# Solar vs Meridian vs Zephrus



## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

The Solar is the most progressive action out of all of them and is easy to throw close range with hardly any movements with your arms and hand. The Zephyrus has the stiffest butt section and a little more lifting power in the butt section than the other two. It's a good rod to bomb out bigger flies with. The Meridian feels the lightest and has a slight lighter swing weight edge over the Zephyrus. It's a slightly faster rod, but the Zephryus is slightly stiffer.

Is this something you are wondering about or going through the motions to by one? If so, how long have you've been fly casting?


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## andrewwa (May 27, 2016)

Have you considered other rods? The Orvis H2 and Recon are both very nice, and the Recon is probably one of the best midpriced rods out there. The Clutch Archipelago I cast cast couple of weekends ago was also very nice, although I didn't get to spend that much time with it so I am not sure about long range tracking. The Meridian is also very nice but I don't know about the 8 but the 10 was pretty stiff. This is an excerpt from my quest for a 10 weight rod from a thread in another forum:

"Ok, so I went to the Orvis in Darien and also visited the Compleat Angler. I tried out the 10 weight Recon and Helios 2 with an intermediate line. I don't know if this was to make the rod feel better, but I've heard that rods usually cast better with heavier lines. The Recon was GREAT. Better than the Sage Motive by far imo. It threw amazing loops and was accurate. It also had a lot of backbone but was not too hard to access it. The Helios was not as good for me. It definitely had a lot of backbone, but I did not have the haul to load it properly. Don't listen to what anything that person on Yellowstone Angler tells you, that rod had power. It still cast very well in close, and had a noticeable difference in feel compared to the Recon. Patrick at Orvis casted it and had noticeably faster and longer casts with the Helios compared to the Recon. He was hauling a lot more though. We both agreed that the Recon was a great rod. Probably the best rod I have casted in the price range. The only thing I didn't like was the weight, but the swing weight was fine. The Helios was better in that respect. Patrick was very good, gave me a lot of advice on everything and while showing me flies he didn't try to make me buy them, like some fly shop employees say, "You need that one and that and that...." Instead he said, "You want to use that, and I'm sure you already have them. They're pretty expensive, you should learn how to tie your own flies."

At the Compleat Angler, Scott (not the owner) recognized me and we went right back to where we left off, test casting rods. Unfortunately we only got to cast the Meridian #10 and the Clutch Archipelago #9. I'll start off with the Arc first. They literally just got the rod in, they had them for less than 24 hours and I got to be the first to cast them. When we took them out, everybody in the shop remarked on how fast it flexed. After stringing it up, Scott pulled back the line a bit and we saw the "deflection." It looked to be very fast, but with a thin tip. It was probably in the same category of fast as the Method, but it had a much softer tip compared to the Method. It casted very nicely. It was the most accurate and the most powerful of the rods I casted. The only thing it was lacking in was it's feel. I had almost no feedback from the rod, but it still casted wherever I pointed it at. So presentation would probably not be as good. It was the easiest and most effortless to cast for me though. I think it would do better with a line catered to it, instead of the shop line. For the Meridian, the first thing I noticed when I had it in my hand was the weight. Both Scott and I noticed that it felt more like an 8 weight. Casting it, you could feel the power in the butt. I would say it and the Helios were about equal in feel but had distinctly different actions. It generated pretty tight loops. I could feel though that I was (insufficiently) loading the butt."


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

andrewwa said:


