Published Oct 31. 2005 - 19 years ago
Updated or edited Oct 11. 2023
Four stream rods
This is not a review as such, but then again. GFF partner Martin Joergensen got the chance to play with four great and very different rods from ECHO, Harvest, Partridge and Scierra. All are light stream rods, but they still display large differences when fished side by side.
This is not a review as such, but then again. GFF partner Martin Joergensen got the chance to play with four great and very different rods from ECHO, Harvest, Partridge and Scierra. All are light stream rods, but they still display large differences when fished side by side.
The pack
These were the rods I brought. I'll go into the details in the following sections- An ECHO-rod. The 480-4X is a 4 piece 8-foot rod meant to carry a 4-weight line
- A Harvest Tackle Traveller 8034B 8-foot rod for a 3-weight line. This one is also 4-piece.
- My trusty Partridge split cane rod. A 4-5-weight and 8-foot. This is a classical 2-piece rod.
- A Scierra MPA 8-foot and 6 inches 3 piece rod for a 4-5 weight line.
The lines
I brought a number of different lines to try on these rods, from a special dry fly presentaion line from Scierra over a plain Ultra 3 WF from SA to an elderly Double Tapered line from Hardy. I had lines in the range from 3-weight to 5. As most of the readers will know, the line can do a great difference on the performance of a rod, and I was careful to try different setups on the four rods as well as try them under different circumstances. I also fished the rods with different leaders - both type and length - as well as different flies and fishing styles, from tiny dries to heavy nymphs with an indicator.ECHO
Harvest Tackle
This brand of rods was brought to my attention through a news flash in a local magazine, and the fact that Harvest Tackle had received two consecutive EFFTEX prizes for Best New rod in 2004 and 2005. This had to be an interesting brand of rods. A visit to their web page confirmed this. Harvest Tackle is fairly unknown, but can still muster an impressing series of rods at some really convincing prices. But first and foremost the initial attraction of these rods lies in their very bamboo like finish and slight scent of luxury in spite of their good price level. Harvest Tackle Co. (Taiwan)Partridge
This is indeed a different rod compared to the above three. It's a classical split cane rod made from bamboo and not carbon fibre like the other three. Partridge used to make these but discontinued the production when their rod builder retired and they were unable to find a replacement. Many of the remaining blanks were sold to Brian Norman, and while he might have some left, they are usually sold without fittings or ferrules, so you will have to fit that on yourself or have a rod builder do it. My rod is called "The Cumberland" and is a 7' rod able to carry a 3- or 4-weight line.Scierra
Scierra is a large Danish manufacturer of fishing equipment. During the recent years Scierra has brought to market several series of excellent fly rods. In my daily fishing I use their HM2 6-weight Saltwater rod designed by Hywell Morgan, and I also own the somewhat more expensive MPA for a 7-weight, which has also been designed by Morgan together with Danish Henrik Mortensen. The MPA series also contains some really nice fresh water rods, and the one I brought to Sweden was an 8'6" for a 4-5-weight line. This is a three-piece rod. MPA is short for Modern Progressive Action, and is the brand name for the softer, but still responsive action that these rods have. Scierra (Denmark)Small dry flies
Large dries and wets
All four rods did well with larger dry flies on heavier tippets and longer casts. The first one to give up was the Partridge, which lacks the length and the stamina to be a casting powerhouse. Now, split cane rods are generally very well casting rods, but not to be forced. Let them cast and they will deliver. Force them and you gain nothing. You can lay out quite a lot of line with the Partridge, but it's a different game compared to the carbon rods.Nymphs
Fishing a weighted nymph on a bare line with no indicator, either as a typical upstream nymph, or with the shorter casting style known from Eastern Europe can be extremely productive. No matter the method, your aim is to get the nymph to float as freely as possible, which usually means rolling and mending a lot. The pickup of the fly is also a critical point. Since the fly is submerged together with most of the leader, you need rod power to lift or roll cast the rig out of the water with as little effort as possible. While the Partridge has the lifting power, it still lags in mending and roll cast capability both due to its length and it's cane action. A rod such as the Scierra is perfect for the purpose, while the ECHO can seem a bit on the stiff side for the short Czech style, while it excels on the longer upstream casts and mends quite well. The Harvest was again a very positive surprise. In spite of its delicacy and lightness it could cast a gold bead nymph with little effort, and the repeated short upstream casts for the short nymph drifts in faster water were easy to perform, not least due to the low weight of the rod.Indicators
Fighting
Style, finish and packaging
I'm usually not the kind of person, who gives great attention to finish in my rods. I'm hard on my equipment anyway, so whatever finish the rod has when I get it, it will soon be less beautiful. But these rods are so different, and in essence they represent a spectre of styles, so it might be interesting for you to get a closer look at each rod.ECHO
The ECHO rod is dark green, with a nice transparency. The wraps are identical in color and lined with a single silver wrap. This rod has one stripping guide, one-foot guides and a standard size tip top. There's a traditional U-shaped hook rest just above the handle. A really nice touch is the little white alignment dots on each section. The cork quality is one place where the costs have been cut. The quality is not impressing, and the gaps between the rings are visible several places. The shape is Western. The reel seat is polished aluminium with a teak or similar wooden spacer. The reel seat has a small wooden butt, which adds a nice touch to the rod.This rod comes in a simple grey sock and a green cordura-covered plastic tube. Altogether the finish is good compared to the price level, but you will not buy this rod for its aesthetics.
