# TFO 9 Weights??



## Uno (Sep 9, 2010)

I fished the TFO TiCr X in 7 wt and 8 wt for a couple of years and caught many steelhead and redfish with them. I really like the fast action of the TiCr X with the main fault of rod IMO was how heavy they were.

For a 4 piece rod under $600 the TFO TiCr X would be my choice.


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## pt448 (Mar 22, 2014)

Bonecracker said:


> I know how good the TFO BVK 8wt is, just read the reviews! I have read the TFO/BVK 9wt is a different animal vs the 8wt and I was wanting to hear your impressions of other TFO 9 weights (Mangrove, Axiom, TiCrX) as this rod is in my budget!! After paying for airfare for 6 and booking a house on Long Island, Bahamas I am officially poor! :-(


A few knowledgeable folks have posted on here that the TFO of choice in 9 weight is the mangrove.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Bonecracker said:


> I know how good the TFO BVK 8wt is, just read the reviews! I have read the TFO/BVK 9wt is a different animal vs the 8wt and I was wanting to hear your impressions of other TFO 9 weights (Mangrove, Axiom, TiCrX) as this rod is in my budget!! After paying for airfare for 6 and booking a house on Long Island, Bahamas I am officially poor! :-(


*My Reviews of the TFO 9wts*

I've thrown a lot of TFO's and have owned some. This review is my actual hands on casting critique. Remember, I lean towards fast, lightweight rods in the lighter rods, but I like a little more feel and easier action in the larger rods since the fly line is heavier to throw. The 9wts are that "in between" rod between light action / light weight rods and lines (for me anyways) and those heavier rods throwing heavy lines. So I feel it's hard to get a 9wt right, IMO. Btw, I feel that a 9wt is one of the most versatile rods you can own for saltwater fishing. It's my "go-to" rod for fly fishing the Gulf coast where winds are 60% of the issue and fishing bigger flies for bigger fish, in bigger open water, deeper water or structure fishing where backbone is needed. It's what I prefer to do. Not so much a skinny water rod tho. Ok then..... 

*BVK* - I haven't owned a 9wt BVK , but fished one for a day and it's a cannon. Light, stiff and fast. If that's what your into, then it's a good rod and I would recommend it.. Feels light on the swing with nothing on the rod, but throwing a line and fly in real world, not quiet so light. But not bad either. The rod is considerably stiffer than the beloved 8wt, BVK. But that's how 9wts are in general, vs an 8wt. With that being said, I don't see the breakage problem nor the lifting problems for that 9wt BVK that you hear with the lighter BVK's, especially if you are being careful and not high sticking a fish. All in all, for a 9wt and considering it's more work to throw than the 8wt, it was a good throwing rod and I felt had plenty of power and backbone for what a 9wt should have. I can throw a line and had no problems throwing 90ft with that rod (real world fishing). I managed to throw the whole line out, but took some work. I also tried a friends NRX that day and the 2 rods are completely different. The BVK felt faster and the NRX has a more progressive tip and an easier casting rod because of that. But for me, I like a faster action rod. I own what I need in 9wts, but if I needed one or someone handed me one of these for the day, I'd fish a 9wt BVK with no hesitations. 

*TiCrx* - Some people love the TiCrx's. I'm not a fan of them. To me (and folks, this is only my opinion only), they look clunky and to me, feel heavy in-hand, heavy on the swing like a broomstick and glunky. But some people love them. I don't and donl't like the oversize ferrules. and the odd tapers of each section. Nothing looks like the energy flows smoothly in that rod. The pro of that rod is they have backbone for lifting, if you need a lot extra power and they are very durable (i.e. banging around in the boat). I also thing they can take an accidental high stick or ding with a clouser if that ever were to happen. I watched a video recently where the guys too some TFO rods and fished shallow reefs. The groupers were shanking them into the rocks and they were high sticking them to try to keep them out and consequently, breaking rods.. I think if they had TiCrx's, they wouldn't have broken so many rods. Bottom line, it's not my choice of rod, but it *does have it's place*. 

