Thomas & Thomas TnT rod review Tweet

The new TnT series from Thomas & Thomas is the second new rod for 2012.

Dinamite is the first thing that comes to mind and the rod lives up to that title in performance! However, be aware this is a dedicated saltwater rod and one designed for the flats.

The first thing I noticed was how much line I had off the spool… Amazing. For me this rod stands out as a little different from their previous rods in that it is a fast taper. I lined it up against the older Apex and Horizon II T&T models, all three of them 9-weights, and boy there’s a difference. To start it’s smaller in diameter than the other two; it’s also stiffer in the butt, in fact it has much more backbone through the whole rod, and it bends like a true fast tapered rod, at the tip.

There is little to fault with the TNT. It has a pleasing dark crimson/mahog-any coloured Rhino™ coated blank with matching thread wraps and silver trim, and a full set of titanium guides with a robust silver reel seat, a trademark of Thomas & Thomas rods. If there is any shortcoming it may be that not everyone will get the best out of this rod – it is fast, with no apologies. It claims to be for ‘advanced casters and diehards’ and if you are in that group you’ll know what the advantages of a fast rod are in the wind and when casting that bit further to reach a fish. I’ll admit that I’ve only been casting intermediate lines on the TNT, but I don’t see that line density will change the performance of this rod.

The TNT also lends itself well to competition casting, for those out there looking for a rod for the hoops. Its tracking is superb and the rod roll casts and picks up a long length of line.

If you are in the market for a new salt water rod, you really should test cast the TNT. They are great new products which have forced a few of my other rods onto the FlyLife forum classifieds.

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