Harvest Tackle
This rod is quite different from most carbon rods. The rod has been enamelled with a light tan color and stripes to mimic bamboo. At the same time it is finished like a traditional bamboo rod with a small agate-style stripping guide, snakes and a smallish tip top. The wraps are clear with a very nice and well controlled layer of varnish. You can, in other words, see the feet of the guides through the varnish and wrappings. All this might sound a little phoney, but the rod actually looks quite nice, and it definitely has a sense of luxury about it. The cork is prime quality and the shape is a traditional and simple shape, which fits the rod style perfectly. There is a U-shaped hook rest just above the handle. The reel seat is polished aluminium with a reddish hardwood spacer. Nothing fancy, but functional and good looking.Partridge
Of course this rod is quite different from the others. The finish is very traditional. The light, silky surface of the cane is allowed to appear as it is. The only shiny varnish is on the red wraps and the hand printed writing on the rod. The varnish on the wraps is quite modest in thickness and the wraps a clearly visible through it. The rod has one small stripping guide with a jade inlay and traditional snake guides and a small tip top, just as tradition bids it.Following the same tradition the reel seat is nickel silver and beautifully finished. This rod is all-in-all very traditional in it's style without a single thing to point out. Not luxurious as such, but still it virtually reeks of luxury.
This is not least underscored by the rod tube, which is made in deep, dark, brown leather. A gem of a rod as are most contemporary split cane rods.
Scierra
The Scierra rod has a finish in the absolute best class. The rod is a deep, translucent burgundy color and the wraps are a bit lighter in hue covered with a nicely tapered and very well-controlled layer of varnish.The rod has a large pear-shaped tip top, large, traditional snake guides and two stripping guides, which is quite rare to see on light fresh water rods. It has no hook rest, which I like. I never use it anyway. Cork quality is magnificent and definitely the best in the pack. The handle is Western style and fairly large.
The rod has a black anodized uplocking reel seat with a maple birdseye wooden spacer. The rod comes in a sturdy aluminium tube with a screw cap, but as an extra, you also get a zippered cover to pull over the metal tube. The sock is burgundy and has a cut, which leaves room for the reel. Altogether a very well made rod.
Prices
Apart from the obvious differences mentioned above, the difference in cost of these rods is enough to alone warrant an apples and pears argument. The ECHO rod is the least expensive of the lot, and at 152.- Euros or about 180.- US dollars it's a true bargain. The if you like the capabilities of this rod, there's a lot to get for a small wallet.Next in line is the Harvest. This little gem gives a lot of value for your money. It's not luxurious, but it still has an aura of great style.
The Scierra is located in the high price range. At approx. 580.- US dollars it's not cheap by any measure, but it's well worth the money, being a great casting rod, very beautifuly built and fitted and equipped as the best big brand rods out there.
The Partridge then? Well, I honestly don't know the price. The rod was a gift, and since the Partridge rods are no longer in production, there is no current price. But rest assured: it's expensive! Most cane rods run in the thousands-of-dollars price range, and even though this one is not amongst the highest valued rods, it's bound to be fairly expensive.
