AFAW Rock-pics and casting report

[Charkbait]

I won't get too much into distances to avoid the internet BS. I will say that I outgrew my practice field and had to go to a taped up sinker for some wind resistance after picking my 10oz out of a tree. With an 8 I should get to the holy grail of 600' in my next session or two, and hope to possibly hit 600' with a 10oz, which I'm not too far from doing. Right now I'm the only thing holding this rod back. It will throw all you can handle with ease. I did toss an 8 a few times before laying into one and placing it in the woods, I'm not sure if its from coming down from a 10 or what but I can barely notice the 8 on the line when launching. I've said before that I don't care about distance casting, I want distance on the sand but I'm going to have to throw some 8's on a bigger field and see what I can do.

I can say I picked up an additional 20 yards consistently in my first session and my accuracy was unchanged which has been quite good lately. Because the rod is such a beast I am able to throw a 10oz with a 7-8ft drop and pickup some distance, as I get used to that timing I'm sure I can milk some more out of it.

The rod has prety soft tip for a "superheaver" and actually loads easily with an 8, it transitions into a very stiff mid section and a softer butt. Once I get used to the soft butt and learn how to cast I'm sure I can get a ton more distance out of this rod. As for fishability it does bow up pretty nice when when put under load...like trying to un-plug a sinker. The tip seems like it will have good bite detection for when the snappers are in and stealing bait and is only a 9 for you rod geeks out there.

I'd like to throw a Nail before making a comparison but from everything I've read this rod will blow it off the beach, maybe not for throwing bricks but for fishability without breaking your back. My initial thought that this rod is not for everyone. At 13' and fairly heavy you'll have to be on the larger side to get it moving, especially with a 10 or 12 attached. I'm 5'11 and about 220lbs at the moment but have pretty long limbs and I powelift so I can compensate for my height a little. I would guess a good starting point to be 6'0 and 200lbs and hopefully be able to benchpress your body weight or be a very good caster. I'm not a very good caster but I bring a lot of violence to a hatteras cast so this rod seems like a good fit for what I want.

Here are some shots of the build, I'm pretty happy with the way it performed so far. If any of you are interested I can certainly build you one...any of the AFAW rods for that matter. You can get them factory built with a set of coasters or I can build it nearly as you see here for the same price with cork and a reel seat.

Hope you don't mind me posting a bunch of the same pics, I', trying to figure out the camera settings to get good ones to post. Looks like a tripod is a necessity...and no flash. Sorry for the rod being dirty...I should have shined it up.

[trowpa]

beautiful Ben - Nice work. Sounds like the rod is a good match for you as well!

[Dixie719]

Pretty werk there Ben!

I wanna get my hands on one of those and give it a few whirls myself.

[Sam]

Nice work!

[Charkbait]

Originally Posted by Dixie719

Pretty werk there Ben!

I wanna get my hands on one of those and give it a few whirls myself.

I think you'll really like it. It is a beast but will throw anything, 13' is new for me too so maybe that was part of it feeling bulky to me. For a drum stick I don't think you'll find much better, able launch big weight and bait into drum water will set you apart from the guys who have to toss small chunks to get there. Especially on those days where the water is the "drummiest" but also the toughest to fish. Won't be much fun on small fish, then again I don't try to catch small fish.

I don't think 8+live spot or blue is even too much, I can lob that with other rods but I have no reservations about lacing into anything up to a pound if I can handle it.

[Tommy]

Ben,

I'm glad you like the rod. A shipment of AFAW's is due here anyday so if anyone wants a Rock or any of the AFAW rods just give me a shout.

They really are sweet, from the 11' Estuary to the 14' Big Beach.

Tommy Farmer

[Charkbait]

The rod performed great on sand this weekend tossing shark sized baits with 8oz...120 yards on sand with 8+big bait is about as good as you can hope for. I may be able to get some more distance with heavier lead with the force of the weight countering some of the wind resistance of the bait. Luckily it will be able to handle it.