Results of the George Anderson 5 wt fly rod Shootout for 2015:
As I said previously. A useful article, for anyone who is in the hunt for a fast action next-gen rod.
Ralph
Thanks NJ. It was suggested that I move the post to this section…
I appreciation you posting it. Good reading. Not sure I agree with the reasoning for leaving some rods out…but still a good read.
NJ
Which rods?
I thought it odd that in their reasoning for not including Redington rods they specifically mentioned the Redington Link, which hasn’t been made for about three years.
I always enjoy reading these shoutout articles. They don’t really affect how my purchasing choices since their test conditions do not match my fishing conditions but I still find the articles interesting.
The two that stand out to me are Redington, Cabelas and not even a mention of the LLBean Double-L series.
NJ,
Anderson has a paragraph or two at the beginning of the piece in which he explains how rods/manufacturers might have been left out. He gives a couple possible reasons:
The company might not have wanted their rods to be included in the comparison; the rods might not have been considered as “competitive”.
We could ask Anderson, specifically, about those rod lines.
Yeah I know, read it. Reason for cabelas was that they are only sold in C?belas. Weak. LOL. I know they gave reasons. I just think it narrowed the test. It was narrowed already by the study itself. Which is fine since they state that up front. I’m fine with what they did. But I take it with a grain of salt, since line speed is not the deciding factor in my choice of a rod. But for those wanting the newest/fastest, the test is perfect. 
I don’t know…phones do more each year, cars offer more options each year, etc. seems like progress?
As to “newest”, it’s all relative. One of my favorite rods is the Hardy Zenith. I think it won first place about 4 years ago. It is still up there in the top 4-5 rods, I believe.
I did ask their fly shop if they could say why Reddington and LL Bean weren’t included. If they answer, I will pass the info on.
Well, yes and no to “progress”. Materials can get stronger and resins can get stronger. But I would not call faster actions " better”. I like the decreased weight to an extent…but fas action rods do not fish well to me.
From the report: “We refuse to test any private labeled rods (Ex. Cabelas, LL Bean, Bass Pro Shops etc).”
And: "Redington Link and other rods - Heavy and not very impressive. "
Trigg,
Thanks. Hope NJ follows.
NJ
Just got a response from George Anderson. As Trigg pointed out, Cabellas and LL Bean were out because they are private labels.
On Reddington, George pointed out that one of their rods was included last year and scored quite low. He said Reddington rods didn’t make the cut.
Like I said earlier, I read the report and saw all of that. I understand the statements…but don’t see the private label relevance.
Either way, my point is its a specifically focused review. Great for comparison sake, but doesn’t really produce a “best”. In my opinion.
[QUOTE=NJTroutbum;507885]Like I said earlier, I read the report and saw all of that. I understand the statements…but don’t see the private label relevance. :)[/QUOTE
The relevance is that they don’t sell there rods. No they don’t carry all the brand’s but they carry the top scoring rods.you can decide if they carry them because they are best or if they are best because they sell them
What a shame if, say, an L.L. Bean rod would test pretty high for the cost, but is left out because it’s only available from Bean. Yet, they fall all over themselves for a Fenwick rod that I can hardly find on-line. Makes little sense to me.
Chuck