# very quick 1st impressions of 10 wt Loomis Asquith



## MSG (Jan 11, 2010)

I just got my new Loomis 10 wt Asquith. I've only thrown it on the lawn so far, but I'm mighty impressed. Lighter in hand than the NRX Pro 1, and feels both stiffer and softer at the same time. Softer in the tip and a little lower down into the rod. Stiffer in the context that when you stop the rod, it stops quicker and doesn't continue to bounce. Loops are super tight and accuracy is great. What I'm most impressed with is that is a lot less work to throw. We'll see how it is on the water, but really digging it so far. I've been throwing a lot of different rods in the last few weeks, and they all feel different than my Pro 1, but this feels simply like the next evolution of the NRX - lighter, snappier, quicker and easier.


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## Danny Moody (Jan 22, 2016)

Rumor has it that the x weave in the Asquith is done with pure gold flakes. Kind of like gold flake sushi. How else could the rod retail for $1100? 

How big are the stripper guides on the 10? I am personally not a fan of oversized stripper guides but I was surprised at just how small the stripper guides were on the 8 wt.

Drive up and we will put the Asquith and the X 10 head to head


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

The Asquith is a great rod for almost any type of caster. And it is less work and very accurate. Everyone that has tried it on my skiff likes it. Danny you getting tired of the 8 wt yet?


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## Danny Moody (Jan 22, 2016)

The 8 Asquith found a new home earlier this week. I have an Sage X 890 incoming.


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## MSG (Jan 11, 2010)

yes - I agree - it is a super easy rod to cast - you cn cast it quick or slow it way down, and it all seems fine. I got a really smoking deal through a connection, otherwise I would not have spent the coin on it - but now that I have it, it really is great. Once you're talking about all of the top rods though, there is as much difference in the lines as the rods themselves. I'm sure I could be quite happy with 4 or 5 different rods - hell - I could go back to fishing my BVK and be fine with it.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Danny Moody said:


> The 8 Asquith found a new home earlier this week. I have an Sage X 890 incoming.


Wait.... I heard the X was a softer rod than the Meridian and maybe even the One. Is that what you are going after?


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## Danny Moody (Jan 22, 2016)

Backwater said:


> Wait.... I heard the X was a softer rod than the Meridian and maybe even the One. Is that what you are going after?


 yes, I have heard the same thing about the 8. I currently have the 896 and 790. I like the X790 better than the One 790. I don't have anything to compare the X896 to but I am in love with that rod. Only time will tell with the X890 but I have a feeling that, with the right line, it will be fun.


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## Pierson (Mar 16, 2016)

Danny Moody said:


> yes, I have heard the same thing about the 8. I currently have the 896 and 790. I like the X790 better than the One 790. I don't have anything to compare the X896 to but I am in love with that rod. Only time will tell with the X890 but I have a feeling that, with the right line, it will be fun.


I really hope the X will be the new One....you know how we feel about them. Please keep me updated! I hear the 10 is the bomb. I'm curious about the 8 myself.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Danny Moody said:


> yes, I have heard the same thing about the 8. I currently have the 896 and 790. I like the X790 better than the One 790. I don't have anything to compare the X896 to but I am in love with that rod. Only time will tell with the X890 but I have a feeling that, with the right line, it will be fun.