> Have you considered other rods? The Orvis H2 and Recon are both very nice, and the Recon is probably one of the best midpriced rods out there. The Clutch Archipelago I cast cast couple of weekends ago was also very nice, although I didn't get to spend that much time with it so I am not sure about long range tracking. The Meridian is also very nice but I don't know about the 8 but the 10 was pretty stiff. This is an excerpt from my quest for a 10 weight rod from a thread in another forum:
> 
> "Ok, so I went to the Orvis in Darien and also visited the Compleat Angler. I tried out the 10 weight Recon and Helios 2 with an intermediate line. I don't know if this was to make the rod feel better, but I've heard that rods usually cast better with heavier lines. The Recon was GREAT. Better than the Sage Motive by far imo. It threw amazing loops and was accurate. It also had a lot of backbone but was not too hard to access it. The Helios was not as good for me. It definitely had a lot of backbone, but I did not have the haul to load it properly. Don't listen to what anything that person on Yellowstone Angler tells you, that rod had power. It still cast very well in close, and had a noticeable difference in feel compared to the Recon. Patrick at Orvis casted it and had noticeably faster and longer casts with the Helios compared to the Recon. He was hauling a lot more though. We both agreed that the Recon was a great rod. Probably the best rod I have casted in the price range. The only thing I didn't like was the weight, but the swing weight was fine. The Helios was better in that respect. Patrick was very good, gave me a lot of advice on everything and while showing me flies he didn't try to make me buy them, like some fly shop employees say, "You need that one and that and that...." Instead he said, "You want to use that, and I'm sure you already have them. They're pretty expensive, you should learn how to tie your own flies."
> 
> At the Compleat Angler, Scott (not the owner) recognized me and we went right back to where we left off, test casting rods. Unfortunately we only got to cast the Meridian #10 and the Clutch Archipelago #9. I'll start off with the Arc first. They literally just got the rod in, they had them for less than 24 hours and I got to be the first to cast them. When we took them out, everybody in the shop remarked on how fast it flexed. After stringing it up, Scott pulled back the line a bit and we saw the "deflection." It looked to be very fast, but with a thin tip. It was probably in the same category of fast as the Method, but it had a much softer tip compared to the Method. It casted very nicely. It was the most accurate and the most powerful of the rods I casted. The only thing it was lacking in was it's feel. I had almost no feedback from the rod, but it still casted wherever I pointed it at. So presentation would probably not be as good. It was the easiest and most effortless to cast for me though. I think it would do better with a line catered to it, instead of the shop line. For the Meridian, the first thing I noticed when I had it in my hand was the weight. Both Scott and I noticed that it felt more like an 8 weight. Casting it, you could feel the power in the butt. I would say it and the Helios were about equal in feel but had distinctly different actions. It generated pretty tight loops. I could feel though that I was (insufficiently) loading the butt."


Again, you can not compare how a 10wt feels to an 8wt. You may love how an 8wt feels in one rod, but hate it in another wt, like a 10wt. On the flip side, you may love a 10wt in one rod and hate the 8wt version of the same rod. A perfect example of that is Loomis NRX. Nice easy flow with the 8, broomstick feeling with the 10. The Helios 2 is a slight progressive feeling in an 8wt tho fast and throws razor tight loops close in, but collasps on itself when punched and therefore doesn't do well bombing long distance casts, but has a nice and easy load on short and mid range casts. But the same rod in a 10wt makes a hail mary easy with plenty of reserved power without working too hard. Same with the Recon in that weight class You liked the Recon in the 10wt because it was more progressive in the 10wt and therefore easier and more forgiving that the same rod in the Method. But you will feel different in the same rods in an 8wt or each. We just talked about the same with TFO BVK vs Mangrove. My opinion is the 8wt BVK (fast) feels better than the Mangrove (softer) in the 8. But the Mangrove is (now stiffer than the 8) is progressive and is easier to throw the heavy lines since it still has some flex and the 10wt is a bit too stiff and therefore harder to aerialize enough line to get it to load.

We've done plenty of talks about 10wts on this board. So dig in and do a search here on the subject. I'm not trying to regurgitate it up on this thread.

Don't knock what George Anderson with Yellow Stone Angler says about the Recon in the 8wt shootout since it's a review of all those rods in an 8wt, not 10wts like you were trying. If it was a 10wt shootout, the results would be dramatically different and the Recon would shine more than it did in the 8wt comparison. Same with the Scott Tidal, IMO.

Ted


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## rjackh90 (Jun 4, 2012)

Backwater said:


> The Solar is the most progressive action out of all of them and is easy to throw close range with hardly any movements with your arms and hand. The Zephyrus has the stiffest butt section and a little more lifting power in the butt section than the other two. It's a good rod to bomb out bigger flies with. The Meridian feels the lightest and has a slight lighter swing weight edge over the Zephyrus. It's a slightly faster rod, but the Zephryus is slightly stiffer.
> 
> Is this something you are wondering about or going through the motions to by one? If so, how long have you've been fly casting?


