Question for anyone that has fished the Tsunami Trophy II and Airwave Elite

[bellows]

Looking for an inexpensive surf rod to be used with a Battle 3 DX 5000 that I recently picked up.. I've been trying to decide between the 9 ft Trophy II and the 9.6 ft Elite. Both rods have good reviews and I've seen both recommended often. Is there anyone that has owned both? I'm trying to decide if the Elite is worth 2x the price of the Trophy II. I've handled both at my LTS, both are nice.

 

The caveat is neither would get heavy use this summer.

[golden]

I’ve tried both. The elite is definitely better but the trophy 2 is quality for a bit less. The 9’6” really handles well, snd balances nicely. 

[relentless pursuit]

I dont own either but have seen several airwave elites explode during normal use for no apparent reason,have a buddy that puts alot of fish on the Trophy 2’s  with no issues,

[GrahamN]

My first surf rod was a trophy2 

Lasted one very short outing, caught one dink and the next outing it exploded on a cast, 

Fairly certain i hadn't damaged it because I absolutely babied it, it being my newest toy 

Wouldn't have been as big of a problem but I never was able to get a hold of tsunami  to get any sort of replacement, etc 

Never so much as an email back despite trying 

 

I've seen 1 other trophy 2 break on a under slot fish 

And I've seen 2 airwave elites come into the local tackle shop  broken for replacements 

 

I suppose my first advice would be consider another brand

Grab something used lightly from the bst if you can to keep your cost low 

And my second advice if you're set on a tsunami is buy from somewhere local you know so you can get the shop to replace it if it breaks becuase you might not be able to get the company to do anything 

 

[HYB_Living]

Tsunami trophy 2 10ft was my first ever surf setup that wasn't handed down to me. Absolutely killer rod for the money, if not one of the best for the money and said by many. I've downgraded that rod down to merely a back up just in case or to give to someone who wants to come out with me but highly recommend. Now the airwave elite is incredible. I own the 9'6" as a lighter surf set up and its honestly one of my favorite off the shelf rods on the market. Light as can be so don't expect to be high sticking a 30lb bass up onto the rocks with it.

[Rat Master]

They are 2 different tools. My Airwave is more of a open beach on the move type set-up. My Trophy 2 is for trudging through bushes and tight access points to get to backwater spots. If the airwave is a scalpel, the trophy is a hammer. I beat mine up pretty good and it stands up well. Taken many fish on it. The airwave is very nice but I would not say its twice as good of a rod. Can't go wrong either way but if its only seeing limited use save yourself a few clams, get the Trophy 2 and buy yourself some more plugs/rigs/whatever us gear-whore fishermen just need to buy next lol.

[Always_NoFo]

I can't speak to the 9'6" Airwave Elite, but the 11ft 1-4oz (1102M) was my first proper surf rod and served me well for a couple of years before upgrading to a custom. I fished it hard but babied it outside of that, and it's still kickin' as a backup. I truly believe that most failures are due to user error.

 

Ordinarily, I'd say go Elite over Trophy every time, but if you're saying it's only going to be used sporadically, I'd definitely consider the Trophy as an option too. Just depends what the extra $80ish is worth to you

[bellows]

1 hour ago, Always_NoFo said:

Ordinarily, I'd say go Elite over Trophy every time, but if you're saying it's only going to be used sporadically, I'd definitely consider the Trophy as an option too. Just depends what the extra $80ish is worth to you

I'm not sure how many times I'll be able to get to the shore this year. I ordered a Trophy 2 this morning. I could always upgrade later.

[PhishOnLI]

I have the 9'6 AWE. Great rod, handled everything Ive thrown at it. Just bought a new ODM but will definitely continue to fish with my airwave this upcoming year. 

[changed]

Also really enjoyed fishing the 9'6" last year, had no issues with it.

[27conch]

I fish a 10'6" Elite and really like it.  I have never ever heard of an Elite model exploding.  The regular Tsunami's did this all of the time.  

[Cast Away]

The 9’6 elite is a great buy for the money. I have used one for the last 3-4 seasons and zero issues to speak of. Its a pretty versatile rod and throws a variety of lures well. 

[LockedDrag]

I’ve had both. The 9’ trophy will handle 2.5oz. The elite tops out around 2oz. Any heavier and it will start feeling a little soft. I would recommend the trophy 10’ 1-5oz personally. It will handle everything you want from 1/2oz-3oz no problems and casts extremely well and plenty of backbone. Casts a hell of a lot smoother and better than my $600 legend lol

[bellows]

1 hour ago, LockedDrag said:

I’ve had both. The 9’ trophy will handle 2.5oz. The elite tops out around 2oz. Any heavier and it will start feeling a little soft. I would recommend the trophy 10’ 1-5oz personally. It will handle everything you want from 1/2oz-3oz no problems and casts extremely well and plenty of backbone. Casts a hell of a lot smoother and better than my $600 legend lol

I ended up ordering the 9ft (1-4oz lure rating). I was considering the 9.6 ft Elite, but didn’t want to spend another 95 bucks. Also, Elite is so thin that it felt weird. 
 

I thought the 10 ft T2 was a little to long as I want to use it for jetty fishing as well. To me the 9 ft seems like a better all around size. 

[KAN313]

I own a bunch of Tsunami Trophy 2 rods.

7’ M 1/2 to 2oz

8,6” M (DM model ) 1/2 to 1.5oz 

9’ MH  1 to 4oz

Like the 70/30 split on these, never had any issues with them at all take a beating, action is good more of a faster action on the 7’ & 9’

7’ handles bucktails and jigs up to 1.5oz just fine 9’ seems to have a sweet spot around 1.5-2oz.

 

The 8,7” DM model is my favorite for a light beach walker or back bay, launches smaller epoxy jigs and buck tails great and handles swimmers like Sp minnows or similar just fine the action on this rod is more of a moderate action whole rod bends more parabolic, only flaw I’ve found are the guides on this model, little flimsy, single footed guides will fail eventually, had to upgrades those and swap them out make them stronger. 
 

Besides that have fished all 3 models for 2 seasons now and really like them would recommend as a beginner rod or inexpensive back up rod or something a friend could use without worrying.

 

Since then have been using Jigging World rods and really really like them as well check them out if you can.

 

Tight Lines