SHIMANO TECHNIUM DF 9′ 6″ #7/8 FOUR-PIECE FLY ROD
Price: £ 112.99

All rods in the Technium DF range feature Diaflash blank technology and are built using XT60 carbon and Shimano’s unique Tcurve construction process.

Fittings include two ceramic stripper rings, hard chrome snakes and hayfork tip rings. Portuguese cork is incorporated into a full wells handle whilst the solid walnut reel seat and anodised aluminium champagne winch fitting looks good and holds the reel securely.

All models will accept a 4″ extension handle which is available as an optional extra.

The travel rods come in four pieces in a cloth bag in a smart black zip-top tube.

FISHINGmagic VERDICT

I must say I’m sold on multi-piece rods these days and this one from Shimano is no exception. It’s well made, very smart and you just wouldn’t know it was a four-piece rod if you couldn’t see the joints.

It’s quite a fast-taper rod, as is the vogue these days, and requires a certain amount of familiarity to get the best from it. But once you’ve used it a few times you soon get a feel for it and find that it’s excellent for shooting line into head-on winds without too much effort.

It’s not one of the cheapest rods in its class, but I’ve used some fly rods that cost a lot more that are nowhere near as good as this one.

All in all it’s a very smart travel rod that does exactly what it says on the tin

The only little niggle I’ve got is that the tube could have done with being stronger. I wouldn’t like to trust it to the baggage loaders on any of the airlines I’ve travelled on.

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