Yesterday I was able to play around with the Hardy Zephrus for the morning. The testing involved various Skagit heads and although the rod worked with these lines it came to life when we loaded up one of my 45 foot Super Scandi lines in 600 grain. I use a 13'6" Sage One and have been using it for 4 seasons now. The line mentioned is the same line used on the Sage and when loaded onto the Zephrus that rod casts as well or better than the Sage One. The only thing that will hold me off buying one is that for some strange reason Hardy decided to combine a short bottom grip with a down locking reel seat. If you have small hands this may well go unnoticed but if you have big paws like mine you're sure to take a look when you feel the constant contact between your bottom hand and the reel.
I won't call it a deal breaker because the rod works very well but personally I would prefer longer grips (especially bottom grip) on a rod of this size and power. Otherwise; nicely finished complete with ferrule plugs and a powder coated aluminum tube and every bit a match for the Sage One or Sage X. I include the Sage X in my thoughts because I have one of them in 14' for the same line weights. I'd call the Hardy equal to either rod so if you're in the market for a high end long and powerful Spey rod and if you can trust my opinion about such matters maybe take a Hardy Zephrus for a test drive.
Ard
I won't call it a deal breaker because the rod works very well but personally I would prefer longer grips (especially bottom grip) on a rod of this size and power. Otherwise; nicely finished complete with ferrule plugs and a powder coated aluminum tube and every bit a match for the Sage One or Sage X. I include the Sage X in my thoughts because I have one of them in 14' for the same line weights. I'd call the Hardy equal to either rod so if you're in the market for a high end long and powerful Spey rod and if you can trust my opinion about such matters maybe take a Hardy Zephrus for a test drive.
Ard