TFO Rods :: TiCr & Professional Series

[Chris Scoones]

http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/gear/images/tfo.jpg

TFO (Temple Fork Outfitters) (http://www.templeforkflyrods.com) :: TiCr & Professional Series Rods

"TiCr: Our proprietary use of titanium and chromium dampens shock and helps protect the rod from errant flies. Hardware includes 3 oversized super-hard titanium oxide stripper guides, premium grade cork, and matte black finished blanks with silver appointments and logos. Fighting butts are on 6 weights and heavier rods and the powerful 14 weight includes a cork fore grip. Each rod features unique color-coded (by rod weight) alignment dots and comes in a beautifully logoed black rod sock."

"Professional: Previously offered as our Western/Saltwater/Steelhead Series, we’ve merged them into what Lefty says are the perfect rods for all anglers and skill levels."

[chadk]

Awesome :)

[Mingo]

Chris, does this program offer TFO products at a discount to members, or is it informational only, or is it to offer "loaners" for field tests or?? I have heard nothing but awesome reports on the TFO bad boyz...right now I'm looking for something fast and wicked for a saltwater SRC/Salmon rod so I can launch some ugly hairy flies into the drink.

[Old Man]

If one was to come and use one of thoses rods how long could one use it before one has to bring it back. Am interested in a TFO 4wt 4 piece I already have the reel that I can use loaded with WF 4. And I can pick it up at a moments notice. It's just about a short 70 mile drive from me to you. But what the hey,I have to spend my money on something and it might as well be gas.

Jim

[jessejames]

Check the "Whats available and how to get them thread right above. It gives all the info and even a calendar to see when it is available. It s easy check it out.
Blessings
Jesse clark

[Richard]

Mingo, how can I guy get a copy of that photo you use for your avatar? Nice flies. :thumb: Seriously, though, I need something to post up on my tying board rod inspiration. :thumb:

The TFO sticks are awesome. I have a rod from each of their rod lines (yep, I'm a gear-aholic), from 5 weight to 10 weight. If you're looking for a fast and wicked stick for saltwater, I would recommend the TiCr-X. They are very similar in looks and action to the Sage Xi2 and the Scott S3S rods, at less than 1/2 the price of the others. These TiCr-X rods are guns!

Try 'em, you'll like 'em. I live in the Northgate area, and I have a TiCr-X in the 5 weight and 8 weight, and you're welcome to try them out if you want.

[KENAIKING]

Just picked up a ticr-x 10 wt. way too sweeeeeeeeeeetttttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sixfinger]

I just bought a TFO pro series rod, (5 wt) about 3 weeks ago.
It is really really really awsome. <-- (professional critique) Finnaly someone cuts through all the elitist BS and makes a great rod affordable.

[Old Man]

Well I got one of the professional series rods to try out,a 4 wt 9'. I am impressed with the rod. It casts as nice as my GL3 5wt. And I think that I will have one of my own by Fathers Day. I would like to thank Chris for have this loaner rod thingy to play with. I'll bring it back if I can get it out of my hands. And can afford the gas to get there. ;)

Thank's again Chris. :thumb:

Jim

Now if I can just get my hands on the TiCr. :hmmm:

[Mingo]

Mingo, how can I guy get a copy of that photo you use for your avatar? Nice flies. :thumb: Seriously, though, I need something to post up on my tying board rod inspiration. :thumb: I have a TiCr-X in the 5 weight and 8 weight, and you're welcome to try them out if you want.

heh heh.........I'll update my avatars from time to time to keep you inspired .....always good to keep things fresh......

The TFO sticks are intriguing, I have not yet cast one but if I get one it'll be the TICRx 6 weight. I have a GL3 6 that I absolutely love ( I added a black foam fighting butt to it for those "special moments"). The TFO felt a little heavy to me in the shop but I've heard nothing but great things about them, your testimony adds to the plus side of things for sure. the 6 seems like a great pink rod too but since I have GL3 6 and 7 wts I have that niche filled out pretty well. I gotta cast a TFO some time.......

[chadk]

I just finished up my trial of the TiCr 4wt. I took it out 3-4 times on a local lake.

I was immediately impressed by the quality of the fit and finish. I really like the matt black finish and graphite reel seat. The cork handle was top quality. The alignment dots made setting up the 4 peice rod quick and simple.

The rod felt great in my hand. Just a little heavier and not quite as crisp\fast as the Sage XP I was also reviewing at the time. I showed both rods to some old time fly fishers who had never heard of TFO before. The first guy loved both rods, but seemed to prefer the XP. The second guy felt the XP was 'too fast' and fell in love with the TFO. Both men were quite shocked at the price gap between these two nice rods...