Overview
ECHO | Harvest | Partridge | Scierra | |||||
Model | Classic | Traveler | Cumberland | MPA | ||||
AFTM | 4 | 3 | 4-5 | 4-5 | ||||
Pieces | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | ||||
Material | Carbon | Carbon | Split cane | Carbon | ||||
Color | Dark green | Tan | Light cane | Burgundy | ||||
Length | 8' | 8' | 7'6" | 8'6" | ||||
Centimetres | 244 | 244 | 229 | 260 | ||||
Section length | 2'2" | 2'2" | 3'10" | 3' | ||||
Centimetres | 65 | 66 | 118 | 92 | ||||
Weight (grams) | 88 | 66 | 122 | 82 | ||||
Oz. | 3.1 | 2.3 | 4.3 | 2.9 | ||||
Reel seat | Silver alu | Silver alu | Nickel silver | Black alu | ||||
Type | Uplock, threaded | Uplock, threaded | Uplock, threaded | Uplock, threaded | ||||
Inset | Teak or similar | Red hardwood | Teak or similar | Birds eye | ||||
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Handle | Western | Traditional | Western | Western | ||||
Cork | |
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Hook rest | Horse shoe | Horse shoe | Hinged ring | None | ||||
Check and hook rest | |
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Wraps | Dark green | Transparent | Red | Burgundy | ||||
Shooting eye(s) | 1, large, SiC | 1, small, metal | 1, small, jade | 2, large, SiC | ||||
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Guides | One foot | Snakes | Snakes | Snakes | ||||
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Ferrules | Sleeve | Sleeve | Metal | Sleeve | ||||
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Sock | Green canvas | Tan canvas | Blue canvas | Burgundy canvas | ||||
Tube/cover | Plastic/cordura | Bamboo, hinged lid | Leather | Alu/screw lid plus cover | ||||
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Price (approx.) | €152,-/US$180.- | €285.-/US$350.- | Unknown | €489.-/US$585.- |
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Comments
Leon, Both contac
Leon,
Both contact and guarantee depends on the manufacturer and since we don't know what brand rod you have, we can't really help.
Martin
hi,can anybody help
hi,can anybody help me i have broken my flyrod and want to repair it in the factory but i can't find no e-mail adress in denmark is it also life garantie?
greatings leon
This is a wonderful
This is a wonderful review on up and coming or little known fly-rod manufacturers. I especially enjoyed the "overview"
Thanks so much. Will def have to try a few of these!
Curtis, Try conta
Curtis,
Try contacting them directly. The contact information can be found on their web page, which unfortunately only behaves reasonably well in Internet Explorer.
Martin
Does anyone know whe
Does anyone know where I can get harvest rods in the United States?
Hi everybody, I am
Hi everybody,
I am so glad to hear the all appreciation from those of you. Basically, you can check the manufacturer of Harvest fly rod from the rod painting near the hook rest. I think probly you can find the producer is Morewell. If you have great interest in this fly rod, you can search Morewell fly rod. I think you will definitely find it.
hello, if you guys
hello,
if you guys want to get some info of Harvest fly rod,
you can check this website: www.fly-house.com
although this website is in Chinese,
you could ask any question in English,
and I am pretty sure you can get a great answer in English.
by the way, the designers of harvest rod are always visit this website,
I am also sure they will be very glad to answer any question about Harvest rod.
What a great article
What a great article - I have cast a 9' #5 Harvest traveller fly rod and was very impressed.
Thanks for great lin
Thanks for great link Jari, i just research prices of harvest product's and i think harvest rod have best quality for that price, i buying TRAVELER 4pc's 9" class#5 in next couple day. Thank's Martin, for your great comparing that i found on your page.
I wish all of you many great day on river with fly tackle in hand
Ilija from Banja Luka, BiH
The Harvest website
The Harvest website is not working. Try to contact mrs Daisy from harvest tackle directlly at harvest.tackle@msa.hinet.net. She is very kind and agent for middle Europe is rudi-heger@t-online.de . I have Traveler 9' 5wt and it is amazing rod. Very light and very powerfull, and it became my favourite rod in 5wt( I have Winston BIIx and TNT Paradigm in same lenght) .
Regards form Serbia!
Hi Silja. I know
Hi Silja.
I know that hsimport.se carries at least the rods and blanks from harvest
-Jari
Silja, The Intern
Silja,
The Internet service from Taiwan seems to be very flimsy. Sometimes the page works, sometimes it doesn't. Try again at a later time.
Martin
www.harvest-tackle.c
www.harvest-tackle.com.tw is not working, Is there some another way to find harvest articles ?
Hey. I've bought
Hey.
I've bought a Harvest Tackle Traveller 9# "7. And I really think it's an amazing rod! I bought it from a dealership in Sweden for hardly no money.
Thanx for your review "urging" me to get me one of those rods
Hello: i starte
Hello:
i started this earlier, but i lost it ...here goes...again...i'm new to the pc.
thru the years i have aquired three sets of very thick / hollow bamboo rods...two w/furrels...one aluminum and another brass...and are three section rods.
looking at what i have seen so far thru the net...i have not been able to find any online. the ones i have. i'm these exist...some where...
would you have in put of what i speak of ? i'd appreciate your efforts and time, thank you.
nam vet,
ralph.
You can find or ask
You can find or ask Harvest rods from Finland too.
www.bamburakentaja.com/fisubitti.
Wellcome,
Ken, Harvest is i
Ken,
Harvest is in Taiwan. Their web site is mentioned in the article, but you can also find it here. It's best viewed in Internet Explorer and fails in Mozilla.
Martin
I found this site wh
I found this site while looking at different fly rods. Really enjoyed the reviews and unbiased commentary. Could you possibly supply me with a website address for Harvest Fly Rods?