Universal Predator
Universal Predator rods are a pair of specialty rods developed to make fly fishing for predatory fish with large flies easier and more effective. The emerald glass-colored blanks are lightweight and powerful, crafted from a strategic blend of carbon fibers chosen to maximize rod strength without added weight. Predator fishing often requires repetitive casting, and having a rod that is comfortable to cast for hours is often crucial to success. Universal Predator rods provide the power and strength necessary to cast huge flies and absorb the impact of boatside hookups in a shockingly lightweight offering.
If you’re going to commit the effort to targeting that top end predator fish, you need a rod that will handle the task when that fish eats your fly. Predator fish often eat a fly coming towards you, pinning your fly with powerful toothy jaws. This tendency makes it difficult to get a good hook set or keep initial tension on fish that bite at distance. The action of the rod is critical in these moments, and rods that keep better tension result in fewer dropped fish during the fight. The 9’4” Universal Predator rods have the right action to effectively apply and maintain pressure during the fight, a critical design characteristic refined over two seasons of testing prototype rods in demanding fishing conditions.
Predator fish often may follow a fly and eat it right near the boat. Universal Predator rods have the rigidity and torque that allows you to create powerful hookset angles when fish eat at close range, and the added length at 9’4” helps to keep flies deep in the water on the retrieve and on boatside maneuvers when fish are following a fly. The stealthy olive-colored wraps and black colored heavy duty snake guides means there are no bright colors or shiny metal hardware to distract a fish that is focused on your fly. Universal Predator rods are designed with thin and stiff rod tips that minimize resistance when forced through the water manipulating a fly boatside. Low modulus reinforcement fibers and S-Glass additions to the bottom sections provide the blank strength to absorb the brutal impact of a big fish eating the fly with only a short length of line outside your rod tip.
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Customer Reviews
I have been fishing both the 400 and 500 grain models since their release and can honestly say, these rods are actually something game changing in every way. They are light in weight, very light and they have the highest quality components I have ever had on a Predator fly rod. The first time you see the fly line shoot through the unique and perfectly spaced guide train, you will know you are fishing something, different. These new stripping guides that Joe uses are just the right height off the blank and just the right size to minimize running line tangles. Every aspect of these rods is fine tuned for everything Musky and Pike fishing and then some. The cork on these rods is as nice "or better" than any rods costing twice as much and the fact it is real cork, just makes for a better experience for me, lighter in weight and because it's of the highest quality it is dense enough to stand up to the rigors of Musky and Pike fishing without being damaged. All in all, these are a crazy good product and frankly, probably the best rods ever designed for this application, definitely my favorite. The grain window on each rod is large, you can easily fish line +/- 50 or more grains, the grips are perfectly designed as to work equally well with single hand or double hand applications. If you want a real fly rod, to fish for real Muskies and Pike, this is it...