I wish I could have spent a day (or several) casting the rod on a river or stream with a combo of dries, nymphs, and streamers so I could really get a feel for it. But as it was, I had to stick to a close by lake. I ended up fishing the TFO with a sink tip most of the time. It handled the tip nicely and could really shoot out line when asked. Just for kicks, I did cast dries from the shore on both rods for a side by side comparison. They performed almost equally under my abilities - with the XP just slightly edging out the TFO on line pick up and distance. If I were in the market for a nice stick, I don't think I could justify the price tag of the XP and the slightly better performance over TFO. It's an all around performer, functional, looks and feels good, reports of good customer service and excellent warranty give confidence, and the price is right :)

[fishwhipped]

I had the 6wt to demo for a few days last week and only had the chance to fish it for a morning at a North Seattle beach for sea-run coastal cutthroat. It was windy with a chop, but the rod threw as much line as I could fish in those conditions. I lined it with a 7wt clear intermediate, which worked well.
The action was fast but not too fast, not like the very fast saltwater rods that feel like sticks to me.

I completely agree with Chad's assessment. I was very favorably impressed with the appearance and feel of the rod. I can be a gear snob, and in fact have been thinking about a new Sage XP, but I will probably by the TiCR instead. I can't really compare the two in terms of distance and accuracy - I'm not good enough to appreciate any difference anyway. Amazing rod for $200 bucks. Wish they made a 9'6" model.

I am curious about the difference between the TiCR line and the TiCRx - I thought it was just cosmetics. Is the TiCRx a faster rod?

Thanks, Chris, for the opportunity to try the rod. Mark

[luv2fly2]

just bought a tfo pro 10 ft. 4 wt from www. the lower forty.com for $100. when i opened the box the rod was a 5 piece rod not the 4 piece that i bought. we will see what kind of a warranty tfo has as i am sending the rod back in the a.m.. my son and i cast a few of the rods at the ennis festival last fall and we were both impressed. will get back on the warranty. mike w

[salt dog]

I pried the TFO PRO 4 wt from Old Man's hands long enough to get a couple day trial on the river over the weekend on 6/10/05. ;) I can see why he has been on his best behavior lately to line one up as his Father's Day gift. :thumb:

Given the price range I was ready to give it some slack compared to high end rods I have or have tried, but I was pleasantly surprised. The rod is a solid piece of workmanship and casts extremely well. I had it loaded with WF 5 F line and it literally flicked out 50 foot casts without effort. It is a rod I wish I would have had when I started to learn how to cast, as its strong suit is its nice control; but it also has enough backbone to allow you to really lean into the wind as needed.

Don't expect whistles and bells for hardware, that is how they got the price down so low. TFO must be looking at getting a market share with their pricing before they start charging what the rod is really worth as a quality rod compared to the market at large.

TFO thoughtfully has alignment dots to put the 4 pieces together more quickly, something the high end manufacturers still have yet to figured out ($720 and they still ignore putting alignment dots on the rod!). If you put some higher end hardware on it and pretty wood seats to go with the quality blank, wrap and finish you would easily have a rod worth triple the retail price. At $139.95, it is a steal. I hope its not to late to line one up for my Father’s Day present. I understand why Lefty Kregh allowed his name to be put on the product

[Jason Decker]

I Demo'd the TFO 6wt Pro Rod. It was still in the plastic when Chris let me take it out for a guided trip with Jack Mitchell of The Evening Hatch on the Yakima 8/16.

I was very impressed with the finish - graphite reel seat, black mat finish, the dots, like all the other guys have said. I agree whole heartedly iagree I found the Rod to be VERY powerful and FAST action.

My regular rod is a 5wt Winston BIIx which cast very different (smooth and slower) I tried a large Dave's Hopper and the TFO handled the wind gust very well. We ended up rigging the TFO with a nice NYMPH set up and it was great for casting those awkward clunky line rigs - double nymph and strike indicator... After spending close to $600 on my rod, it was nice to see the quality and refreshing price of this TFO. I am thinking of tagging my Wintson with some of those nice alignment dots! I would rate this rod a 4 out of 5. I would love to try an 8wt and a 3wt, as those will be my next 2 purchases for my Rod Arsenal!

Also, Chris' place was very convenient just off of I-90. If you guys (or gals) are going over the Pass, you should definately take advantage of the WFF gear program. Thanks Chris!! :beer2: :thumb:

Jason Decker :p

[FlyShopKristin]

fishwhipped - sorry, just saw your Q about the differences between the TICR and TICRX models. Yes - the TICRX model is definitely a faster rod. They are both nice rods, my personal favorite is the TICR - but you should really cast both as its really a personal preference.

