Review – TFO Clouser Rods
Posted By Joel on October 1, 2009
TFO Clouser rod at Tailwaters in Dallas
(photo by Shannon Drawe)
The latest addition to the Temple Fork Outfitters stable of rods is the Clouser – designed with input from the man himself, Bob Clouser. The word on these rods is that they were designed to effortlessly load deep into the blank to more efficiently throw large flies and/or sinking lines. They will do that and a WHOLE lot more; in my opinion, this “specialty” rod is the best all-around rod in the TFO line (for 6 wt. and above “applications” – for the little stuff, you can’t beat a Finesse)!
While technically part of the very popular TiCrX product line, these rods are really a breed apart. Different lay ups and mandrels produce a rod that is just a little slower than a comparable weight “X” with a thinner butt diameter.
I had the opportunity to cast a six and eight wt. Clouser (both 8’9″) and was blown away by the ease of casting at all ranges. This rod has the range of the rest of the “X” family but REALLY shines in close. While putting through it’s paces with a standard 9 foot leader, I decided to tack on about 6 feet of tippet and see what would happen. The Clouser straightened the leader perfectly with 3 false casts and laid a practice fly on a nerf football (the target at the time) 32 feet away. And, I love the length! Who ever said fly rods had to be exactly nine feet long?
Speaking of length – there’s a little 8 foot 5 wt. in the line-up as well. How cool would that be as a ultralight flats rod or sand bass/canoe bass rod ?!?!?!?
The 6wt. is a carp fishing MACHINE. I was able to fish one for a few hours on the Ray Roberts flats in August and it performed wonderfully. A few quick, LONG shots at bass, some close-in work on carp and buffs, and a nice battle with a 5 pound carp all gave a VERY favorable impression as to what this rod is capable of. If you’re looking for an excellent light redfish rod for the Texas coast, look no further than a 6 wt. Clouser.
After casting both I have to say that I think flats fishing Nirvana will lie in between – I’ve got my sights on a 7wt. (and I’m thinking here of my South Carolina redfishing as much as a heavy carp rod and/or popper chunker!).
Cosmetics are nice with the “X” blue blank and a few composite cork rings in the handle and the fighting butt to add longevity and looks.
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.