Per my other thread, I "accidentally" came to acquire both a Steffen 8' 5/6 as well as a Barclay 8-6. I'll do my best to compare, although, I'm neither good with words nor a particularly good caster so take this with a grain of salt. This also isn't an exhaustive test since I only had 2 lines and neither were true to weight.



BUILD QUALITY
Both of these rods are beautiful. The Steffen came with a small chunk of epoxy missing (not sure what happened) on the end of one of the ferrule wraps (this rod was purchased new). I'll just throw a little on when I mix up a batch of flex coat in the next week and it shouldn't be noticeable. With that being said, not ideal for a $500+ rod. The Barclay came to me used, but in perfect condition other than some cork soiling (no biggie!). The Barclay is also built salt safe which is a plus (from a function standpoint) but I do prefer Chris' wood inserts (from a form perspective). The Barclay has a Ritz grip where the Steffen has...well...I don't know what it's called. A modified half wells? Both are super comfortable but I prefer the Ritz a bit more since I can move my hand around a bit where with the Steffen my hand is locked in one spot.

REEL & LINE
I used a Hatch 5+ for these rods and it balanced both perfectly (albeit on the heavy side, but I prefer that with bigger rods/reels) so no real notes there. For lines, I only have a SA Amplitude MPX and Airflo Streamer Max Short (200gr) on hand. If I really wanted to be thorough, I'd have a more true to weight line like a DT or SA Trout (WF--one of my favorites). But to be honest, for the way I'll be using this rod most, these lines are great, but will eventually get a line for more "delicate" dry fly work. One note, I wasn't able to have both rods rigged up at the same time so I could cast one and immediately cast the other (I only had one reel and one of each line). So I had to re rig between rods/lines which wasn't perfect.

FLIES
For my test I tried three different flies: A size 10 bugger with a 4.5mm tungsten bead, a medium (ish) sized popper, and a 3" long game changer (unweighted). I'll be using flies in these sizes a lot with this rod so I wanted to make sure I casted them all. The bugger and popper were cast with the MPX and the game changer was cast with the Streamer Max.



CASTING
Welp. With all that being said, both rods were so good, I wish I had a reason to keep both (I just really don't need 2 glass 6 weights and a graphite). They're so similar (with my stroke) but there were a few differences. First the the floating line. Both rods cast the popper and bugger fantastically. The Barclay has a bit more flex and feel than the Steffen it loads well and is really fun to double haul that popper--it feels so good! The Steffen definitely has more power, but with that being said, has a bit less feel, but can cast a bit further with less effort (at least in my hand). I don't really see either of these being draw backs at all, just things I noticed. Next I went and strung up the Streamer Max. This was where the Steffen really stood out. It could really launch the Game Changer whereas the Barclay struggled a bit. I think the Barclay would really sing with a 160gr Streamer Max (5wt). With that being said, I'd still fish the Barclay with the Streamer Max in a heart beat, I just would plan on fishing it a bit closer (or maybe a smaller streamer). If I had a DT or true to weight 6wt line, I'm certain the Barclay would fish them more delicately. I didn't cast a bobber and nymphs, mostly because I hate fishing that way, but I'm certain the Steffen would win that one.

CONCLUSION?


The Barclay feels like it is a bit more versatile, where the Steffen feels like a bit more of a powerful rod (again, in my hands!). I prefer the Barclay cork/grip, but I really prefer the wood insert on the Steffen (I got excited about the Barclay being salt safe at first, but I rarely fish the salt). Ultimately I can only keep one of them, and will either sell the other, or trade it for a 7/8 or 8/9 glass rod (Steffen, Barclay, or McFarland). I honestly have no clue which I'll keep. But I know I'll be happy with either of them.

Great side by side review. I’ve fished the Steffen 8’ 5/6 pretty extensively but have never fished a Barclay rod, so this is useful information. I’m surprised to hear the Steffen is more powerful than the Barclay, considering the Steffen’s 5/6 rating.

I like the Steffen best with a 5.5 WF line like the SA MPX 5wt, but I’m usually throwing smaller flies than the game changer and popper. Thanks for the comparison.

Very interesting review. I always enjoy reading these kind of things. Do you have a sense of which one is faster? Not that faster is necessarily better, but just curious. Based on the power vs feel observations you made, I'd guess the steffen.