[salt dog]

Since my 6 wt was in the shop I tried out the TFO Pro Rod: 6wt 9', on the humpies in the salt water from the beach. It casted well, and I landed quite a few on the rod. Overall, a nice casting rod, and performed in line with the above comments by others. I liked the TFO Pro 4wt enough that I bought one, and the 6wt performs consistent within the Pro series.

It was a little over matched for the bigger pinks; I could have used either a higher weight, or probably the TICRx 6 weight, being a faster rod, might have given me the stronger backbone to be able to better control the larger fish, and allowed me to throw longer casts, too. I will need to try out the TICRx which is probably better designed for what I was using the PRO for. The PRO 6wt would be well suited for throwing streamers to trout or big flies on moderately windy days on the Yakima. I would not use it for summer run or big browns. Overall, a great value for the money.

Thanks for setting up the gear program, Chris. It's been instructive, and a lot of fun, to be able to try out a manufacturer's rods in a variety of weights and models to get a feel for what the maker is trying to do.

[Richard]

The TFO felt a little heavy to me in the shop but I've heard nothing but great things about them, your testimony adds to the plus side of things for sure. the 6 seems like a great pink rod too but since I have GL3 6 and 7 wts I have that niche filled out pretty well. I gotta cast a TFO some time.......


I realize it's been a long time since you made this post, but . . .

The 6 weight TICR and the TiCr-X are heavy, relatively, for 6 weights, because they use the same fighting butt and reel seat combo as are used on their larger weight rods. However, TFO now offers the TiCr-X "light", which has no fighting butt and a lighter reel seat assembly. I've seen some of those lightweight foam fighting butts; add one of those to the X light, and you'll have an inexpensive Xi2 look-a-like that performs about as well.

Also, I just cast this past weekend the new TiCr-X 7 weight; yow, now this is the quitessential Puget Sound beach rod! If you're looking for one rod to do it all, this thing would handle pretty much in the Sound. But don't tell my wife, 'cuz I don't want her to get any ideas about me selling my sticks . . . :thumb:

[Porter]

Richard,
What line were you casting with on that TicrX 7 weight......Is it a good rod to upline one weight?

[Mingo]

I realize it's been a long time since you made this post, but . . . But don't tell my wife, 'cuz I don't want her to get any ideas about me selling my sticks . . . :thumb:

LOL.........I just point at the shoe collection in the walk in closet.......I'm usually told to get more geat at that point!

On a related note, I picked up a Redington CPS 9 wt. Sweeeeeeeet stick......I'm going to gear her up with a multi tip line. Wild how it only weighs 3.7 oz.....a full 1.1 ounces lighter than the TICRx 6 wt! It feels like a 5 wt in the hand..............

TFO rods are pretty cool stuff, no doubt about it.....

[Jason Decker]

I just Demo'd both the Professional Series 8wt and the TiCR 8wt and I really liked them both, especially for the value.

The Pro Series was mat black and well finished, nice reel seat and alignment dots were nice. This rod cast well and for under 150.00 it is no question, the best rod for the money.

The TiCR retails for $209, which I consider to be a screaming good deal considering how well it cast. Much faster at the tip than the Pro Series.
I had both rods and spent the majority of the time fishing this rod. I liked
it so much, I am buying one! The rod also performed well with fish online.

I appreciate all the effort Chris Scoones put in to get this program together.
Also his place is easy to get to off of I-90 in North Bend.

Now that I've got my 8wt Rod, now I am searching to replace my reel.... it never ends!!!

Jason Decker

[Kent Lufkin]

. . . Just a little heavier and not quite as crisp\fast as the Sage XP I was also reviewing at the time. I showed both rods to some old time fly fishers who had never heard of TFO before. The first guy loved both rods, but seemed to prefer the XP. The second guy felt the XP was 'too fast' and fell in love with the TFO. Both men were quite shocked at the price gap between these two nice rods.... . .

Chad brings up an interesting question that's been around as long as people have had opinions: to what extent are our opinions influenced by preconceptions?

I wonder how the two oldtimers would have reacted to the rods had the logos for Sage and TFO been missing or obscured - in other words, a blind test.

Both clinical drug trials and wine tasting rely on so-called blind or double-blind testing (or tasting) to obtain results that are divorced from the frailty of human perceptions and biases.

In the latter category, I regularly meet with friends for an evening of wine tasting, good company and a fine meal. We agree beforehand on what type of wine we'll be tasting and a maximum price for the bottles we each bring. We decork the bottles and our kids then put them into plain brown bottle bags, tape the necks and put a big number on each.

