I recently purchased a 4wt 11' CZN fly rod from Cabela's. I had to wait a while for it since it was on back order, but its in my hands now and its time to give it a quick review. First off I should mention the price point. At $200.00 it is probably one of the cheaper fly rods on the market today. The rod is manufactured in Korea and the fit and finish on the rod is just as good as rods costing 3 times as much.
I have fished this rod since the begining of the season and have been thrilled with it. The extra foot of reach over my ten foot rods has allowed me a little extra stand off distance for some of the more tricky spots on the river. On some smaller streams I can cover the water bank to bank without even getting my feet wet. This is a special purpose nymhing rod, ideally suited for Euro nymphing techniques.
The rod has a supple tip and a bit of power in the butt section. It presents a cast of nymphs well and the light tip protects fine tippets but the rod's more powerful butt section allows you to quickly bring fish to hand. I won't comment on the castability of this rod because quite frankly there is no traditional casting involved with many of these techniques. Recently I had the opportunity to fish the rod with traditional indicator techiques and it is well suited for that purpose as well. The added length makes mending a breeze but more importantly eleven feet of rod often allows you to keep the line of the water entirely making mending unnecessary.
If your looking for a reasonably prized Czech Nymphing rod you may want to check this one out. The rod is available in 3-5wt and lengths from 9'-6" to 11'.
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Nice. I'll look these over.
ReplyDeleteThe truth of the matter is I have a Streamflex and love the rod, but bought one of the Cabelas CZNs for my wife and her CZN is now my favorite Euro style rod in the collection! Every point you've made regarding power and tippet protection is right on the money, it fishes the traditional Euro techniques well and also handles indicator fishing beautifully. As to casting, those that are used to a quick rod might struggle a bit, but I have no problem handling this rod with line in the air. So far everyone who has fished my (wife's) rod had gone out and picked up one. Can't beat the price, they fish well and they are finished nicely. The angler gets a lot of bang for the buck with this rod!
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