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Great Bay Rod Company SFT 664
Score 2.78
6' 6", 4-Piece,
MSRP $279.99,
AA 60,
ERN 3.72
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Great Bay Rod Company Saxon Creek SFT 664 (6' 6" 4pc) |
Paul |
Jeremy |
Jim |
Joe |
Composite Score |
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| 1.) Rod Tube, Sock and Presentation |
4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
3.75 |
| 2.) Grip and Reel Seat |
4 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
2.75 |
| 3.) Hook Keeper, Label and Rod Markings |
3 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
2.75 |
| 4.) Guides, Ferrules and Tip-Top |
3 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
| 5.) Short Distance Casting |
3 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2.5 |
| 6.) Medium and Long Distance Casting |
3 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
2.75 |
| 7.) Roll Casting |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2.25 |
| 8.) Accuracy and Delicacy of Fly Delivery |
3 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2.5 |
| 9.) Fish Handling |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
3.25 |
| 10.) Reviewer's
Prerogative |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2.25 |
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| Composite Score |
3.20 |
2.00 |
2.50 |
3.40 |
2.78 |
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Jim Stuard's Comments:
Great
package. Nicely outfitted but there were assembly issues with the grip,
which was loose on the blank. It felt as if it hadn’t been spaced out
internally and it just moves back and forth. The labeling is kind of
sloppy and difficult to read. The wraps are done well and the color combo
is very attractive. I didn’t find the reel seat wood very appealing and
the two slide rings for attaching the reel are an acquired taste. An
interesting rod. Some characteristics I like but on the whole, it’s
probably a better 3 or 4 wt than a 2. It clearly had enough muscle to jerk
a bass out but I had a difficult time turning over flies with a 2wt line.
Not a great close in caster. Loaded better after 30’ of line was out.
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Joe Cornwall's Comments:
I first noticed that the rod size isn't
written on the tube, a minor inconvenience. My second impression was
of a very pretty rod that I didn't realize was fiberglass. That
fact became evident when I noticed the reel was a bit light, with the
balance point at the front of the grip. You'll need a reel of 3.5 to
4-ounces (loaded) to balance this one. The grip was just slightly
fat for my taste, but well made and without excessive voids. This
rod wants a 3-wt line and will take a 4-wt easily. It felt
underlined to me with a DT2. It fishes "heavier" than expected with
a slight hinging when pushed hard with the DT2 line. The rod has
accurate tracking of the casting stroke and fair roll casting, which might
be improved with a heavier line. I see this as a great pocket water
rod when up-lined - and when I mounted my CFO and a WF4 I was left
impressed. Give this one a close look if you're a brook trout bum
in need of something delicate in the 3.5 weight range. Interestingly, this
rod felt shorter to me than the 6' 6" it really is. Almost like a
6-footer.
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Jeremy Kurtz's Comments:
Great Bay is a relatively new
company. I just heard of them this year. They offer a line of glass rods,
and this rod is a 4 piece 6'6” glass rod. The blank has a green painted
finish. The guides are chrome plated. Oddly the tip top doesn't have a
thread wrap. The reel seat is a REC up-locking slide band. The front hood
barely had any room for the reel foot. The slide band didn't fit snuggly
on the foot either. The wood insert is handsome however. The cork is
Super grade, and it seems this grip was over-bored. The inside diameter of
the front part of the grip is too large for the rod blank, and it is not
secured to the blank. This will after some use, break. I wasn't able
to get this rod to work well for me. It didn't load well up close, but I
was able to gun some
line out to 30 feet. I wasn't able to get the rod to roll cast at all, a
roll cast just fell apart for me. The rod did feel pretty good with a 6
inch bluegill on it though. I think maybe this rod would work better with
a 3wt or 4wt line.
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Paul Feldman's Comments:
This rod is painted a dark
green with red wraps and some gold metallic (UGH!) wraps. The reel seat,
however, is a beautiful red wood up locking seat with a sliding ring. This
is one of the more attractive reel seats in the group. This rod's
action was somewhat unusual. It is fairly slow and seems to have more mass
in the blank out towards the tip, which gives it a somewhat whippy feel.
It reminds me of a fiberglass rod action. Once I got used to the action it
cast fairly well, but it didn’t excite me.
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Manufacturer's Comments:
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