Scott Tidal

[J.T. Griffin]

So Scott has a new stick out called the Tidal. Anyone have any details on the action of the rod and how it compares to the radian and the s4s?

Zach, I’m looking at you through the inter web 🙂

[Zach Matthews]

JT –

I have thrown one and have one to fish. I am extremely impressed by it and so were most of the people at IFTD. It was never likely that a midmarket entry like the Tidal ($475) was going to knock off a flagship launch like the Sage SALT ($750+), so I wouldn’t read anything into the fact that the Tidal didn’t win the award. (Sage also had a lot of dealers there and those awards are not exactly a disinterested survey).

The buzz on the show floor was that the Tidal may in fact be too good. Some dealers I talked to were griping about it cannibalizing S4s sales, although the S4s series is about due for an upgrade anyway. I was throwing rods from one of Scott’s competitors with the rod designer and he out of the blue asked if I had thrown the Tidal yet. Clearly he was impressed.

What Tidal gets you is a slightly less than top of the line materials package of resins and fiber, with the same guides that Sage uses in the SALT, a slightly lower grade of cork and a slightly lower grade of reel seat. Both cork and seat are better than the best TFO offers but not as nice as the S4s or SALT range. Kind of an upper mid level set of fittings.

Basically the magic here is all in the taper. Bartschi simply designed a seriously nice stick within the parameters of what he had to work with. I *easily* could see this rod selling for $575 instead of $475 and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see dealers agitating to bring the price up.

Functionally, the scoop from inside Scott was that in non-technical terms they took the things they had done to make the Radian so nice and applied them to a lower grade of materials with a saltwater profile. I strongly suspect we’ll see a Radianized S4s successor within the next two to three years. I for one am really excited to see what that rod looks like, because if Tidal is any indicator, it will be an all time high water mark rod for saltwater anglers.

In comparison to the Sage SALT, which I fished in Mexico, I would class the Tidal as the better caster but the SALT as likely to be better for fighting fish. SALT is much more of a lifting rod and I would pick it to win the long-term durability fight. If I were planning to punch casts into the wind for cruising permit, I’d probably select a Tidal. If I were planning to fight heavy jack crevalle or anything in bluewater, I would choose the SALT. If the fish can get under the boat, choose the SALT. But definitely cast them both if anyone is planning on buying a new saltwater rod this year.

Zach

[J.T. Griffin]

Really great review Zach. Thanks for the insight.

I was waiting to get an s4s whenever they introduce its replacement, but I may give this a serious look for a new bonefish rod. I have a 9wt s3s but want a 7 or 8 weight.

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