*Mangrove* - I haven't thrown a 9wt Mangrove but have thrown an 8wt ( didn't like it for me and felt it was too slow and progressive for my taste).  Yes, it's easy to throw and good for short licks. but it's not for me. That's just me and my taste in rods. BUT.... I have thrown the 10wt Mangrove and have to say it's a completely different animal and put a grin on my face when I threw it.  It has more backbone and stiffer than the 8wt, which gave it a faster feeling. Yet the progressive tip section helped it to be easier to throw those heavier 10wt line than a fast action rod. So it was easier to swing the line with my forearm than with a faster rod (which can feel heavy in-hand on the swing even tho they may be a lighter rod). So for a 10wt rod, I think it's an easier rod to blind cast a 10wt line all day than a fast 10wt. The Con of that rod was it threw to 80ft good. But anything after 80ft and the rod started complaining and got angry at me. I wasn't able to shoot the whole line out. 

Now then, again, I haven't thrown the 9wt version of this rod but went to BPS and held both the 9wt BVK and the 9wt Mangrove side by side in hand. I have a bad habit for eons of comparing swing weights and feel, in-hand for taper and rod speed and feel, like George does (tho I can't measure swing weight! Ha!). Anywho, Both rods looked the same except for the color and had the same guides. Though the Mangrove is listed to be heavier, I could barely tell that was the case sitting still. When I flexed it as I was swinging it, it felt considerably faster than the 8wt, but not quite as fast as the 9wt BVK. Both 9wts felt decent on the swing but the mangrove felt slightly heavier on the swing (but not by much). However, It felt lighter in-hand on the swing with line, than the BVK. You could see and feel that it was slightly softer in the tip than the BVK and slightly more progressive in the mid section than the BVK, but not by much. So its easier to throw than the BVK and it's rated to have more lifting power and durability since it has the TiCrx coating. It should also be easier to throw closer range with a little more forgiveness, but wouldn't shoot as far as the BVK. All in all, I think it's a good all around easy casting rod for a general caster who is not crazy about throwing fast rods. 

*Axiom* - I've owned an 8wt Axiom and it was a love/hate thing. It was almost too fast with a broomstick feel and the swing weight was incredibly heavy. I had other TFO 8wts and side-by-side, it didn't looked different in terms of rod diameter and size. It hated light lines and I believed the rod should have been re-rated as a 9wt. Most people I talked to that had this rod had it over lined because of that. That being said, it could aerialize a lot of line in a standard 8wt floater line and by doing that, you can get it to load and THEN it shot like a cannon. So you'd need wide open spaces to use it properly with a standard 8wt floater. Still, I hated it and believe me when I say I love fast rods. 

Then one day, I started trying slightly heavier lines, like an intermediate, an intermediate tip floater and a line rated 8.5wt and the dang thing woke up and came to life. I did try a 9wt line and didn't like it but had the "nads" to still thow it. But even then, it's not a rod for a novice caster and is what I call a big gun, big water rod. I would say it's an ideal boat rod for pelagic like bonita, jacks and macks, even in that lil ole 8wt. It's definitely a wind cutter too and spot on dead accurate. The con was you really need to know what your doing and can be able to cast fast rods in order to take full advantage of this rod. Even the guys at TFO told me that fact, but thought I would like it. I do, but it is a niche rod for sure. The thing is also ridiculously pin point accurate. I could throw a fly in a coffee cup or hit a fish on the nose with eye opening ease (seriously!). But it takes a long rear taper line to do so for line control.

So I got a chance to throw the 9wt version of the Axiom and decided to use it for some of the events in a casting competition. It preformed well but was my 1st time using that rod. It was actually my casting partners rod. He placed 5th in the accuracy part of the competition with that rod and used it to Qualify for the distance competition. His qualifying shot was 125ft. I didn't throw it for that but could get all the flyline out and then some, in an angry wind. But it was a beast to throw for a 9wt. (tough that is) It has the TiCrx coating, so it's durable and also weights out heavier than the BVK. The swing weight was heavy in-hand, but it can slice the wind. They claim it doesn't have big lifting power, but they feel like they do. I could feel it down in my forearm after throwing it for an hour. Again, I think it is a niche rod. If I was making a trip up to Montauk for stripers and little tunny in the howling winds, then this would be the rod I would want to have with me. or wading for big bones or exotics on an angry Indian Ocean flat on a very windy day. But not necessarily for general inshore or redfish fishing. It's stiff, it's fast, I believe it's designed for intermediate and sinking lines and it takes some know how to really throw. 