Not sure why you love the smaller guides so much. But to each their own. I always felt they choked the line on the shoot, especially when your line is slung all over the deck. I guess if a stripping basket is tucked tightly up under your rod and flyline neatly organized and separated, then it'd been ok. But those perfect worlds never seem to exsist for me, casting in all this wind and obsticles and fly line all over kingdom come (and occasionally, I get to use a stripping bucket or basket). That's why I love the bigger stripping guides. The bigger, the better. That's what kept me from being a die-hard Sage fan, tho I do like some of their rods. Loomis, Hardy and TFO IMO did a good job with the larger stripping guides IMO and I even love the larger recoil guides, tho some knock them (maybe because of their looks). I even have 2 older higher end Redingtons that are still great rods, but stopped making them (The NTi and DFR, back before Sage bought them). They have larger stripping guides and single foot snake guides I'm also a big fan of single foot snake guides (also large tip top guide). But hey, it's just me and my style. Ole George Anderson told me he didn't like the large recoil guides, but his go-to favorite fishing rod is still a 4 piece NRX. So go figure! Ha! But ask Jerry Siem about why Sage keeps the smaller guides and he claims the narrow channeling of the flyline reduces line slapping within the guides and therefore reduces friction and line bounce harmonics. But for me, if you have a problem getting that line through the 1st bottle neck, then everything else is redundant.

It's like those Booyah bait casting rods that came out some years ago for braided line. They had these tiny line guides and lots of them on the rod. Maybe its the same concept. However, I think the 1st and second guide needs to be a little bigger, then you might have the concept of channeling down the line to reduce line slap within the guides.

Also.... Placement of the 1st stripping guide is a big deal to me. Years ago when Lefty was endorsing St Croix, he was pumping the Legion Elite. So I was at a trade show and Lefty handed me an 8wt LE to try out (I was a rod testing junky back in the day he knew it) and the 1st cast was lousy. After about a 1/2 dozen cast, I looked down and noticed the 1st stripping guide was very close to the handle. Good if you hauled like Joan Wulff (hauling straight under the 1st stripping guide), but bad if you dbl hauled like the rest of us Florida saltwater fly fishing knuckleheads with bad habits of hauling out to the side and out behind us. So it was hard to feed the line thru the 1st stripping guide. So I handed the rod back to him politely with a smile and with respect and walked away with the notion that they just screwed that rod over with the 1st stripping guide. Needless to say, Lefty jumped ship shortly there after to TFO. 

And.... That's my rhetoric for this morning! Lol 

Ted Haas


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## Danny Moody (Jan 22, 2016)

Backwater said:


> Not sure why you love the smaller guides so much....


Go back in the thread a little and read my original post. I stated that I am not a big fan of oversized stripping guides. Scott, for instance uses massive guides on the Meridian. way too big. The stripping guides on the Asquith 8 were micro at best. as small or smaller than on a 4 wt. I like the size guides that Sage places on the One, Method, and X with the exception that they use the same size bottom guide on the 7, 8, 9. I think the 9 needs the guide they use on the 10.

I complete agree about the placement of the bottom guide. Hauling line correctly has such a tremendous effect on casting. I have spent many years making sure my hauls as as 180 deg to the rod as possible. 

There is a tremendous amount of physics that go into fly fishing that most of us don't think about or understand. Understanding those physics and how to manipulate them can really do wonders for the caster.


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## Pierson (Mar 16, 2016)

Sage is my loyal rod brand. The action tickles my fancy. But I agree that the stripping guides could be a little bigger, specifically the first one. When I got my Sage One 8 wt, after the first outing I was a little bummed about the small stripping guide causing some choke-ups. Luckily I have some rod smith skills so I ordered a size 20 stripping guide and replaced the old one. Now it has a little personal custom touch to it and shoots line like cannon. I compared it to my NRX to get the size right. Believe it or not the second stripping guide on the sage is more or less the same size as the NRX. The first stripping guide was much smaller though. I thought I would do the same to my One 6 wt but i didn't seem to choke up like I did with the 8 wt so I plan on leaving it.


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## Tarp0nTime (Apr 7, 2017)

MSG said:


> I just got my new Loomis 10 wt Asquith. I've only thrown it on the lawn so far, but I'm mighty impressed. Lighter in hand than the NRX Pro 1, and feels both stiffer and softer at the same time. Softer in the tip and a little lower down into the rod. Stiffer in the context that when you stop the rod, it stops quicker and doesn't continue to bounce. Loops are super tight and accuracy is great. What I'm most impressed with is that is a lot less work to throw. We'll see how it is on the water, but really digging it so far. I've been throwing a lot of different rods in the last few weeks, and they all feel different than my Pro 1, but this feels simply like the next evolution of the NRX - lighter, snappier, quicker and easier.