We each then taste them in a random order and record our impressions and a numerical score for each. At then of of the flight, we tally the scores and then unveil each bottle from low score to high. It's often a huge surprise when we see how poorly a highly-touted bottle compares with others generally perceived as less worthy.

I'd love to try the same thing with fly rods.

K

[jessejames]

Chad brings up an interesting question that's been around as long as people have had opinions: to what extent are our opinions influenced by preconceptions?

Both clinical drug trials and wine tasting rely on so-called blind or double-blind testing (or tasting) to obtain results that are divorced from the frailty of human perceptions and biases.

In the latter category, I regularly meet with friends for an evening of wine tasting, good company and a fine meal. We agree beforehand on what type of wine we'll be tasting and a maximum price for the bottles we each bring. We decork the bottles and our kids then put them into plain brown bottle bags, tape the necks and put a big number on each.


I'd love to try the same thing with fly rods.

K

Sounds like a great idea but it would be hard to cast the rods if they were in a really long brown bag.:) :)
blessings
jesse

[Richard]

Richard,
What line were you casting with on that TicrX 7 weight......Is it a good rod to upline one weight?

It was lined up with a distance taper 7 weight line; for many folks uplining it by a weight might be appropriate, as it is a stiff and powerful rod. It will really gun a cast! If I told you the distances my buddy Ed and I were getting with it, you'd be calling bullsh_t on us, but trust me when I tell you we were really gettin' them out there.

I know a guide who fishes on the Sound, and he has Sage 6, 7, and 8 weight rods on his boat. He said the 7 weight is his favorite all around line weight to fish in the Sound. Using that logic, that TiCrX 7 is no-brainer for a Puget Sound salty person. :thumb:

[Richard]

[QUOTE=Mingo] On a related note, I picked up a Redington CPS 9 wt. Sweeeeeeeet stick......I'm going to gear her up with a multi tip line. Wild how it only weighs 3.7 oz.....a full 1.1 ounces lighter than the TICRx 6 wt! It feels like a 5 wt in the hand..............QUOTE]

Yep, it weighs 1.1 ounces less than the TiCrX 6 weight, but the TiCrX LT. is only slightly more than the CPS. Though it weighs like 0.5 ounces more, to me the important point is how the rod balances. At 200 pounds, I really don't notice that 0.5 ounce more. :-) Dude, we're talking a postage envelope with two sheets or paper weight difference. Sounds like you might need to do some more Corona curls to beef up . . . :p

Those CPS rods are a great value. Did you get the salt version? I'm guessing so by the rod weight you cited. Where do you live? I want to cast that stick! Seriously. A buddy of mine thinks he might want one, too.

[Porter]

Chad brings up an interesting question that's been around as long as people have had opinions: to what extent are our opinions influenced by preconceptions?

I wonder how the two oldtimers would have reacted to the rods had the logos for Sage and TFO been missing or obscured - in other words, a blind test.

Both clinical drug trials and wine tasting rely on so-called blind or double-blind testing (or tasting) to obtain results that are divorced from the frailty of human perceptions and biases.

In the latter category, I regularly meet with friends for an evening of wine tasting, good company and a fine meal. We agree beforehand on what type of wine we'll be tasting and a maximum price for the bottles we each bring. We decork the bottles and our kids then put them into plain brown bottle bags, tape the necks and put a big number on each.

We each then taste them in a random order and record our impressions and a numerical score for each. At then of of the flight, we tally the scores and then unveil each bottle from low score to high. It's often a huge surprise when we see how poorly a highly-touted bottle compares with others generally perceived as less worthy.

I'd love to try the same thing with fly rods.

K



kent
I was a seriuos amatuer beer maker for four years...won many state 1st prize awards....all beer was taste tested unlabeled...same as world beer comps...you bring up an interesting point in blind casting testing. It is amazing the affect of having a brand name that leads many to a purchase of that brand product. Nike are cool shoes but I still love the Chucky Taylor Converse.....but I have bought Nike...and I always search out Sage when considering a rod purchase...yet might not be the best...but the name still is

Kendall Jackson 2001 Chardonay ...excellent ...but my wife and I have been impressed with Bogue (Sp?) Trader Joe's Chardonnay ..7.99 bottle...better than Ste. Michelles and Kendall. In our opinion of course. We have not been to happy with the Australian Chardonays..although they always get great write ups.

[chasec]

I've got a TFO TiCrX 8 wt that I love, but now that I'm doing more trout fishing, obviously I need a lighter rod, and my cheap Scientific Angler isn't cutting it...

