I’ve been fishing the Avantt on local beaches over the last month and I wanted to provide a first report on actually fishing the rod.

I knew this was a phenomenal rod from the casting I did at Emerald Water Anglers and in my extended casting in my backyard (read here).

There are rods that are excellent casting rods in the parking lot but do not always meet expectations as an actual fishing rod. I am happy to say the Avantt was exceptional as a fishing rod.

The Avantt has a very light swing weight. In addition, the shaped grip felt very comfortable in my hand. Together, they made it easy to forget about the rod and focus on the line and where I wanted to cast it; that’s not true of every rod I’ve cast even in light trout rods. The Avantt is remarkable.

I was getting the same tight loops I had gotten in the backyard, even on some windy days where I was getting winds from both and up down beach.

At the distances I was fishing (30 – 60 feet), the rod provided great feedback on the casts I was making. It definitely has a stiff tip but that didn’t prevent it from letting me feel connected to the line. I was using both clouser flies and chum baby flies; both types were primarily sizes 6 and 8.

I’d like to say I caught a big cutthroat that allowed me to assess the rods fish-fighting ability, but that wouldn’t be true. The fish were all small cutthroat and few baitfish that were easily brought to the net before release.

So I’ll continue fishing the rod and hopefully the next report will be on the big one that tested the rod.