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All our preparation, consideration and decisions regarding our gear come to the test at the moment we begin our first cast. The gear has to perform at the level we demand ... as we expect it to ... as we know it will. That's what this section is all about. Performance and expectation! The products ... rods, reels, lines and the rest of the angler's arsenal ... featured in these articles are evaluated by our staff of anglers. These anglers come from every level of the sport ... novice to expert. Each has a different perspective, and experience level from which they view and evaluate "quality and performance" in the products reviewed. This is good ... it provides you with definite information from the eyes of real anglers fishing their streams, increasing their knowledge and taking this opportunity to share it with you.
The Ultra Wave Rod
The Ultra Wave Rod
Designed & Manufactured by
Global dorber Group Inc.
In mid-August 2010, I stopped by the home Dee, the Ladyfisher and her husband Neil, the editor for FAOL, who is also my uncle and long time fishing companion. I had hardly settled into a chair when they brought out a rod tube, explaining that the rod was a new design from Global dorber Group, Inc. and was call the Ultra Wave, and they wanted to see what I thought of it.
After it was pulled from the case and removed from the rod sack, I noticed the peculiar shape or wavy-ness of the fly rod, which was a nine foot for a six weight. After examining the rod, we discuss the possibilities of the design. I promised to take it out, cast it, and fish the rod. All of the flexing and even the casting with a fly line are all fine, but the real test for me is to put the rod to the test by fishing it under “real world” fishing conditions.
At this point, I knew nothing of the company, the designer nor any of the reasons for the design. Of course, being a person who finds humor in many things, I quickly had a full repertoire of quips for this wavy looking fly rod.
Like, “This is what happens when you leave your fly rod out in the sun for long periods of time” or “this rod was proudly constructed by a dyslexic rod builder with shaky hands”. There is more, but this is product review and not a seminar on developing a stand-up comic routine.
To me a “real world” test means fishing the rod in Paradise Valley on the Yellowstone River or up in Yellowstone National Park on the Lamar River or Soda Butte Creek where the wind has a tendency to make the fishing, shall we say challenging at times!
I wanted to gauge the performance of the rod when casting in the wind, noting the ability to place the chosen imitation properly under challenging conditions. How the rod performed while casting dry flies, nymphs, streamers and wet flies. Seeing how the rod performed using a full battery of casts, including single hauls and double hauls.
I must say that the rod perform very well, throughout all the tests that I subjected it to using various fly types and using floating lines, sink tips and full sinking lines. I fished the Ultra Wave Rod as much as possible from mid-August to mid-October, when in preparing to travel south for the winter; I returned the rod to the Ladyfisher.
I am a professional and with most rods out there, I could accomplish the same thing. However, now I wanted to see how some of my client cast the rod and what they thought of it.
During that time period, I also had several of clients fish the rod and offer their comments. The clients with shoulder problems reported that fishing the Ultra Wave Rod was easier to cast than the standard rods they had been using. Many of the brand new anglers who tried out the Ultra Wave found it easy to cast, were able to pick the timing and motion of the rod easier and with some of the standard rods. I also used the rod on one of my wounded warrior trip where it was well received.
Another point of interest that everyone commented on, who fished the rod and caught fish with it, “Wow, you can really feel the fish!” Yes you can, and the fish can feel you thus you play the fish quicker and get it in the net faster. In addition, many commented on the ability of the rod during the process of setting the hook. This I had also noticed, in the perfect world the pressure and power to set the hook never breaks off the fish. However, in the real world, some of us, with stiff fast rods, on occasion seem to break-off fish during the hook setting process. Also many fish are lost during the process of fighting them, because angler have harder time “feeling the fish” with the stiffer rod types.
I must say that the rod that I used performed very well. Now that does not mean that the average angler will be able to cast into the teeth of a 20 mph wind with a bulky size six foam hopper and position the imitation perfectly with a sixty foot cast. These rods perform well, but they are not magic sticks.
The angler will still have to learn how to cast and will have to practice, as you would with any other rod on the market today. In today’s world of fly fishing hype there seems to be a lot of talk about how far a rod will cast.
I would offer this piece of advice, worry more about getting as close to the target as possible, therefore you will be closer and thus ensure more hook-ups. For this purpose, the Ultra Wave Rod performed very well. Over all I would list this rod high on my list of rods I like, giving it a three star rating. (That is three out of four.)
Some will like the way the rod handles, other will find fault with its shape and looks. Nevertheless, no one rod type is cure-all and rods are and always will be a personal choice. However, the best rods are the ones that perform under the varying condition of fly fishing and allow the angler to catch fish. In my opinion, the Ultra Wave Rod meets or exceeds all of the criteria that I set up when testing new rods.
Enjoy & Good Fishin’
Tom