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IMPORTANT
SITE UPDATE:
Visit the relaunched
Fish & Fly at fishandfly.com
Mid Price Rod Review
Make:
Snowbee
Model: Prestige II
Length: 9'
Line weight: 5
Number of sections: 2
Price: £135
Description
Matt green blank with green wraps. Single stripping ring and American chrome snake rings and hayfork tiptop. High quality cork cigar handle and reel seat with apple wood insert.
Guarantee
Snowbee
fly rods have a five year guarantee. For the first year there is an unconditional
guarantee against manufacturing faults plus warranty against accidental
damage. A handling/postage fee applies. For years two to five there is
an unconditional guarantee against breakage or accidental damage. Handling/postage
fee for Prestige II rods is £25.
E-mail: flyfish@snowbee.co.uk
Web site: www.snowbee.co.uk
Testers' comments
Simon
Lewin: The Snowbee Prestige II is a good rod. I liked the action -
middle to tip - perhaps a bit 'tippy'. Casting was good and forgiving
and the line was presented well. Good build quality with a nice reel seat.I
couldn't argue with the line rating and the casting into wind wouldn't
present any problems. A good all round rod - and unlike Richard I do like
the matt green blank.
Richard Slaughter: This rod was well made and had a very positive
reel seat. The rod has a very small hook keeper and at dusk, trying to
put a fly into it could easily result in damage to the blank just above
the handle. For me this rod had a tip action but I had no problem with
short and medium casts. With longer casts the middle of the rod came into
action more and helped generate good line speed and tight loops were the
result. There should not be too much of a problem casting into the wind
with this rod.
To sum up this is a well made rod, with a strange action but it does cast well. I am not sure about the matt green colour.
Terry
Lawton: With our last rod test - travel
rods - the Snowbee Prestige II had a splendid, powerful blank that
was let down by dubious build quality. This time, the Prestige was one
of the best built - it had by far and away the best cork handle - but
the blank did not demonstrate anything like the same level of performance
as the travel rod. What a shame!
I found that it cast best with a single false cast and did not like being pushed too hard. But river fishing is not all long casts. The line weight for the rod is spot on. The action is difficult to describe: middle to tip but forgiving? The rod's performance will appeal to the river fisherman who sits and waits for a fish to rise and is not over-active.
This rod had the best reel seat/handle combination: the cork was excellent and the reel seat protected the end of the cork, like the seat on the Scierras.