Is it worth $1,100 though?


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## jsnipes (May 1, 2011)

Tarp0nTime said:


> Is it worth $1,100 though?


That's not really the right question, in the larger sizes the other high end rods are almost $900.

Is it worth $200 more than the other high end rods?


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

The 12 wt Asquith "won" the cast off at Bayou City Anglers Houston. I think in the heavy line sizes it will be hard to beat on control and distance.


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## Net 30 (Mar 24, 2012)

Looks like you boys are gonna have to start liquidating your collections of Rolex Daytona's and Subs in order to keep buying these uber priced fly wands....

I like nice stuff as much as the next guy and god knows I have enough toys, but $1100+ is just too much for me to drop on a rod. I'm considering a Meridian and the $865 price has me second guessing myself.


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## jsnipes (May 1, 2011)

Get the Meridian, you won't regret it!


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## Pierson (Mar 16, 2016)

Net 30 said:


> Looks like you boys are gonna have to start liquidating your collections of Rolex Daytona's and Subs in order to keep buying these uber priced fly wands....
> 
> I like nice stuff as much as the next guy and god knows I have enough toys, but $1100+ is just too much for me to drop on a rod. I'm considering a Meridian and the $865 price has me second guessing myself.


Whoa man, don't group me in here! lol I haven't paid more than $500 for a single rod or reel in my life and have all Tibors on Sage/Loomis rods. I am the ebay bottom feeder who takes advantage of the "perfect condition, only used for one trip" crowd. If I buy an Asquith or X it will be second hand or closeout in 7 years haha


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Danny Moody said:


> Go back in the thread a little and read my original post. I stated that I am not a big fan of oversized stripping guides. Scott, for instance uses massive guides on the Meridian. way too big. The stripping guides on the Asquith 8 were micro at best. as small or smaller than on a 4 wt. I like the size guides that Sage places on the One, Method, and X with the exception that they use the same size bottom guide on the 7, 8, 9. I think the 9 needs the guide they use on the 10.
> 
> I complete agree about the placement of the bottom guide. Hauling line correctly has such a tremendous effect on casting. I have spent many years making sure my hauls as as 180 deg to the rod as possible.
> 
> There is a tremendous amount of physics that go into fly fishing that most of us don't think about or understand. Understanding those physics and how to manipulate them can really do wonders for the caster.


Yeah I saw that you weren't a fan of the large stripping guides and liked the smaller ones better. Hence my Rhetoric. 

Yes hauling directly under the rod is the deal to those type of guides, tho it take a little more thought process and disciplining to do so. But then again, that can limit you into a box to maintain a certain casting style, which not everyone has and/or not everyone wants to do.

On the flip side, I did notice the small stripping guides on the Asquith. I think its a move for Loomis that they haven't done in a long time and polar opposite from their current lines. I'm thinking it came from someone from the Shimano group and not necessarily a Steve Rajeff design. Funny thing, to me, the blank feels like it came deep from within the Shimano group as well. I wonder what Gary thinks about it and I wonder how it compares to his new line of rods. Speaking of wondering, I wonder how it compares to Hardy's new line of Wraith in the 8wt and how the 10wt Zephyrus AWS and SWS feels and fishes against the 10wt Asquith. 

I still can't swallow the fact that we have an 8wt rod out there that is retail over $1100 clams and the 10wt pushes the $1200 mark. Not that I'm knocking anyone who picks one up (including MSG, the original poster), but it makes me a little disappointing that they had the gall to throw that rod up so high, just because. I suspect, with the blank looking and feeling like it came from Shimano (I/ I've own Shimano spinning & conventional rods) that it couldn't possibly cost them that much more to produce. Also I am curious where it is produced. But then again... hey, they own the company and they can do whatever they want to. But I think the Price tag is setting a standard more than the technology cost them to produce. That's my take on it.

