# 8wt fly reel and rod for bones



## KnotHome (Jul 21, 2009)

Allen Alpha series reel and go test cast some rods before buying.


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## mpl1978 (Apr 14, 2016)

Funny you mentioned that reel, i was just looking at it. I just bought it two seconds ago based your email!





KnotHome said:


> Allen Alpha series reel and go test cast some rods before buying.


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## KnotHome (Jul 21, 2009)

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.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

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.


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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

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


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## T Bone (Jul 24, 2014)

LowHydrogen said:


> 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.
> 
> ...


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?


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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

T Bone said:


> 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?


T Bone/mpl1978,

My current project is right down the road from a Cabela's that stocks that rod. I can probably stop in and take a few detailed pics of the rod and give it a more thorough look. Possibly even at lunch, I don't have much else going on today.

Disclaimer... following first impressions were made during brief handling without looking at the rod as something I was seriously considering buying. 

I will say personally I really like the finish of the rod, it is attractive, the blue finish is pretty and I imagine in the sun would be even better, but since the fish don't care about pretty....
The few times I've picked it up I really liked the feel of the action, felt super fast, good bit of backbone, tip has a bit of flex but deep bending doesn't extend much past 3/4 of the first rod section, the rod feels light in the hand, while mimicking casting stroke the rod does not feel tip heavy, when brought to abrupt stop rod returns to stop without much wiggling in the tip, grip and reel seat looked nice (anodized with blue carbon fiber insert), really impressed with the Ti guides (coil type), I felt the need to bend them over a bit and they went right back to position without issue. Rod was straight and the one I handled was "spined" almost correctly maybe rotated 1/16 of a turn from perfect (I'm sure this was purely coincidental, I doubt they are checking the spine of these rods during assembly). 

Let me know if there are any specific things you want me to look at or take pictures of, if not I'll do my best to give it a thorough once over, and report back.

LH


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## T Bone (Jul 24, 2014)

LowHydrogen said:


> T Bone/mpl1978,
> 
> My current project is right down the road from a Cabela's that stocks that rod. I can probably stop in and take a few detailed pics of the rod and give it a more thorough look. Possibly even at lunch, I don't have much else going on today.
> 
> ...


Your the man LowHydrogen, i really appreciate it. Great initial thoughts, sounds like it could have potential for $180. If you do get a wild hair and want to go to Cabela's (which doesn't sound too bad) i would love some pictures. But don't feel obligated to. Thanks again


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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

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

Finish. Finish is not bad. Evenly applied, looks durable, but in my opinion not as attractive as Atoll, matte as opposed to gloss.
Grip. Cork is real cork but does not look as nice as the Atoll, a bit of filler here and there
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...
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)
Fighting butt was cork matching grip with EVA foam end, didn't look overly tough.
Reel seat looks to be solid anodized aluminum double up-locking nuts, looks nice in grey/silver finish
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.
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).
Rod is made in China
Rod has hook keeper
Atoll

Finish. Finish is very nice. Deep gloss blue. Looks evenly applied and durable.
Grip. Cork is nice with rubberized cork trim ring on each end of handle.
Guides. Titanium coil type stripper guides, and titanium snake guides. Bent (the [email protected]# out of) one of the stripping guides to demonstrate return to original shape/position.
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.
Guide wraps did not have any trim bands, (strictly aesthetics) Ferrule wraps had trim bands (nicely done)
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.
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.
Fighting butt was nice looking cork with rubberized cork end matching grip trim rings.
Rod is made in Korea
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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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

Pictures of TLR


























































Curving to right? Or is it just me?


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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

Pics of Atoll













































































































































Looks straight


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Wow nice review and the Atoll looks nice. Great job! 

Don't worry, we wouldn't tell your boss!  LOL


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## T Bone (Jul 24, 2014)

Awesome review of both! I greatly appreciate it!


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## mpl1978 (Apr 14, 2016)

Brother, thanks for the solid review and your time. Before your review, I went ahead and purchased the Fenwick Aetos for 99.00 bones. I will try to post some pics when it comes in. The atoll looks pretty solid thought


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## Last Flat (Dec 8, 2015)

mpl1978 said:


> Brother, thanks for the solid review and your time. Before your review, I went ahead and purchased the Fenwick Aetos for 99.00 bones. I will try to post some pics when it comes in. The atoll looks pretty solid thought


where did you buy the Fenwick?


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## mpl1978 (Apr 14, 2016)

Last Flat said:


> where did you buy the Fenwick?


bigsupplyshop.com

came in yesterday, tube and all...


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

mpl1978 said:


> bigsupplyshop.com
> 
> came in yesterday, tube and all...


Well......???


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## T Bone (Jul 24, 2014)

mpl1978 said:


> bigsupplyshop.com
> 
> came in yesterday, tube and all...


Post some pics and initial thoughts!


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## KnotHome (Jul 21, 2009)

Some blanks naturally curve, even the high end guys. The spline doesn't necessarily follow the curve, not that many manufacturers pay it any attention anyway.


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## Last Flat (Dec 8, 2015)

KnotHome said:


> Some blanks naturally curve, even the high end guys. The spline doesn't necessarily follow the curve, not that many manufacturers pay it any attention anyway.





mpl1978 said:


> bigsupplyshop.com
> 
> came in yesterday, tube and all...


I ended up getting the Fenwick HMG for $100 shipped. It also placed well in the 8wt shootout....It casts awesome! What a great deal for a 4 piece with hard case!


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

I have used my Sage 2, 7 weight for years. Caught bones up to 9 lbs. On it. Still using it


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

mpl1978 said:


> bigsupplyshop.com
> 
> came in yesterday, tube and all...


Well????


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## mpl1978 (Apr 14, 2016)

going to give her a run this weekend - i will post some thoughts on Monday. Tight lines!


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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

mpl1978 said:


> going to give her a run this weekend - i will post some thoughts on Monday. Tight lines!


Dead thread revival...
Well Monday came and went... You still using this rod? If so, you still liking it, and how is it holding up?


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## BM_Barrelcooker (May 4, 2011)

well ?


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## bananabob (Jun 3, 2015)

Zzzzzzzzz!


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