A medium-action, four-piece trout rod that Redington sells at $199.99 in the 9-foot 5-weight. Hatch Magazine calls it a rare deal and praises how smoothly it loads at fishing distances of 50 feet and under, while calling its reel seat and cork basic. Outdoor Life named it the best budget rod in its trout fly rod test.
Full review
A rod that bends at fishing distances
Hatch Magazine's review, which calls it a deal you'll rarely find in the sport, is built around one argument: most trout fishing happens at 50 feet and under, and the Classic Trout is designed to load at those distances where stiff fast-action rods are not. Reviewer Peter Scorzetti writes that its bend runs nearly all the way down to the cork, soft in the tip and stiffening gradually toward the handle, and compares the feel to Winston rods.
He recommends it for dry flies, nymphs and light streamers at fifty feet and under, and notes the soft tip is forgiving when setting the hook on light tippet.
Where the action costs you
The same deep bend has a drawback Hatch Magazine spells out: the tip is easy to shock when casting a long line, producing a tailing loop, so anything beyond fifty feet needs a smooth stroke.
Outdoor Life's casting test of the 7-foot-6 3-weight points the same way. Tester Dac Collins hit 5 of 9 accuracy targets and reached a maximum of 60 feet, concluding that it is not incredibly accurate or powerful next to the more expensive rods in the test but does everything well enough.
Components
Hatch Magazine says the dark-clay blank and titanium-oxide stripping guides do not look like those of a low-budget rod, and that the five weight weighs 2.9 ounces. The reel seat is another matter: it functions, but the review calls the components bare-bones, and the handle is described as slightly bulky and made of middle-of-the-road cork.
Collins, who has fished a 3-weight Classic Trout for about 10 years, reports that the only failure in that time was the reel seat coming unglued from the blank, which he repaired himself.
Price
Hatch Magazine quoted $169.99 and $149.99 when its review ran; Redington's store now lists the 9-foot 5-weight at $199.99. Outdoor Life describes it as a good option for a novice or budget-minded angler who wants something of higher quality than an entry-level kit, and lists a limited lifetime warranty to the original owner.
Strengths
- +Loads smoothly, bending nearly to the cork, per Hatch Magazine
- +Suited to dry flies, nymphs and light streamers at 50 feet and under
- +Soft tip is forgiving when setting the hook on light tippet
- +The five weight weighs 2.9 ounces, lighter than some top-dollar rods according to Hatch Magazine
- +Easy for beginners to cast, per Outdoor Life
Watch-outs
- −The tip is easy to shock past 50 feet, causing tailing loops, Hatch Magazine reports
- −Reel seat hardware is bare-bones; Outdoor Life's tester had one come unglued from the blank
- −Bulky handle of middle-of-the-road cork
How it compares
At $199.99 it is priced level with the Echo Carbon XL ($199.99) and below the Orvis Clearwater ($298) and Redington Vice ($279.99) on this page. Its medium action is slower than the fast-action Vice and the medium-fast Clearwater.
Rating sources
Our 4.5 score is the average of the 1 scored review above; 1 more reviewed it without printing a score and is not in the average. Ratings marked * were derived from the reviewer’s written analysis or video transcript — the publisher didn’t print an explicit numeric score, so we inferred one from their own words. Click through to verify. More about methodology.