I'd also like MSG do a comparison between his new 10wt Asquith and his 9wt 1 piece NRX, not that they are the same rods, but just wondering. Like Danny keeps mentioning, you should run up to see him, since I'm getting the impression that Danny is just as anal about rods as the best of us out there.

Ted Haas


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## MSG (Jan 11, 2010)

Ted,
I have thrown them on the lawn back to back - both with Wulff TT line. The asquith does not embarrass the pro 1 by any stretch. It simply feels like the next step in the evolution to me. It's lighter in hand, a little softer, and it stops more abruptly - overall less work to throw and if you do stop it abruptly, the loops are tighter than the pro 1. Now - in my opinion, the pro 1 is a very different rod than the 4 piece nrx. Much more continuous feeling and lighter swing weight than the 4 piece. But the asquith is even lighter in hand, has less friction in the guides, and is just super easy to throw - it's hard to screw up a cast. Yet if you keep your stroke slow, and haul well and stop abruptly, the line really shoots and the loop stays tight - it's a dynamite rod - easy to throw and lots of fun. BUT - you can still get pretty much the same job done with the Pro 1 - it's just a little more work and the margin of error is not as large - it's been a while since I threw the 4 piece NRX, but my recollection is that the asquith would be a pretty good distance away from the 4 piece. I would just urge all the Florida guys to go out and try the one piece rods more whenever they can. Next week I'm gonna throw the Orivs Helios 1 piece a bit - that rod has me intrigued.


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

Here is a pic of the guide size and placement Asquith 10 vs Meridian 10. The 10 handle is longer and larger diameter.


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

Here is a pic of the guide size and placement Asquith 10 vs Meridian 10. There is one additional stripping guide on the Loomis and the first guide is closer to the handle.


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

More pics


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

Bayou City Anglers is hosting a Loomis demo day Saturday in Houston. The national sales manager for Loomis fly rods will also be at the shop.
.


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## MSG (Jan 11, 2010)

Funny - I just picked up a used loomis crosscurrent pro-1 in 8 wt. I have a nautilus xl max reel on it. I have a nautilus nvg 9/10 on the 10 wt asquith. The asquith seems to feel lighter in hand when casting than the 8 wt 1 piece rod - even though the reel is much heavier. The swing weight is really light on the asquith. The 8 wt crosscurrent throws great - just doesn't have the feather light feel of the newest rods. Once you get used to the newest lightweight rods, they become addicting. - not that they necessarily throw that much better- but it really is just a different feel and less work.


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## Tarp0nTime (Apr 7, 2017)

MSG said:


> Funny - I just picked up a used loomis crosscurrent pro-1 in 8 wt. I have a nautilus xl max reel on it. I have a nautilus nvg 9/10 on the 10 wt asquith. The asquith seems to feel lighter in hand when casting than the 8 wt 1 piece rod - even though the reel is much heavier. The swing weight is really light on the asquith. The 8 wt crosscurrent throws great - just doesn't have the feather light feel of the newest rods. Once you get used to the newest lightweight rods, they become addicting. - not that they necessarily throw that much better- but it really is just a different feel and less work.


Because the reel doesnt balance the rod properly and you're putting undue stress on the back of your wrist. The more tip heavy the rod, the more counterbalance you need. That rod probably would do well with an 8 ounce reel.


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## Tarp0nTime (Apr 7, 2017)

Tarp0nTime said:


> Because the reel doesnt balance the rod properly and you're putting undue stress on the back of your wrist. The more tip heavy the rod, the more counterbalance you need. That rod probably would do well with an 8 ounce reel.


 It's counter intuitive right? Fight weight with more weight? The enemy of the fly caster isnt in hand weight, it's swing weight.


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