Carbon Metal Crest.

The Carbon Metal Crest - CMC - has been a long time coming! Several years in fact.

The test bed has been a mixture of thinking anglers, the Carbon Metal Express, Century Triple C and more than a little tournament winning experience. How come? Well the point we want to get over is that a Century rod lives more than a while in the testing and evaluation stage before it gets anywhere near the buying public. We do the testing – you have the satisfaction.

So where is the CMC coming from? We listened and many anglers told us they wanted a rod with a quick recovery in the tip and a compliant, forgiving butt suited to an improving caster looking to cast all the weight ranges. A tip that positively ensures the breaking out of sinker wires, delivers added lift to pull the sinker from the sea bottom and when the lead lifts, the contact is full and positive all the way back to the re-cast. The butt has to have enough feel so that you don’t pull the hook on a good fish in heavy water, rough and mixed ground marks. Oh – it must be able to chuck a lead and bait to the horizon as well.

So where does it differ from say CME? The CMC isn't meant to be improvement on the CME rather an alternative for those who require a stiffer tip for rougher ground and those with tournament casting aspirations. It has undoubtedly been designed as fishing rod first but already tourney casters have recognized the potential and we are confident that it will be on the circuit in 2007. It works well with flat, OTG, overhead and high swing casting styles. The pivot or focal point in the butt is mid sectioned and the tip moves the weight instantly. The rod then develops into a shallow C curve as the cast develops.

This shape is also mirrored when hauling against big congers or with any good fish on board. The action and length keeps the terminal end up and away from snags with a rapid retrieve. The CMC really excels on the rocks where an overhead or side thump with a shortish drop - is mandatory. The tip remains steady even with a big lead and the C curve ensures everything remains calm and collected. The rod isn’t for wimps and it will give you lots of positive feedback if things get a bit pear shaped but more in the guise of a gentle nudge rather than biting your arm off.

We have kept a low key, low maintenance livery with a distinctive Texalium gunsmoke finish above the Japanese shrink rubber covered butt. There are lots of interesting things happening inside the wall of the blank with some complicated carbon patterns and above all Autoclave Technology for action retention and durability. The CMC is built by the same guys that have a more than few years experience in constructing rods that have garnered some interesting World casting records. They have also designed some of the finest fishing rods and we are really proud of the latest - the CMC.

The CMC has the familiar Century carbon metallic look with a slight hint of gunsmoke in the weave.

The CMC comes with a Century adjustable reel seat and reflective tape prefitted between the top two guides.

The highly adaptable Century reel seat locates the reel in any position on the butt. The EVA caps slide with the seat to prevent ingress of sand and debris

The joint is a reverse fit and precision ground for years of use. A hand grip of Japanese shrink rubber gives additional purchase when inserting the tip into the butt and disassembling the rod

The CMC is supplied with a custom rod case.

Technical specifications CMC

• Factory Finish: 9 Fuji BNHG guides S30 - S12 plus S12 tip
• Casting Ratio: 4-7oz (125-200gm)
• Length: 13' 10" (4.20m)
• Butt Diameter: 7/8 ” (2.22cm)
• Butt: 76.25” (1.93m)
• Tip: 89.75 ” (2.29m) exclusive of inserted joint.

Pictured above is Mark Quirk from Isle of Man with a fine tope caught on 8 June 2007.

After initially trying to weigh the fish on 44lb scales- that promptly broke – Mark estimates at least 50lb+ and with a measured length of 65”. Mark used his Century Carbon Metal Crest CMC, 7HT reel and 15lb Ultima line: terminal end consisted of a fresh mackerel presented on a pulley rig made from 100lb line with 12” of 40lb nylon coated wire as a bite trace. The fish was returned. Mark has had 20 tope in a frantic two week period on his CMC.

Spotted Ragged-Tooth or Grey Nurse Shark (Carcharius taurus) of 191cm precaudal length weighing 121kg - 266lb caught by Francois Burger, Zambia. Using 8oz sinker to hold large bonito head delivered on slider. Strong seas into a 30 knot headwind. Fish was returned after 20 minute battle from shore. Taken on Carbon Metal Crest.