At first It felt a little weird in the hand, no doubt a new experience. I fished the rod exclusively for several days trying different positions on the grip for casting and drifts. Started out dry fly fishing and caught a few nice trout with an exceptional feel. The rod is extremely light and well balanced with a reel on it which I expected for the original price point. I switched to a prince nymph and that's when I discovered the secret of the rod. The ability to have a finger on the blank is incredible for feeling light strikes. After a while I was relaxed and effortlessly shooting longer casts, finding the sweet spot on the link grip by holding the cork in the palm of my hand and like you would a wand. At the end of the trip, I took the reel off the Clout and put the reel back on one of my older good rods just to see the difference and the Clout was far superior in every single way especially the grip. If you are on the fence about this one and Its because of the grip like I was at first, don't hesitate because once you fish it for a few days It's hard to go back. An amazing experience when you learn not to fight the link grip from years of conventional grip use and let the link do the work for you. Fits my hand perfectly and as a matter of fact I'm already planning my next fly-fishing adventure because of my new favorite rod.
