Blue Halo is a mid-price product, and they offer good blanks for that price. I'm not a big fan of static analysis, so if someone is judging a blank by it's CPM, I would ask if the person has been casting or fishing with the blank before any further discussions.

But as always, everyone is entitled to his or hers personal opinion.

Christian

Nativetrout, I appreciate your input. I wonder if it might help others to know what series you found to perform best in those areas where the BH failed? I know if I were in the market I'd appreciate an alternative recommendation as opposed to just a critique.

horsehead, I didnt think it important to market what I DO like in this post. Simply wanted to give feedback honestly. I would usually think if i didnt like a rod maybe its just the action or line being used but this was not the case and the guys running the booth told me they were really stoked on how they felt with whatever line was strung up at the show. Who knows. I have posted hundreds of posts about rods i do think are special and even my favorite series which is the Heirloom series by T&T, but then my likings are neither here nor there or even important in my opinion of the blue halo rods. I love soft rods, medium rods, fast....I make bamboo rods and have casts and made many many rods. A good rod is a good rod and a good caster can adjust very quickly to the action of the rod. Its not trying to poo on this company because I think the rods are very attractive, i love the price point, and i love new companies helping our love and passion of glass to progress. I simply think they got alot of work to do on their tapers or something else.... again, just opinions, not trying to dog them at all. but it is an open forum and i hate when guys rave over a rod, i buy it due to what i read and find the rod to be crap. every time a new series hits this forum theres a huge wave of people buying them up, having them custom built, raving about the actions...ect. within a year or two, they are selling them , the post stop, and other guys start talking about how they cant figure the tapers out and saying how 5 wts are 3wts and 3 wts are actually 6wts ?? : I sometimes i wonder how many rod buyers even truly fish more than on one family vacation a year.

I know that I for one really enjoy reading about everyone's opinion, especially on a product that I really like. I like to know what people didn't like about a product as much as what they did like about a product. I can say that I do really enjoy my 7wt, but have never played with either the 3 or 5. I do, however, have a Gen1 5/6 and really like that rod too (despite it being rather heavy and more of a 7wt) as it has become my go-to streamer rod.

Cheers

That's funny, I ended up doing the same thing as well with my BH 7wt and my Steffen 7/8 and came to the same conclusion. It really isn't all that surprising considering how much I like my Steffens. I will say though it hasn't really changed my mind about the joy I get out of the BH, but it did cause me to throw in the Steffen in addition to the BH on our weeklong beach trip today.

Cheers

Comparing Steffens and BH's is like comparing apples and oranges. I have 4 Steffens and 2 BH's and fish them all as often as possible. My newly built Steffen 8/9 has been great on the Tiger Muskies this summer, and I have also had a blast with my latest build- the Blue Halo 7 weight on carp. There are just so many variables including personal preferences, lines used, casting technique, fishing conditions, etc. that casting a rod on a lawn or at the fishing show can only take you so far. As others have pointed out, it is great to have so many options over the past several years, and the point is to get out and fish and have fun.

A lot of glass rods in 3 piece config, similar length, line weight, etc... I would think they are not all the same.

Otherwise, I propose a trade for your Steffen for my Wonder rod of same configuration.

Not going to consider s vs e glass, spigot vs sleeve ferrules, uplock, down lock, cap and ring, let alone parabolic vs progressive action...

So I've done a lot of reading lately on some the the "slowest rods made" threads, and it occurred to me to try my 7'6" 3wt blue halo with some different lines to see how it responded. I ended up going up two line sizes (WF5F Aircel) and pairing it with a 1492. I don't know that I would go so far as to say this Rod is a 5wt (it's not), but it gave me the casting stroke I was looking for (sloooooooooow) and just feels marvelous now. I'm so excited to have this Rod dialed in. I was thinking of selling it, but now I'm just looking forward to fishing it!!!

And that is an excellent example of how the individual flyfisher is a factor in a rod. I fish glass 90% of the time, have a variety of rods, and like slow to medium glass. I find myself deliberately having to slow down my casting when I fish my 7'6" 3 weight Blue Halo with a 3 weight line. We're all different and that's a good thing.

wow that's a pretty rod. I like the handle.

I have an 8' 4wt and it's a decent rod . Looks good and fishes good . The Moonlit Lunar glass that I have is the worst rod in my quiver .