MHX 908-4 9'-0" 8wt 4pc

ERN= 8.63
AA= 67

The rod was built with Amtack window reel seat w/ fighting but, and gold zirconia single foot fly guide set with #10 and #12 strippers by american tackle as well.
A very straight forward simple build.

Got anxious and forgot to weigh the blank before I built, but I will say that it was extremely light. It can't possibly be much off of what a sage Z axis or XP would weigh. Very close. The blank was dead balls straight as an arrow, and had a very nice charcol finish. By the looks of the blank I've got to believe that it is very high grade graphite as well. The first thing i noticed about the blank as soon as i assembled it was how incredibly responsive it was. The thing snaps back to position with nary a wobble. In fact the blank seems to have allmost no wobble at all. It felt fantastic right out of the bag. In fact I was a little concerned it might be a bit too fast.

Pulled it directly off the dryer this morning and headed right to the park. Put my redington CD series reel on with Royal Wulff 8wt WF steelhead distance. (not sure of the exact model fly line). The blank balanced perfectly with my reel at the mid to front end of the full wells grip. I went directly to the long casts. As I was stripping line out with my false casts I could feel how powerfull the rod was going to be. It was fast tipped for sure and the "spring" in the rod was fantastic. It took no time at all (in fact right away) to send out mutiple casts to the backing. This is by far the best distance 8wt I have tried (including some $700 rods). I really believe this rod has as good of reserve power as any rod out there including GLX and Z axis. It is fantastic.

Shortening up the cast a little to about the 50-60 ft range was a breeze. The rod felt great at these distances and was deadly accurate. No problems feeling the rod load whatsoever. In short say 20 feet or so the rod felt just as good. It was ever so slightly harder to feel, but in no way did it affect the accuracy. The rod felt absolutely great at all distances.

Roll casting was also very impressive 20 to 30 feet no problems whatsoever, and could have gotten more I am sure.

All said, probably the most important thing is that this rod was very easy to cast at all distances. There was no adjustement time at all feeling this rod out.
I went right from 100+ ft casts to 20 foot roll casts without ever adjusting. It is a perfect all around rod for me. Allthough its fast and very crisp, it is still very forgiving. I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recomend these blanks. I will put them up against ANY rods on the market (SAGE Z and GL CROSSCURRENT included). At any price line!!

I can't wait to fish this rod !!!!!!

JUST FANTASTIC!! WELL DONE MUD HOLE!!!

If the other weights are anything like the 8wt these will be my new go to blanks.

Larry

I just got off of the phone with a friend of mine inquiring about a fly rod. A mutual friend of ours has a son that wants to start fly fishing and is shopping for a fly rod. His dad wanted to know if I would be willing to build him a fly rod. It so happens that my friend wants an eight weight for reds and speckled trout. I will certainly give the MHX some serious consideration when choosing a blank. Thanks for the nice review.

Good review
I'll have to try one shortly.

Eugene Moore

Ellis Mendiola Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just got off of the phone with a friend of mine
> inquiring about a fly rod. A mutual friend of
> ours has a son that wants to start fly fishing and
> is shopping for a fly rod. His dad wanted to know
> if I would be willing to build him a fly rod. It
> so happens that my friend wants an eight weight
> for reds and speckled trout. I will certainly
> give the MHX some serious consideration when
> choosing a blank. Thanks for the nice review.

This would make a truely fantastic redfish rod. I just came back from another hour and a half trip to the park again (making sure I wasn't overly positive about these). I like the rod even more now. It is absolutely no problem tossing 100+ to the backing with very little effort. I'm sure it will cut though a 20mph wind like butter.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/17/2010 06:25PM by Larry Damore.

I used a MHX blank (not a fly blank) to make a 6'3" fly rod for 9 wt line. The flats guide I built it for LOVES it.

I finished building a rod on an MHX 906-4 (6wt. 4pc) rod last week. Two alconite strippers, eight REC lightweight doublefoot snake guides, a full wells (!) grip for a big hand. It casts vey well indeed; into the wind more like a 9wt. than a 6 wt. I had planned to use this rod on shad and panfish, but it's so light and casts so well it's going for redfish as soon as it cools off enough to fish the estuaries here in central Florida. I would love to see the results from a double-blind casting comparison matching this blank against "the best" (most expensive) rods money can buy.

i was fortunate to get one of the mhx fly blanks before they came out. it is a 9wt and i built it with minima guides and a carbon fiber grip. i have to say i was very impressed with the quality and responsiveness of the blank and finished rod. the finish of the blanks and ferrule fit is excellent. i would recommend these blanks to anyone. i have not tried the lower weights yet,but after this one i would not hesitate.

If anyone has an ERN for the MHX 904-4 blank I'd love to hear it. I'm also interested in the ERN's for the three weight blanks if anyone has experience with them..

Thanks,
Jeff



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2010 01:12PM by Jeff Shafer.

Mudhole MHX Fly 9'0" 4pc. 4wt. B0.360 T3.5 Slate R3/B17
Blank Weight: 1.4oz
Butt size (measured): MHX 0.360"
Tip size: 4.0 (3.5 was too tight)
ERN: 4.85
AA: 72

I haven't finished building it, but the blank was very straight - fit and finish are good.

I would love to get the CVS data on the 9 ft 2 wt. I asked on the mudhole forum but nobody responded. If anybody has one it would be much appreciated

Thanks Rick!