When I head to Belize for the honeymoon I’ll have a few rods along. One of those rods will be the new TNT from Thomas & Thomas. I wanted to see how the rod stacked up against one of the oldies-but-goodies, the Sage RPL. So, I headed out to the park with a camera and did a little casting.
The TNT and the RPL, New meets Old.
First up was the RPL.
I was actually a bit surprised at how nice this rod cast. I was hitting 50′ pretty well and into a little wind. The rod didn’t feel as fast as I remember it being. It is a two piece rod so it won’t be making any salty journeys with me, but it is a solid rod and a good choice for carp and Lower Sacramento trout fishing, maybe even some steelhead if I ever find the time to chase the steel again.
Next up was the TNT.
This was a pretty nice rod. I liked it. I probably had another 5′ of control and maybe 15% more accuracy.
In short, I like the rod. It is a modern, saltwater rod in the same vein as the other top rods out in the market. If you like Thomas & Thomas, I’d look at this rod. My go-to 5 wt. is actually an old T&T Emerger (my second choice 5 is actually an old Sage RPL+, so it is funny that I got to do this comparison of 7 wt. rods).
A 7 wt. is a legit rod selection for bonefish, especially Belize Bones. I tend to think of an 8 as the ideal, but I forget that my first bonefish was caught on a 7 and it was fun. I’m looking forward to chasing bones with this rod. Sadly, I’ll have to return it when done.
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