Friday, December 21, 2007

New Toy

I ordered an 8'6" 3 weight as a birthday present to myself a while ago. It is a TFO Professional series. I have fished it once so far. 

First impressions:
My first impression when I received the rod was that it was very nice looking, I like the matte black finish a lot and the gold tipping on the guide wraps. The cork is high quality like it should be and feels good in my hand. The reel seat is woven graphite, matte finish;and is pleasing to the eye. It is a 4-piece, My first one, all I have ever owned and liked were 2's. Yet this 4 piece I liked. It packs down very small and definately would pack along easily if I were to ever want to take it on a flight or something. 

First Fishing Impressions: 
I took it out to my local lake to do some rainbow trout fishing. The best way to christen the new rod is with a trout right?? I think so. Anyways I lined up the rod and peeled some line from the reel. I started making my first casts and my very first thought was noticing how easily it was loading at 15-20feet. Shit I thought to myself, as I was starting to think it was much slower than that of what I was hoping for. (That is why you cast before you buy). I started trying to get used to the stroke of the rod, But shortly I was casting 50+ ft with ease. This rod has some great backbone that comes into play when casting longer distances!

I now moved to a different spot at the lake and there were some trout rising. I thought it was a perfect time to test how the rod would react with light tippets and small flies in a delicacy situation. I was using 6X and a size 14 Hares ear soft hackle. I started casting and the rod was laying down the fly very very gently. I was pleased. I missed a fish after a minute, Then I hooked up! sweet. The fish was a nice size and started to run and peel some line off the reel. The rod handled the head shakes with the light tippet perfectly. I was surprised how light the tip was yet how nicely the backbone came into play when it was time to stop a run. I caught 6 more fish using that technique. 

I then decided it was time to see how the rod would throw a size 6 bead head woolly bugger, Itied one on and started double hauling. Before I knew it I was casting 50+ feet with that big woolly bugger, It surprised me once again. I caught about 6-7 fish strippin' a woolly and then decided it was time to head home and call it a day. 

Overall rating 1-10: 8.5 
I would recommend the rod to anyone, its a nice stick for the cash, and a great one in its price range. 

tight lines





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