I'm going through the motions to buy a new 8 weight. I am coming from a standard loomis crosscurrent. Ive been fly casting about 8 years. I've read the whole 8 weight shootout article but they didn't test the solar. Can you explain what you mean by progressive action?


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## rjackh90 (Jun 4, 2012)

Backwater?


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Sorry, been busy lately.

Progressive is a more fluid flow to the rod and therefore slower than a fast rod. So a med fast rod is more progressive than a fast rod. I've thrown the Solar and it probably didn't make the cut for the 8wt shootout because, though light feeling, it's swing weight is slightly heavier than some of the other rods that were testing and it wasn't as fast. It does have a nice flow to the rod, but there is nothing exciting about it except for the fact that is you slow your casting down and take easy strokes, it is a nice feeling, easy loading rod.

I personally feel both the Meridian and the Zephyrus are a better rod for punching wind and other things.. But I prefer a fast rod anyway. You might not necessarily want or need an ultra fast rod and the standard CC is not. So the Solar could work and there are also other options.

In my opinion, if you are coming from a standard Cross Curren and want to go a little faster, you may like the CC GLX better. Otherwise, I feel the Zephyrus would be a better transition for you coming out of the CC. I personally like it over the other 3. It has a little more lifting power over the Meridian.


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## rjackh90 (Jun 4, 2012)

Backwater said:


> Sorry, been busy lately.
> 
> Progressive is a more fluid flow to the rod and therefore slower than a fast rod. So a med fast rod is more progressive than a fast rod. I've thrown the Solar and it probably didn't make the cut for the 8wt shootout because those light feeling, it's swing weight is slightly heavier than some of the other rods that were testing and it wasn't as fast. It does have a nice flow to the rod, but there is nothing exciting about it.
> 
> ...


Thank you sir.


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## Feather Thrower (Dec 4, 2015)

I fished the Solar 9 wt for a week earlier this year and like it, but wouldn't describe it all as slower or full flex. I feel it's faster than an xi2 and similar action to an xi3. Much more punch than a Mangrove or BVK 9 wt. Liked it for picking up and casting heavy permit flies and casting in windy conditions as well. Just wondering if it's one of those rod lines who's actions vary considerably depending on rod weight. Had a 9 weight Wulff Triangle Taper, but thinking a Rio Permit line(love this line on my 8 wt xi2) or airflow tropical punch might be a better fit.


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## Bluwave (Nov 3, 2014)

Scott Meridian and G.loomis NRX are my picks... they feel like [email protected]#king light sabers.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Feather Thrower said:


> I fished the Solar 9 wt for a week earlier this year and like it, but wouldn't describe it all as slower or full flex. I feel it's faster than an xi2 and similar action to an xi3. Much more punch than a Mangrove or BVK 9 wt. Liked it for picking up and casting heavy permit flies and casting in windy conditions as well. Just wondering if it's one of those rod lines who's actions vary considerably depending on rod weight. Had a 9 weight Wulff Triangle Taper, but thinking a Rio Permit line(love this line on my 8 wt xi2) or airflow tropical punch might be a better fit.


Not saying it's soft or a full flex rod, just has slightly more progressive give than a Meridian or a Zephyrus. I agree it could be faster than the Xi?. I don't think it has more punch than the BVK, but the way they are designed, they seem to turn over a fly really good, out in greater distances. The BVK seems to start breaking down past 85-90ft. But it's easier to throw tighter loops with the BVK than the Solar. That being said, T&T makes a quality rod for sure and at the end of the day, it's what feels better to YOU that counts, not what everybody else says or what you think should be better. "Feel" is the key word!


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Bluwave said:


> Scott Meridian and G.loomis NRX are my picks... they feel like* f_ _ _ing* light sabers.


Family site here Bluewave!

I caught about 10 snook this morning on a 9wt NRX. I didn't get that light saber feeling! Ha! 










Hey, it wasn't my rod, ok?  

LOL


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## Bluwave (Nov 3, 2014)

Backwater said:


> Family site here Bluewave!
> 
> I caught about 10 snook this morning on a 9wt NRX. I didn't get that light saber feeling! Ha!
> 
> ...



Haha, my bad. I edited it.


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