Last time, we were all grumpy about paint and guides, but today, it’s time to stop dreaming about possible rods, to mount a reel on the Method and go in the wild to see what you can do with the rod.
Just like anybody, the very first thing I do when I lay my hand on a rod is to wiggle it. It’s not that different from the light jokes through wich you get a taste of the reactions of a woman you’re meeting. the Method answers exactly as advertised: it’s light and fast. I wouldn’t want you to be misled by the deceptive simplicity of language. I mean light. I grab a 7 weight 10 feet rod, boxing above its power class, without reel, and the seat and fighting butt weight virtually nothing. So there’s nothing to get the gravity center of the rod closer to my hand and give me the illusion of lightness. Literally or otherwise, the rod is naked. To impress in such conditions is quite a good job. Sage claims the rod to be 112g (3 15/16 oz) wich my scale confirms, and tells us stories about its resin system which makes rods precise — that makes me laugh a lot — and which makes rods lighter — that is absolutely correct. So, first impression: wow, weights nothing.

At the same time, it doesn’t bend much. The lower half of the rod is more oak than reed, and to the gamut of the 7 weights would thusly speak:

“The smallest wind which by chance
Ripples the water surface
Forces you to bend your head.
While my forehead, similar to the Causasus mountains
Not content to block the sun’s rays
Braves the efforts of the tempest.”

(That was La Fontaine for you.) The 7100 is sold for salt as well as for fresh water, and in the latter case mostly for situations where you need to deal with distance and wind. This rod is made to sling fast a heavy line into the wind’s teeth. But if you attended flyrods 101, you knew that already and at the Mouching, we’re not there to tell you what you know. Everywhere you’re told that Methods (especially a 7100) are distance rods not suited for short or delicate work. When, not long ago, I was a young fly padawan, I learned from Marc Fauvet that you can underline a TCR and do presentation casts with it. That spirit stayed with me. I told myself: let’s start doing some small stream stuff with that rod.

Pics are what they are (I blame low light and no proper camera) but you get the idea. I went ghetto casting. Indoors, not much height, not much room for backasts. And there I went full roll/side/snake/curve/tuck mode, trying every last trick in my bag with 30′ of line out. My line has a long head, not too heavy. As I expected, the rod does everything I know. The lightness and stiffness of the blank allow for great control of the tip, hence of the line. Of course it’s a tip-bending rod, which means that with a short line, you need to be sharp on your timing. If you’re sloppy, your loop immediately goes poop. But when you’re into the groove, you really can do anything. The length allows great roll casts too. Fishing at 50 feet without backcast is easy.

Let’s sum up: the 7100 is a nice rod on a short line, even if there are few scenarios where you would fish this rod close. Chasing predators with streamers, I think of a fish suddenly feeding along your bank. In my eyes, this rod is also a plausible choice for hunting carp, where you have to fish long and short, with enough power to always stay in control of the fish.

A little complain would be that during long casting sessions where a complete cast is 3 seconds, and you play non stop with the line, your forearm starts to hurt before two hours. I blame the combination 7 weight / 10 feet, but I cannot think of a rod in the same class wich would be easier to deal with in similar circumstances.

Next time we bring the rod to the water, and we pull hard on the line.