I came the Hardy when I saw they were offering 1921 3-1/8” Perfect (apparently it has been available for over a year now…) and recalled see some good remarks on their euro rods, which surprised me when I read it, but since I was on this site I decided to have a look at the specs. When I saw that they used a couple snake guides at the rod tip instead of only single foot guides I knew that this was a real euro rod that had been well thought out.

How would that be the deciding factor? Well, I have 2 ESNs (3100, 4100) that I built 10 years ago with all snake guides and a closeout G. Loomis (3106) that I bought 2 years ago that has single footers all the way up. After one outing with the G. L I ripped off all the single foot guides (the next day) in the tip section and replaced them with snake guides. This makes a world of difference in the usability of that rod.

Why? Because when the leader wraps around the tip area it tends to get pinched in the nip between the blank and the loop of the single foot guide. So much so that it requires settling the rod down and going to the tip to un-wedge it. This does not happen with snake guides, it does not even have the possibility to get pinched between the guide and the blank. I appreciate that the single foot guides are more economically attractive to the manufacturer (one thread wrap vs. two) but for rods that cost nearly a grand, that is hardly a justified design choice when the snake guides make for a better solution in the tip…