*Impac*t - Again, didn't throw the 9wt but did throw the 10wt. I was expecting to pick up a big bulky rod, as most 10wts are (compares to an 8wt.). What I found was an incredibly thin and light weight rod that, if I never seen the label or knew what it was, would swear it was a 7wt. My momma told me I should neva swear!  lol Thought for sure it was a mistake. Anyways..... (trying to keep it short here. Ha!) Strung it up and took it to the casting pond At first impression on the swing, the swing weight was incredibly light. I notice that the tip section was very fast, but I could feel some flexing down lower in the rod. When I starting to aerialize some decent amount of line out there, I noticed that the mid section really started flexing, right down to the butt section. It almost felt like the rod started folding on itself like it was over lined. But when I shot it out, it really fired the line out. It was a weird feeling to me Started casting it many times for a good while to really try to get my head "into" the rod. It was incredibility light feeling on the swing, but the heavy 10wt line was an odd heavy feeling, like I was throwing a rod that could handle a line that was 2 lines over weight. Again, weird. I like it and hated it all at the same time. I can tell you that tho the rod flexed way down in the butt section, the tip section still felt fast and the dang thing still threw the line with amazing power. Where it got all that power, I don't know except for over hearing it's got some new technology built in the mandrels and tapers. Tapers? It didn't look like it had much taper and the butt was ridiculously thin. Weird! I'm imagining the 9wt will behave somewhat similar, except the 9wt line will not feel asheavy. Who knows? I never really did get my head wrapped around that rod. 

I think that if that rod was underlined by at least 1 line weight, it would preform better, and possibly amazing. Maybe, opposite to the Axiom, the rod needs to be "under" rated. Hopefully, I'll be able to put that theory to the test one day. The con for me is I don't see where it can have much fighting/ lifting power in the butt section, because it feels very progressive down there. Unless it's like one of those offshore speed jigging short spinning rods you see bent down to the handle. Who knows? To me, I think the rod needs more researching and if the thing was built up or out wider in the butt section and stiffened up a bit down there, then they might have something very interesting! 

Wow, another "screen scroller" review. Waiting for Coconutgrove to give me that eye again! Ha!



Ted Haas


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## pt448 (Mar 22, 2014)

Backwater said:


> *My Reviews of the TFO 9wts*
> 
> I've thrown a lot of TFO's and have owned some. This review is my actual hands on casting critique. Remember, I lean towards fast, lightweight rods in the lighter rods, but I like a little more feel and easier action in the larger rods since the fly line is heavier to throw. The 9wts are that "in between" rod between light action / light weight rods and lines (for me anyways) and those heavier rods throwing heavy lines. So I feel it's hard to get a 9wt right, IMO. Btw, I feel that a 9wt is one of the most versatile rods you can own for saltwater fishing. It's my "go-to" rod for fly fishing the Gulf coast where winds are 60% of the issue and fishing bigger flies for bigger fish, in bigger open water, deeper water or structure fishing where backbone is needed. It's what I prefer to do. Not so much a skinny water rod tho. Ok then.....
> 
> ...


Trying to be short! ?! Ha is right. 
Great info, as usual. Thanks for the insight.


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

I like the 9wt BVK (I own one and is my go to 9wt rod) and the 9wt Mangrove (my buddy had one and it too was great). To me, the mangrove felt a little heavier or "meaty" if you will. Whereas the BVK still feels light, but has plenty of power. I use a Bermuda Shorts line on it, and it is a canon. It will shoot the line precisely where I want it and still land softly. It can't pick up the heavy short headed line from too far, but I like that I can put it where I want it with two false casts. If I was to go to the standard shooting head, it'll pick up line from further, but it's just perfect for my type of fishing as it is with the bermuda shorts. 

I have caught several 70lb tarpon on my 9wt, and hooked a 100lber that I was able to fight and turn on my paddleboard. It is nothing like the 8wt counterpart. I broke my 8wt BVK twice, the 9wt has been beat up and taken it in stride. I did once break one of the snake guides, but instead of sending it in to TFO for replacement, I took it to nearby Biscayne Rod and they put on a new guide for $10 in a day. Saved me a couple weeks of waiting and about $30 compared to shipping it to TFO.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

If you talk to shops that carry them.... you'll hear of a lot of breakage with the BVK models... I've had two customers with them on my skiff - one rod survived the other didn't... Having a good lightweight, sensitive rod in the hand is great - but not if it breaks on you with a big fish on....

I'm one of those that like the TicrX rods (and have a 9 and a 10 on my skiff). Yes, they feel odd at first - but hook a good sized tarpon on one and the rod performs like a bigger rod (we've taken fish up to 60lbs on the 9wt and 80lbs on the 10wt...


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