I've been intrigued over the years by posts bragging up glass rods for small streams. Cabella's just came out with a glass rod combo (CGR) at a very friendly price and I decided to give it a try.

My 5'9" 3-weight combo arrived today. While I have not yet had a chance to cast it, I have to say I am impressed by the quality versus the price and encourage those of you interested in owning a glass rod to check out this rod or rod combo.

First impressions:

The rod case is impressive. Brown nylon-covered hard case. Very heavily embroidered --about 3X the amount of embroidery that would have been required to impress me. Unzip the top and, instead of a rod sock, the case has three separate sleeves to hold the rod pieces.

The finish of the rod is really impressive for the price. Spigot ferrules. Really attractive wrappings. Good quality hardware and cork.

I got the combo with a Pflueger Medalist 1492 AK. It balances out OK, but I suspect I could get an even better balance with a lighter reel.

My scientific "take it out in the back yard and wave it around" test leads me to believe I will really need to adjust my casting style to use this rod properly. I've never fished with a slow action rod. But I bought it specifically for dry flies on small streams and I'm guessing it will do just fine for that chore once I learn how to use it right. And I think the lower weight and shorter rod will make some small trout hook ups a whole lot more fun.

The combo also includes backing and Cortland Sylk line. Can't comment on those yet.

As now planned, this is meant to be a 50th anniversary commemorative product. I'm sure it will be extended beyond that if it is successful for them, but there is no guarantee of that. So check it out soon if it is of interest.