I begin this posting with a mixture of excitement and guilt. Like all of you I'm sure I'd rather keep my dollars in the U.S , buying American made products and patronizing our retail shops like our beloved fly shops. When I purchase a fly rod or reel etc., and it is of the fixed price point variety like a Sage rod or a Ross reel which will be about the same price whether purchased from the local fly shop or Cabelas etc., I'll always give the fly shop my business. To get a 10 ' 4 weight from one of the American makers like Sage or Scott or Winston it would have cost $700.00. If I had the funds for one of those I would have picked one up. We all want the best. I took a chance on the Cabelas stick and for $200.00 bucks, it's a hell of a rod! Yes it is imported . But............. It is beautifully finnished with quality hardware and cork, is really well designed, really light in the hand and if I had to compare it to offerings from the Sage, Scott, Winston and Gloomis lines, I would honestly have to say that it's at least as good a rod as their middle of the road models which cost anywhere from $300.00- $500.00. So. If you're looking for a 10'4 or 5 ft rod for czec nymphing or just for that extra reach when indicator- high sticking, this rod's hard to beat. Viking
I'm thinking about getting this rod. Do you still use/enjoy it? What line(s) have you used? I want to do some French/Spanish long leader techniques with it....
Dan
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Hi, sorry it's taken me so long to reply to your questions about this rod. I hadn't checked on this thread until this morning. Anyway, I have gotten out and used this rod exclusively for about 10-12 outings now and it is perfect for hi- sticking. The extra foot enables me to keep more line off the water when short lining and has served me well as an all around nymphing rod. I was fishing the Lower Stan a week ago and when the fish started keying on # 24-26 emergers , I re-rigged and was able to nail a bunch of fish in the surface film. It's definitely not the rod I'd choose for this but I was too lazy to set up and rig the 8'9'' slt 3 wt I'd brought along for that. It's a fairly fast action rod which means it's not the best roll caster I've used, but it gets the job done. For the money spent, I've been very satisfied. The fit and finnish are very good( something most import rods have improved upon greatly in the last couple of years) and my only negative observation has been that I need to keep the ferrules waxed to facilitate taking it apart without a struggle. I've never cast or fished any of the G loomis, Sage , Winston , Scott etc. equivilants of this rod to be able to compare, but in this rod is one third the price of any of them and my primary use of it is to flip an indicator rig upstream which it does as well as I need it to. I may pick up the 3 wt version. IMO, you can't go wrong at the price. Tight lines, Viking
Well I pulled the trigger on this rod and have used it quite a bit in a lot of scenarios. I really like it. I just bought the Cortland Competition Nymph line and I hope to try it out soon. The water has been so high that I don't feel like Czech or other Euro nymphing styles would,work quite as well as indicator. Also I bought a used 590 Sage Z-Axis which I have loved.
Regards
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Hi drdan, I think that I'll fish it with a 5 or 6 wt the next time out and see if the heavier line slows it down a bit.There's a spot on the Stan where some nice fish stack up below a big rock that splits the current on the opposite side of the stream, but it takes a 50' roll cast and a quick aerial mend to make things happen. I think the heavier line will make it easier to pull off the long roll cast. I'll let you know.
