Why shouldn't the people buying the gear review it? We thought it was a great idea to include reviews from you, the reader, of a piece of tackle that you have bought that you'd like to tell us all about. We had heard some great things about AtomSix rods that Steve Parkes builds and Gary spills the beans on what he thinks.
On Friday I visited West House trout lakes with the sole purpose of giving the AtomSix 9ft 5wt Tachyon demo rod a good four hour test.
It was cold and there had been a good frost the night before and when I pulled up at the car park the outside temp showed 3 degrees C but the sun was shining early on and there was very little wind.
There was hardly any surface activity and I knew I would have to fish subsurface. But as I would mainly use the Tachyon as a stillwater dry fly rod I simply put a size 16 dry fly on to try it out and see if I could bring a fish to the surface. I spent 20 minutes fishing like this and with a Snowbee XS line it cast beautifully at close range but quite surprisingly was able to push a line out to really long distances with ease.
Normally I find a trade off between a rod that's good close in and one that can cast a good distance, but in this case it could do both amazingly well.
Nothing touched the dry fly so I knew a buzzer suspended below an indicator would likely net me a fish. So I put a buzzer 2ft below an indicator. I don't like fishing indicators on 5wt rods as I feel they run out of steam when pushing for distance and a 6wt or 7wt is better for me when using these tactics.
I have never cast a 5wt rod that could do what the Tachyon did. Not only did it fish a dry perfectly but it also blasted out a size 10 buzzer under an indicator a long way. I was pretty shocked how good it was and how much better it was than all my other 5wt rods, and there are some pretty big names in there.
It was a joy to cast. There's no tip bounce and if you have cast Steve's 9ft 6wt Tachyon you know how good it is. Well the 5wt is every bit as good. The 5wt is simply a carbon copy in 5wt format. Steve's fit and finish is always fantastic, as is his customer service.
This AtomSix 9'0" #5 Tachyon is as good as it gets when it comes to a distance able 5wt that is still fishable at shorter distances....so good in fact its staying with me. This rod is too good to part with and there is no better recommendation than me spending my own hard earned cash. This rod is that good. It worked perfectly with the Snowbee XS at all distances, so in my view is a real world 5wt and does not need a .25 or .5 heavier line to make it work, though some might prefer to do that. Steve Parkes at AtomSix has also developed a more medium actioned 5wt for those not after a pistol like this one. By all accounts its just as superb as this model but I've yet to try it. I'm a fast actioned rod fan and this is the real deal for me.
For more details of Atom Six Fly Rods please visit their website