A few weeks ago I was wondering how the Century Carbon Metal SRE would behave, both in my hands, and on our waters here in Jersey. Of course, many people wonder the same thing about different rods, but the cost to try these things out is prohibitive. Simon Chilcott of Century Rods was kind enough to send me the 5.0 MTR version of the Carbon Metal SRE to play with and review.

I have mixed feelings about long rods, yet can see that for some, in certain situations, they would, or might be useful.
I've always felt they are over rated "sinker weight wise", and if anyone could snap one, it would most likely be because of overload.
The rod arrived in a small tube? Ah, 3 piece. That’s a good start, as it fits in the car quite nicely thank you.


                                             

                                                The rod bag is robust, and I have one of these for each Century rod I own.

                                                                                                           10/10         

I do in fact use the CME BB "Blackbird" for casting, and that rod was intended for extensive use on the coast, but so
far the rod has escaped being shown too much usage in the salt. This SRE isn't a tournament rod, and this, the casting phase is only phase 1 of 2. Phase 2 will be actually fishing with the rod in its intended locations.

But, first of all, lets take a look at the rod. It looks like a Carbon Metal, but longer. Simple, until you look closer. The rod tapers to quite a fine tip, and I’m guessing that it will detect the smallest of bites from the smallest of fish. On the retrieve, the tip doesn't collapse into the blank, but instead it cushions the retrieve, making it quite a pleasant experience for such a long rod. Remember, its 17 feet long. The action when compressed is strange though. If you study the photo 2nd below, you may notice the 2nd bend in the rod. It might look strange and it looks like a flat spot, but it certainly doesn't translate to a flat spot during use.

                                              
                             3 equal sections make this rod easy for transportation. It behaves like a 2 piece when assembled.

The rod does cast well, but I’d be careful using weights over 150g with more tournament-based styles. I'm not suggesting
that the rod ever felt overloaded but the photos show a very healthy bend in the rod with just a plain 150g.

                                         
                                        With a full-blown cast the rod looks well compressed on a plain 150g sinker.

                                                                                  This felt great though.

During the tests I changes from overhead thump (sort of) to Xcast and OTG. All went well. I also moved the reel around
on the rod and did both high and low reel test casts. I used the supplied reel seat and although I’m not a lover of reel seats this one worked surprisingly well, although it did feel fat under the hand. That said, the reel seat never moved unless I moved it, and that included some serious winching at one stage as I picked up a raft of weed after 1 cast.

                                                     
                                                         The SRE comes supplied with this reel seat. It works well.

I was surprised at how well the rod moved the sinker when OTG. I had fully expected the rod to fail in this test.
OK, it’s not the best OTG (Off The Ground) rod I’ve ever cast, but it was refreshing when the rod delivered the sinker
to quite a distance with comparative ease.


                                       

                                    OTG and the rod bend back into the sinker somewhat. Then it picks it up and fires it miles.

The rod is long. In fact when I was setting the rod up and looking for somewhere to place the rod whilst I assembled
the camera, I had to place the rod alongside a boat trailer on the slipway where I was parked. That trailer was designed
to take a 19-foot boat. The SRE alongside this really showed its length.

                                          

                                          17 feet or 5 meters long. The SRE feels much less in use, but has the line control of the long rod.

The build quality is like on all Century rods I’ve handled. The build is the same as that of the Century BB Blackbird and equally as impressive. The epoxy is protective without being gaudy, and the overall weight with a reel on board is balanced over its length. The section to section fit was tight but good. The butt to middle section left 1/2 an inch, whilst the tip to middle left slightly more. I was concerned with this at first, but I measured the depth of insertion with my thumb and the jointing was more that safe and secure.

The rod is rated to 175g. I would suggest that your average cast with sinker and small bait would be fine if cast with your standard techniques. If I was using this rod, I’d optimise the rod for use with 125g and 150g sinkers. It performed really well with 150g and came alive with 125g.

   The front and back of the labelling. It seems to do what is printed on there.

                                                       
                                              

                                                          

                                            

All in all, I really enjoyed the session with the SRE. It felt great without feeling overpowering or too long.
It certainly felt far better than any other 5mtr rod I’ve cast to date and I look forward to sharing phase 2 with you at a later date.


Keith White 12 June 2006