Mounchain 4 Pieces Fly Fishing Rod with IM7 Carbon Fiber Blank, Smooth Chromed Guides, 9ft 5wt Fish Rod

I got this delivered today and these are my initial impressions:1. Rod is fairly light and well balanced. Feels as good as some of my premium 5wt rods.2. The 2 upper sections of the Mounchain 5wt appear to be undercoated with resin. The graphite wraps are visible and you can feel them. This may be how the rod is light and balanced - less resin near the tip.3. For a cheap fly rod, it has a lot more backbone than expected. I would even call it stiff and closer to a 6wt. Make sure you line up to a 6wt for this one. Even a 7wt line would be comfortable casting.For reference I have about 30 fly rods by Sage, TFO, Fenwick and Redington, all of which I use a lot. At least in backyard casting I don't see a huge difference from the premium sticks except for the price tag. Loops were tight enough and I could easily get 70 feet out. For trout you don't need a $600 rod.If the light resin job near the tip of the rod doesn't cause it to break, this is an incredible deal. I suggest pairing it with the Mounchain 5/6 fly reel. In fact, if you bought that and one of the better than decent Chinese fly lines here on Amazon you'd have a starting outfit less than $100 total that won't put you at a disadvantage (or break the bank) while trout fishing.11.02.20: Fished this for stocked trout up to 16" last week and only found one problem: the reel seat. It's slightly difficult to get the reel fully secured on the rod. You have to fiddle with it for 10 seconds to get it locked in. Not a huge problem, but a slight issue that you might expect from a $40 fly rod. Other than that it was spot on.11.09.20: Fished this for stocked steelhead up to 19" today and landed about 25 of them. This rod held up really well and didn't break even when bent double. For a starter fly rod you cannot do better!03.13.21: Did some research on the rough finished tip section and now think that the tip is simply not sanded down to a smooth finish. This is actually good since a non-sanded section will typically be stronger than a sanded one since all of the graphite fibers are preserved. I've been happily fishing these rods for 4 months now and have not had a problem.06.14.21: Took one of these rods out to Pyramid Lake NV and broke the tip on a big cutthroat. I admit that I did everything wrong landing this fish on purpose to see if the rod would hold up. It didn't, breaking about a foot from the tip. Based on that I wouldn't use these rods for big fish or if you do, make sure you take a backup.

OK, bottom line, this rod is a truly excellent fast loading rod that casts very similar to my old Loomis IMX 9 ft 6 wt. Loaded with 6 wt DT floating line, 40 ft casts are literally effortless. This rod is a rocket. Totally shocked due to the low price. The blank is deep green in color - another nice plus. The only very minor negative is the real seat hardware which is slightly undersized for my reel foot making sturdy attachment to the rod something you need to pay close attention to when tightening down the reel seat. Other than that very minor quibble, this is a super bargain. (Be sure to use a 6 wt line for maximum performance.)

I like that the rod casts just great. The finish is good and the rod seat and handle are sufficient. The only thing I wasn't super happy with was, about the top foot of the rod, tip end, was a bit rough. It seemed to need a bit more varnish...to prevent line chafe over time. Other than that, this is a perfect rod for smaller fish. The cast is just great.

I didn't have high hopes for this rod.... I was sceptical. But I have been using it for months now and am very happy! I have pulled 3 lb bass in on it, hit it on the fan, and snagged lots of trees. It has fallen, been bent and unintentionally drug. I really am pleased that it is still with me. I will be buying this again.

I am totally surprised by the quality of this rod. After a very bad end to a somewhat happy relationship with my redington, I needed a temporary rod while my redington is being fixed. This rod handle like a $300 rod. It’s very clean and has great pinpoint action. I put my red reel on it and the balance was great. Looking forward to using it again. Service and shipping was amazing. Can’t wait to try maybe some other Products of this Company BUY THIS ROD!!!!!

Of the scores of fly rods I have had, this is the best buy for the money. I build rods and cannot buy the guides, reel seats, and cork handles for what this rod costs! If on wants to know if fly fishing is "your thing," this is a good way to go. The best fly rod for anyone is the one they can cast well.

For the price its excellent. If you want a Rolls Royce quality rod you need to pay for that. If you want to travel and get a fly out when presented with the opportunity, it will nail fish.

I’m not an expert fly fisherman at all and am more likely to get snagged in a tree than catch a fish, however I like the rod. So far it’s worked great. I bought it as an extra rod to keep in the camper. Haven’t had any issues with it yet. Casts well and is holding up but have only fished with it twice.

This rod is good if you want to try out fly fishing. Casts okay and definitely can catch some fish. But don't go for anything over a couple pounds and don't put very much stress on the rod, it'll just snap.