Nothing wrong with TFO.BVK. They are fast and (we have 2 of them, my wife's #8 and I have a 6...the 8 is better) ALL BVKs like a line a 1/2 size heavy and with an aggressive taper. If Hardy's Zenith is a fast action rod, then so is the Imperial. But I have 2 Zeniths and they are medium fast which really is better for most trout fishing than specialized fast rods like ONE fir example (my favorite 5-weight). Mystic Reaper (my wife has the #6) is fast. Like BVK, a bargain fast rod and like BVK a little raw in the taper transitions. Owning one, I find it hard to understand the love for BVK despite Anderson's accolades. But definitely functional and a good deal (despite the lack of tube?). Truly fast action rods (almost everybody really prefers medium fast like Zenith, Radian, Z-Axis...) are easy to design but very, very, very hard to design well! Fast action is not stiff; it is super quick recovering with maximum response time. Incredibly sensitive to slight inputs and demanding to cast well. Have you ever driven a performance car faster than 100mph? You know how fast things come up on you at such speed? Two hands on the wheel and no blinking, total engagement with driving; no radio, no cell phone, no conversation. Fishing fast action rods like ONE, Method even more so is like that but without the danger. Total engagement with your stroke timing and symmetry, absolutely zero slack introduced during the hauls from your line hand. But very rewarding as super high line speed, bullet shaped loops facilitate remarkable aerialized line manipulation and on water adjustment mends are crisply and precisely executable for ultimate control. Most anglers do not want or cannot fish this way; most prefer a rod with some good degree of compliancy even softness in the tip. The deeper into the rod the tip flexes the more time it takes to recover to straight. Yes, excellency in design and low mass in the tip accelerates recovery rate; NRX and Radian would be two of few examples. Recovery rate, and here is where fast gets interesting, minimizes energy robbing and line control diminishing oscillation in the rods tip section. Oscillation is the action that generates those little waves in the shape of your loop that are hard to dial out. A little like when you go over a series of bumps in the pavement and your Toyota motions up and down as the suspension recovers from the undulating input but your BMW takes t sure footedly in stride, much more controlled and communicative. Same with well designed fast rods. Still, after fishing Method all day out of the drift boat and marveling at its presentation capabilities, if, after dinner, we have the energy to check out the dusk caddis hatch, I'll likely grab the Zenith for some nice, relaxing, intuitive fishing with less focus demanded of my post cocktail hour self.
