The newly landed Vision Toka fly rods (meaning second in Finnish) are a new range of affordable mid range fly rods from Vision. With prices ranging from £149.99 to £169.99, this is a good entry point to the Vision brand, which has been offering excellent fly rods for several years now.
At Garry Evans we are stocking the whole Toka range, which includes a number of rods for the river including a dedicated nymph rod at 10'6 #3 and several 9'9 stillwater models, which will probably prove to be the most popular.
I took the 9'9 #7 4 section stillwater out for a spin in the local park, teamed with a Vision Hero 95 fly line WF7. The rod comes in a good quality case and has fixtures and fittings to a very high standard for the price.
The blank itself has an unscrimmed finish, which harks back to the finish on the Vision Cult rod from a number of years back. It is quite a nice rod to look at cosmetically.
Upon inspection, the blank itself isnt the thinest out there, the butt section does look a bit thicker than more expensive models, but this isnt really an issue, and it did suggest to me that the rod would be very powerfull. The rod is reasonaly light in the hand, although as you might expect for the price, it isnt the lightest out there.
A few tenative casts and roll casts gave me the feel for the rod right away - it is a true fast action with one hell of a lot of power. I wound up a few longer range efforts and injected some line speed, which the rod coped with very well.
To me the rod felt like a true distance model; if you are looking for a weapon for longer casts, using heavier head fly lines like Airflo's 40+ and 40+ Expert, and the Vision Hero line, then this is a great option. It could easily handle a heavier line rating than stated, to unlock even more power.
I'd be very happpy to use this on a windswept reservoir bank where extreme distance is required. It is fast and pokey, with more than enough grunt to handle a full range of sinking fly lines down to a Di8.
VERDICT: A real beast of rod, with a fast tip action. Capable of long casts, handling sinking lines and beating the wind.
Video below shows the Vision Toka rod roll casting with ease, followed by a cast of 27m (30 yards)