Cabela's 4-piece 11'-4wt CZN rod

[KRoberts1]

Ming Moa graciously parted ways with the above rod, never having fished it. I put it to a good test this past week on several Eastern Sierra waters. I must say, it is one of the best, inexpensive purchases I've made. Thanks Ming.

The rod is green in color with nickle hardware and graphite reel seat. The cork is decent, with little filler being noted, I must admit, though, that I never pulled the plastic wrapping off the cork. The 11 guides seem to be place properly for the length. Two stripping guides are used. No flat spots are apparent when the rod is fully flexed. The 11' length is great for tight line, or Euro style nymphing, as it was designed. It weights 3.6 oz. I used a Lamson 1.5 Konic reel loaded with backing, WFF3 wt line and the mono leader set-up, on the rod and the balance point was little more than a inch above the fly keeper ring. The Konic reel weighs about 4.5 oz. The rod would balance better with a reel of around 5 to 6 oz. Even with the Konic, the rod did not feel significantly tip heavy. I did not experience shoulder/ arm fatigue using it all day.

I used a Jeremy Lucas "leader-to-hand" rig (http://www.fishandfly.com/our-world-of- ... -hand.html) with the rod. Instead of the coiled sighter, I used an 8" section of yellow 20# braided backing with tippet rings on each end. Below the sighter, 4' of 4#, then 2' of 2# Vanish fluro to the anchor jig fly with bird's nest as a dropper. The long rod allowed me to reach every pocket, seam and far-side, holding water effortlessly. A soft tip transmitted each tick of the bottom well and made strike detection simple. The rod flexed easily into the mid section, protecting the 2# tippet with no break-offs being noted but had sufficient backbone to handle large fish in heavy water. Casting, or should I say lobbing the weighted flies was easy with this rod. It handled truccha to 18" with ease. Using the "leader-to-hand" made strike detection easy when reaching outside seams. The rod length & mono line allowed for a nice bow over the water, aiding in strike detection. Using a flyline would have been difficult due to the line weight creating sag and pulling the flies out of the intended drift.

The rod was used exclusively for 4 days on the EW and the Upper Owens this past week and performed well, using only the mono line. I did not put it to use with a true 4wt fly line. The only significant drawbacks I encountered was: 1) moderate winds made handling a little challenging; and 2) trying to thread the rod thru willow thickets. I found it easiest to break it down into two sections to navigate thru the willows. Not using an indicator made this very doable.

[ManoTheSkip]

MThe Konic reel weighs about 4.5 oz. The rod would balance better with a reel of around 5 to 6 oz. Even with the Konic, the rod did not feel significantly tip heavy. I did not experience shoulder/ arm fatigue using it all day.

I have a question about "balancing" a rod with a reel. How is that done? And if you HAVE to have one that's not balanced, is it better for the reel to be too heavy or too light?

I ask, because I bought a BBS1 reel for my 3 wt, and I wonder if it's too light.

Thanks,

Mano

[KRoberts1]

To find a balance point, rig the rod with reel, line threaded thru guides, etc. Balance the rod on your finger so it (the rod) sits horizontally. It should be in the handle area, toward the top. Too far forward and it gets tip heavy, a common occurrence with longer (9.5'+) rods. For me, a tip heavy rod, when hi sticking or tight line nymphing, is very fatiguing in the arm and shoulder and takes away from the sensitivity of the rod. Fishing streamers, where the rod tip is in the down position, is acceptable for me. But for comfortable fishing all day, a rod that is balanced is easier on the body and makes strike detection much easier when using tight line nymphing techniques. Find a reel that is heavier or lighter to change the dynamics, or, lead tape can be added to the reel seat to change the characteristics as needed. There are butt caps available for spinning/casting rods that will house weights to balance the rod. THey would work here, too.

These are just my opinions. I'm sure if you do a goggle search on the subject or talk with other members, you'll find conflicting and confirming opinions.

keith