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Originally Posted by Saltheart
Anyway , just curious if your opinion is on the Centuries in general or specifically about the 10 and 11 foot Stealths.
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Truthfully, I don't know. There are so many options between these new companies that I get lost.
At the shows I looked at the full CTS line. They had fast action rods called the surf series (I think) that seemed like they would cast the nutz but suck to fish for long periods, and a parabolic series that seemed slower than ideal. They had a different taper in their 10 foot series, something in between the surf and parabolic, but I looked at their 10 foot 1-3 and felt it was not much more than a skinnier version of the gsb1201L. I understand they have a 2-4 version that Back Beach built and likes but I don't recall that blank specifically. To confuse things further I looked at a CTS 10 footer at M&D's the other day and it seemed MUCH stiffer than the blank I bent at the show.
As for Century, I looked at a lot of their rods at MSBA and didn't notice much difference in taper between them. They all seemed like copies of the XRA1322 taper.......though a bit lighter/thinner/and in various weight ranges. I liked them, but it is telling that given a choice between a XRA 1322 or a GSB 1321M most bass fisherman over the last decade have preferred the 1321m for work outside the canal. That collective experience suggests that time has proven the 1321M taper a better "big rod-all night fishing in bad terrain" option. I did not see a Century rod that I felt matched that taper.
Interestingly, I did look at the $500 FMJ 12 foot rod there. Felt like it would cast a mile. At 15 oz it weighed the same as a 1321M built with titanium, but felt heavier in hand because of length. If I wanted a pure casting tool and didn't have to worry about riprap behind me I'd be tempted.
Again these rods are very nice and may well become the tools of choice. If I needed a 2 piece rod I'd buy one in a flash since they certainly seem better than any other 2 piece option out there. I would note that CTS is promising 1 piece blanks soon, and Century is promising some further high tech resin system soon. Probably I will wait for these to come along. In the meantime I am enjoying these rebuilt GSB blanks very much.