I picked up the TFO TiCr 6wt, the Sage Fli, and the Thomas and Thomas Helix last weekend for some comparison. Of all three, I liked the TFO the best. It was probably the heaviest of the three rods, but was fast/had good power. I felt like I was the most accurate with the TFO. Like a handful of others have mentioned, the dots to help line up the sections are a great feature - it's really surprising that none of the others have had the same idea.

As I mentioned, this was my favorite of the three I tried the other day, and compared to the Sage XP (which I spent some time with a few weeks ago) I think that I'll probably go with the TFO. I wasn't casting the two side by side, but given my level of skill, I didn't notice a marked difference between the two. The price difference makes it easy...

[shawn k]

I fished a local ditch with the tfo 12' 6 6wt and that rod rocks. I had my local shop order one for me, Because he was out. He cant keep it in stock.

[big guy with a fly]

As a first time fly fisher I got a TFO 8Wt 9 ft 4 pc rod. I look forward to using it in the salt fishing for src and coho. It sounds like my buddy picked out a good rod for my wife to give me for christmas.

[salt dog]

Test drove the TiCr 8 wt. & 10 wt. rods for 8 days in the Bahamas from the beach on the ocean side, and on the flats. I know, tough job but somebody has to do it, right? :beer2:

Clear upgrade from the Pro series, which I previously have used and liked, but the TiCr has more backbone than the Pro to enable casting into the wind and dealing with big fish.

Had some serious wind to contend with, 15-20 mph most days, but both rods threw line with authority. I had to cast the 10 wt backwards to keep the weighted flies from whacking me on the back of the head with 0/2 flies. I had both rods over lined by one weight class, with a salt water tropical line, Rio MS Clouser taper for the 10 wt., and Cortland 444 bonefish taper for the 8wt, which was perfect under the conditions.

The 10 wt did fine on hard lunging, head shaking black tip sharks up to 4 feet, and performed flawlessly on reel smoking screaming runs by permit. The 8 wt rod was great for bones on the flats and fish in the surf, including a couple of baracuda that were beached.

After a rain shower, a bunch of 20"+ Blue Runners were feeding on the surface like trout on a mayfly hatch; actually, more like pirana; the 8 wt showed it has finesse as well as power, allowing good control for surface presentations and tip soft enough to allow fun with smaller quarry, and act as a good shock absorber for the big boys.

[Gorgefly]

I recently bought a Powell Tiboron II. While it is so light and fast it is sick, at this point I like the feel of my TFO Pro better and there is a $360 price gap........hmm?

[Finni]

I borrowed the TiCr 8wt for a trip to the Caribbean. I really enjoyed it. In my opinion it casts like a 8wt, but fights like a 9wt. It packed well, I got it through the security without a problem, just had to put it through the x-ray machine. On the beach it cast really well. I was able to shoot out some good casts to feeding bonefish and it had enough backbone to fight with large fish. I was a bit stupid and I tired to take on a tarpon with it (it was all I had, and since I was there, and they were there, why not?). I am sure it wasn't a very big tarpon, but big enough for me. Lets just say I was a bit undergunned. I thoroughly enjoyed the fight while it lasted. The rod performed great, it was able to turn the fishes head and put some pressure on it, but just not big enough. I own a TiCr 6wt and am more impressed with the 8wt. It will definitely be on the possible purchase list. Thanks Chris.

Finni

Pic 1 - casting through schooled baitfish
Pic 2 - first self caught bonefish (wife spotted for me)
Pic 3 - hard into a tarpon

[Diehard]

I tried out the TiCr 6wt a few weeks ago. I liked it quite a bit, but didn't like the fighting butt on there. Felt a little heavy, so I think without it would be about right.

[Diehard]

I actually just bought a 7wt TiCr for the beaches and have taken it out a few times already. That thing gets some serious distance...

[Richard]

I actually just bought a 7wt TiCr for the beaches and have taken it out a few times already. That thing gets some serious distance...

Dude, you didn't like the fighting butt on the 6, but TFO uses the same size butt on its 7 weight and you bought one . . . :confused:

I agree that the butt is a little large for the 6 and 7, but I'm sure that's how TFO keeps some of its prices down; it uses the same size butt from 6's on up, so I suspect to keep it simple during manufacture and to buy it in bulk.

Very good rods, and great sticks for the money.

[Diehard]

Richard, I like the fighting butt when I'm going after bigger fish like salmon and steelhead, but not for trout. I really don't use my 6wt ever for salmon or steelhead, so I don't like the fighting butt. The 7wt I bought is just right for summer steel and small salmon and I like the fighting butt for those. The butt is a little big, but I do like it on the 7, just not on the 6. Does that make sense? Just personal preference.