking nuts, looks nice in grey/silver finish
  7. Action. fast action, rod is on par or slightly less than weight of TFO Axiom (heavy for weight), but with a slightly heavier swing weight (tip feels heavier), rod felt slower to recover.
  8. Lastly, Rod had a VERY slight deflection to the right, so slight I thought I was seeing things but after several looks and comparison to other rods I noticed it was in fact there. I honestly think this was so slight it would never be noticed, and I would bet money it would not effect performance, but it was there. I took pictures of both rods pointed at a white wall to better show what I was seeing. You guys can tell me if it's me, and my eyeball is bent (very possible).
  9. Rod is made in China
  10. Rod has hook keeper
Atoll
  1. Finish. Finish is very nice. Deep gloss blue. Looks evenly applied and durable.
  2. Grip. Cork is nice with rubberized cork trim ring on each end of handle.
  3. Guides. Titanium coil type stripper guides, and titanium snake guides. Bent (the s!@# out of) one of the stripping guides to demonstrate return to original shape/position.
  4. Guide Finish. The guide wraps were clean with no noticeable gaps or bubbles in epoxy. Epoxy was even and very precise, around the circumference of each wrap.
  5. Guide wraps did not have any trim bands, (strictly aesthetics) Ferrule wraps had trim bands (nicely done)
  6. Reel seat is unique skeleton-ized, with blue carbon fiber insert single (but quite large) up-locking nut anodized aluminum in grey/silver finish...looks nice.
  7. Action. very fast action, rod felt very light, swing weight felt very light as well, felt in the neighborhood of BVK but likely not quite that light. Quick recovery with little tip wobble when brought to a quick stop.
  8. Fighting butt was nice looking cork with rubberized cork end matching grip trim rings.
  9. Rod is made in Korea
  10. Rod has No hook keeper
For $20 difference out of these two I would go with the Atoll.
Pictures to follow....
 
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