T&T Zone 5-Wt Rod

This issue: TCFF tests the new Thomas & Thomas Zone fly rod.

Thomas & Thomas’s latest offering arrived at our offices in a sturdy aluminium tube with the T&T Zone label on the cap, and we couldn’t wait to see what was inside. Following our tests of the Exocett and Avantt (TCFF issues 254 and 256 – Ed) and the glowing reviews that these two rods generated, we had high expectations of the new kid on the block. On the back of that was the fact that we knew that the Zone (albeit in the salt water configuration) had won Best of Show at the IFTD in 2018 and, as such, its fresh water sibling had a lot to live up to.

The Zone series includes rods from 3- to 10-wt and in the fresh water models, the 3- and 4-wt are classified as medium-fast action, with rods from 5-wt and up designated as fast action. Our test rod was in a 5-wt 9’ four-piece configuration. Zone rods are hand-rolled in the T&T USA factory using the same StratoThermresin developed for their flagship models mentioned above. The Zone is marketed by T&T as a new rod series aimed at producing rods that have top performance at a competitive price, while still offering the qualities that T&T is known for.