Scott A3 Fly Rod Review

My first fly rod was a 4 peice fiberglass Eagle Claw trail master with a reversible butt to make it a spin rod. It was a 7 1/2 foot 7 weight. Crazy.  It caught plenty of fish.  My first ligit fly rod was an 8 Foot 4 weight Scott Voyager. I loved it and fished it for about 12 years before it was stolen, and I replaced it with a Scott A3 (4 pc, 4wt, 8.5 ft).

The Scott A3 is a fast action rod that has a stiff butt for chunking lead, and a soft tip for light tippets and dries.  It's super light to boot.  I wanted a rod that I could take to the typical medium sized trout stream in NC. I casted my friends 4wt A3 and was hooked.  I had bought a older Scott Eclipse 4 wt that was originally $600 in the 90's, and it casted like a dream... but it was heavy on the arm. I knew I wanted something lighter. After finding the A3,  I compared it to a Sage Flight, a St. Croix Imperial, and my original Scott Voyager.  It out performed them all.  The sage rod felt great with dries, but didn't have the back bone to push a big foam hooper through the air. The Imperial was close, but a little heavier and not as precise.

I'm not crazy about the appearance of the blue guide wraps and modern looking carbon reel seat, but it just don't matter. And, I've seen uglier rods.

I guess the blue is just different than traditional colors.  I'm not sure why I find it odd.

I put a Lamson Konic reel and a SA GPX fly line on the rod and really dig the set up.  I had to shell out about $275 for the rod, but that was less than the $335 retail price.  I don't need anything nicer. It's already way too much money to spend on a fly rod when I have a other trout rods, but it's my favorite, and my best all around. Scott has a lifetime warranty on all their rods, and they make their rods right here in the old U S of A,  in Colorado.  Anyone interested in buying a St. Croix Imperial 5wt?  Its a great rod...just not as great as the Scott A3.