The Diamondback Design Strategy
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from 212 reviewsFor disclosure I am a guide that uses these reels & rods. With that said I own almost 10 of them and we have fished from small brook trout streams to 30 inch steelhead out of Lake Erie. Not only doe these reels and rods hold up, balance, and cast accurately. As I describe it to clients, will you make a cast with a monofilament leader and your rod returns back to "zero and does not pull your flies out of where you just poke them," then you have one of your best tools in your hand. The reels are outmatched and don't get enough traction. Listen, you get what you pay for. These reels are in the top range of price BUT they are alone in perforce, drag, balance, and design. I can't say enough about the Aeroflex. These rods perform in any range of experienced to non-experienced casters so well but if I had a local shop that sold them I may be their best salesman. They are durable, incredibly accurate, transfer energy exactly the way they were designed and I needed to. Buy one, by 10 you won't regret it.
Seriously ? Best tapers and without a shadow of doubt their customer service exceeds anything else on the planet by far bar none !! Way beyond 5 star !!
After testing out the 7/8/9 in the series, I was very confident that the 11 wt would be a great fit for a barracuda trip in the Keys. The rod felt like a 9/10 with plenty of power, casted/loaded very easily, and being a heavier rod it was still fun to fight smaller fish on. Price point and performance puts this rod at the top of my list. Biggest take-away was how well it tracked casting into heavy wind with bigger flies.
Love my Diamondback Aeroflex 9' 5wt. For years, I have been a fan of the original Diamondback Aeroflex, and I still own several. I was looking forward to seeing what Joe and the Diamondback crew would do with this reimagined classic. What they have accomplished is beyond my expectations. The rod has the backbone and strength to deliver smaller streamers to "distant" fish all day but also has the accuracy and delicacy to use small dry flies up close.
Not only does it cast well in all condition, but it is also a blast to fish with. I have landed trout - both large and small and all sizes in between - as well as aggressive river small mouth bass. This rod handled them all very well.
Cosmetically, the rod is gorgeous. The blue-green blank, and blue-silver wraps are great. And the cork, and guides complement the overall design.
All-in-all and outstanding rod and great value.
I really enjoy my Aeroflex, and am looking forward to adding another (next time a 6wt) to my quiver.
Thanks.
Put 1k casts into it so far, dialing long distance takes minimal effort. Equally great as a beach caster as well w/ additional 4’ inches on the blank. Diamondback and Joe I can’t recommend enough! Superb price point for a high quality rod coupled with/ elite customer service! Thanks Joe!!!
Ordered my tip and had it in within a week. Super happy to have a team of people working to get us back on the water.
The customer service is out of this world fantastic! I lost the tip of my rod the first time I used it. Not an era on there part but my own. I fell in after getting snagged and out from fishing in Central Pennsylvania the water is cold and I had a mile walk back to the car. I really wasn’t worried about the tip at that time . But I called and ordered one Saturday and by Wednesday I had! Thanks again diamondback for the fast turnaround!
Chris
Just returned from a trip. Fished 5 days with the 10ft 2wt Ideal Nymph for the first time chasing Thai and Golden mahseers in the jungle rivers of Thailand. There's so much good things to say about this rod; it's sensivity, it's recovery which increases accuracy and casting ability and more notably, being able to handle the fast and powerful runs of the mahseers, stopping and turning them from going further down the rapids and fast waters, preventing break offs from rocks and snags. Didnt also have to worry about breaking off 5x/4x tippets nor the rod when applying the pressure, could just focused on fishing. The power of this rod is unbelievable. All the good things said about this rod is real, it's no hype. Have been euro nymphing with the Grey's Streamflex Plus 10ft 3 wt rod for around 6 years now. It's a decent enough entry level rod but had difficulty handling the one plus pounders, let alone the 2 to 3 pounders. But fishing with the DB, it was night and day in comparison. Landed so many 1 pound plus mahseers with ease and also 20+ 2 to 3 lbs range. Truly a top end rod at a mid price range. If I need another one for euro nymphing, I'll get this same rod, it's that good for me. And the buying experience was awesome, had a unique delivery request which was met. That's great customer service if I might add. Would buy from them again in the future for sure.
Took my brand new 10 foot 2Wt rod and reel on its maiden outing for some tropical jungle river fishing and I was totally blown away. The rod and reel combo gave me so much confidence that I just concentrated on my fishing and forgot about the equipment ... it just does NOT get in the way of the fishing. The rod had a strong backbone and could pretty much handle the mahseers I was targeting. What a great rod and reel!
I am very pleased with my new Aeroflex rod. The build quality is excellent with attention to detail and a beautiful finish. The Aeroflex is a pleasure to cast, with a reliable and confidence building action. It excels in wind, and casting long distances. Highly recommended.
