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Has anyone had a chance to play with this rod yet?
I am thinking it may be a great smallmouth rod. By great smallie rod I think I mean a fairly light rod, 9' (because I fish sitting in my Nucanoe a lot), with a fighting butt (rods with a fighting butt "lay" better in my nucanoe), that can handle the big bugs easily, maybe a 7wt...
Great rods. A bit heavier thus probably more durable than the BVK. Still a fast action rod but not as fast as the BVK, TiCr or TiCrX and thus a bit more forgiving I think for the less accomplished caster . I have used an 8 and 6wt with integrated shooting heads for local saltwater fishing and found them enjoyable to fish with.
"I received two Mangroves from TFO on Friday (a 7 wt & 9 wt) to play with and critique. I set the 9 wt up with a 9 wt intermediare Sci-Angler fly line. The rod was very nice! While I believe I would prefer to overload this rod by 1 line up, a RIO Outbound Short line of like rod size would be awesome. That is the change I will make on my set up. The rod asthetically looks very nice too in the burgundy colored blank. Looks similar to the old Orvis Zero G or new Access color. The rod was very responsive. Not as fast as a TiCrX in the tip section but faster than a Professional Series. It has the TiCrX finish for durability (unlike the BVK). It is slightly heavier than the BVK. TFO said the rod was designed for accurate casting as well as being able to handle a stiff wind (hence the name Mangrove Series). Yet they wanted guides to be able to have a rod for their sports that can handle the rigors of flies hitting the blank, high sticking etc... Flip originally designed it to his style of casting but was then told to take the average angler into account as his casting style is so unique and rarely duplicated. Overall, I really liked this rod and would surely recommend it to all anglers tossing flies in salt water type environments (lakes included). I took out my Mangrove last night for 2 hrs of sunset striper fishing on Lanier. Caught fish to 6-7 lbs to break it in. I give this rod a thumbs up! If you ask me which rods of TFO's are best for that type of fishing, it would be really hard to answer. I love the Professional Series for sinking lines (as I like the slower action for those lines) and think both the BVK and new Mangrove are terrific for the floating and intermediate lines. There you have it... one mans opinion. Can't wait to hear what others think."
To clarify my post above: I am not a "respected local guide". (I'm not respected, period.) I asked about the Mangrove on another forum, and the guide's response is above. I'm having some technical problems which prevented me from making that clear in the post above.
I reviewed a 6-weight Mangrove rod some months ago in my product review column in F&TJ. At that time the 6-weight was the lightest rod in the series (6- through 10- and 12-weight). I used it for summer steelhead and for sea-run cutthroat and salmon along the Puget Sound beaches. I was impressed with its ability to throw tight loops even into a stiff wind and for its sensitivity. Recently TFO has added 9-foot, 4- and 5-weight rods to the line ($240.00). I had the opportunity to fish both this fall for sea-run cutthroat (in the rivers) and for trout on the Yakima River and can recommend them as a couple of the nicest trout rods I've encountered. I'll be writing them up in the spring issue of F&TJ.