TFO BVK Rod

[okflyfisher]

Has anybody cast this new TFO rod? I have read more glowing reviews on this rod series than any in recent memory. It is suppose to be super light

[popperfly]

I had the honor of casting a 5wt, 7wt & 8wt, they all cast like a dream. I am looking at buying a 8wt right now, cant beat the price at $249

[RexW]

I have an 8 wt BVK and I have been very happy with it. It "feels" really light when you are casting it. I've been switching between a 9wt and an 8 wt line depending on where I'm fishing. I use the 9 wt line in short distance / big fly situations. The rod cast both lines well.

The BVK is worth test casting. I bet you'll like it.

[waynep]

I fished with a guy in a drift boat last fall. He had an expensive super fast 8 wt Sage that I don't remember the model of right now. We threw streamers with it. The next day I was able to cast a BVK 8wt and I thought it compared nicely to the Sage. I am planning on buying a 5 wt and using it for my primary 5wt.

[Apachetrout]

Hello:
I just bougt a BVK 9' 5 wt. and was blown away how well it casts. I was casting it with a Rio gold WF 5 F and the combination is super. I was amazed how at 70 ft. plus I could continue to throw a razor sharp really tight loops. The rod is very light and also loads well enough that 20 ft. and under casts were very easy. In the normal fishing ranges 30 to 50 ft. the casting is effortless. The butt section seems like it has great power for fighting larger fish. I have a TiCr 4wt. and a TiCr X 5 wt. and like them allot but the BVK rods are the best rods TFO has come up with too date. My only complaint is build quality, it is terrible. Very average cork, and very poor quality guide wraps(allot of thread fuzzies sticking through the finish and way too many gaps in the wraps), the wrap finish is poorly applied and is very uneven. Hopefully, next year this series will be offered as blanks.

Lanny

[waynep]

The ones I cast looked good. But I would also like to be able to get a blank and build my own.

[okflyfisher]

Thanks guys

[flyguy66]

Well, at the risk of being called a schill again, I will respond to this thread because I've not only been casting the full line, but fishing the full line of BVKs now since last Fall. And in the interest of full disclosure allow me to say that I did receive a pro discount when I purchased all of the rods.

If you like a light-weight, fast action fly rod you will really enjoy the new BVKs. Lefty and Flip put over a year of testing and refinement into the line, tweaking each different rod in the line until it was just the way they wanted them. If you are a short stroke, low elbow style of caster (a la Lefty), you will LOVE the 7 through 10 weight BVKs! The 3 through 5 weights seem more "friendly" to different styles to me.

I used to over-line my TFO Axioms by 1 line weight, even with saltwater lines. I don't do this with the BVKs unless I want a very specific result from the 3-5 weight rods (easier loading for small streams, etc.). I use SA Mastery and Airflo fly lines. The rods are very smooth, with extremely low vibration/tip bounce. This is similar to the Axiom, but at a greatly reduced rod weight. The rods come with REC Recoil stripping guides. The remaining guides are titanium as well. The grips are slightly down-sized from older TFO rods, much the same as they were for the Axiom series. But this time the fighting butts on the larger rods have also been reduced in size. I find this very pleasing. You can always add an after-market padded butt cap to them (available from TFO), but you couldn't do that with the larger fighting butts. You were stuck with the big fighting butt. And the finish on the rods is quite attractive. I've over-lined a 7 weight up to 9 weight just beautifully and still carried well over 40 feet of line in the air during false casting (just to see if it would take the strain well). And I've fished the 3 weight in 30 mph wind for several hours and maintained unbelievable control without wearing myself out (because I was too lazy to walk back to the car and change rods).

I've fished them for several days in saltwater and freshwater. The rods have performed extremely well. During this entire time, I've been battling a case of tendonitis in my right elbow compounded by my RA and fibromyalgia. There are plenty of fly rods on the market that I would not have been able to fish for more than 30 minutes in this condition. I've fished and cast many fly rods for 2-3 times the price that were no better than this rod.

It's just one man's report, but there you have it. That's my 2 cents on the TFO BVK. Everything I've posted here is accurate and without an ounce of hype. I have nothing negative to report. If I did, I'd tell you.