I purchased the Aeroflex based on my experience with the Ideal Nymph for trout fishing relatively small waters. The first time I used it, I was on slow waters about an hour before sunset and trout were rising on emergers in the middle of a light caddis hatch. I rigged the rod with 444 Peach DT on a 3x tapered leader that was stepped down from the tippet ring to 2' 5x and 4' of 7x and was able to cast size 18 Elk Hair Caddis 30' upstream. There was enough rod to unroll the whole leader and the fly would gently land on the water. A light line mend and the fly was drifting perfectly, without any significant slack in the line on the water. Hooksets were immediate and firm. I caught about 6 without a single missed hookset. I then turned around and started swinging soft hackles downstream. I caught about 15-20 more rainbows on the swing with solid hooksets. The largest was about 15" and the rod protected the light 7x tippet nicely. I broke one tippet on a large rainbow (not the rod's fault), but landed the rest pretty effortlessly. I'm really impressed with the rod and it performed much better than I expected. I think the only thing I wish was different was to have a slightly longer rod option. The 8' rod is kind of short for longer casts (My limit is around 80' with a very fast 9'5" rod) and makes mending and roll casts a little more technical, but if your cast has good fundamentals, the rod's potential will exceed the angler's abilities.
You can’t beat this rod for the price. I’ve used my 5 to throw size 22 tricos to small streaters in the greater Yellowstone area. Preformed better than any rod could. This rod has to be your next rod!
Quickest turnaround on a section replacement that I know of. Wrote in of the breakage. Paid the fee and within 24 hours replacement was in the mail.
So here is what I have to say. Get This Rod NOW! Like it's predecessor, this rod is hitting the market with a fair price tag but you're going to have a hard time finding someone willing to part with one on the secondary market if you let it get to that point.
I pared the 8' 4W Fresh Water with an Orvis BBS III with a mid-grade WF NB line.
Roll Casting Tight 8-10 (more than acceptable accuracy- line & leader length moves this rating 1 to 2 points)
Roll Casting- Mid 15-20': 9.5-10: noticeable load when drawing up for the back cast, crisp kinetic release on the forward, beautiful accuracy as tip recovery is damned near dead-nut straight.
Roll Casting - Long 30+': 9.5-10: the middle section of the rod comes into play and there's some meat to work with. Very little extra effort involved when pushing for the extra feet, "just let the rod work" approach is the correct one. Rod tip recovery remained unchanged with straight down and up tracking. I was picking my targets and hitting them intuitively.
Hull Casting: 9-10; hands down great. Fast but not snappy, I stretched casts as far as conditions and my setup allowed (longer than you think.) Intuitive loading by feel; accuracy "call your target-hit your target". I found myself in a position to toss a few steeple casts, the transition on the downward vertical into a forward horizontal was an "admirable performance" for a BS cast that is rarely used, it did what I wanted to do. (0 points added 0 point deducted.)
My Straight Up Opinion: It is on the faster side for people who like mid to slow action dry fly rods, however, it wasn't splashing down either so yeah, it does that too. You could easily line down or go with a less aggressive WF taper and customize the feel for where you want to be. ((more experimentation need.))
I absolutely loved this rod and since I got mine, it's been the only one I have taken out forgoing those in rotation with more than double the price tag.
I Spent most of my time tight lining a double nymph rig under a single BB split shot. Easy feel on the take, easy distinction between a fish take and bouncing off of structure. The 4 WT has some backbone but maybe I should have upped to a 5 WT, it handled an 18 inch rainbow in a 300cfs deep current in such a way were I was able to easy manipulate him into the pocket water I felt more comfortable fighting in. I was admittedly asking a lot from the rod and I got what I needed. again, I wish I had a 5 or a 6 in my hand but that was my choice not the rods.
Another observation; It's my opinion that the single foot hoop like islets that were prevalent in the original Diamondback VSRs and some of the older Cortland Pro-Casts do move the apex of that kinetic release point down further into the tip section of the rod as the blank is given just that much more flexibility. It's my opinion that, this is what gives you a pretty fast feel to the rod but also somehow translates into softer presentations on the water adding that versatility and perhaps providing a more forgiving result despite sloppy fundamentals and bad habits. When fighting a bigger fish, I didn't perceive any noticeable difference in the bend/backbone. but again, I'm not about to tax my new 4wt on anything lake run anytime soon.
Money back test:
Would I buy this rod again: Yes
Would I be willing to sell this rod to a personal friend at purchase price: NO, This rod is now part of my personal rotation.
Would I be willing to sell this rod for 50% profit assuming you could no longer replace it new? Honestly no, I would keep it in my regular rotation.
Would I be willing to sell this rod at 100% profit assuming you could no longer replace it new? Getting closer but no, I would keep it in my regular rotation.
Would I be willing to sell this rod at 150% profit assuming you could no longer replace it new? I would take a day to think about it, negotiate an additional trade, most likely cave, 150% profit is hard to ignore.
I haven't given a 10 out of 10 ever: the closest was the original Orvis Super Fine Glass with a 9-10 and part of that rating had to do with Orvis actually pricing a rod accurately for once.
overall, 9.5 out of 10: the numbers average out closer to 9.20. but the fact that I actually had to think about whether or not I would be willing to sell it at 100% profit and above is worth half a point. The only reason I'm not giving it the 10-10 is the short-range roll casting but I acknowledge that this is nit-picking and comes with opinions and variables.
just go out and get the rod before they are discontinued from the production line. or else you're missing out on a gem. It's worth the buy at double the price. And, Diamondback supports our veterans and first responders. That also counts for something.
This rod casts like a dream. Pinpoint accuracy with fast recovery. Handles fish remarkably well. Plenty of power in the butt section to land big fighting fish. Highly recommend it. Wish I had gotten it sooner. Thanks Joe for designing this work of art!