I have to describe the 7' 3 wt. as "stiff." It seems designed for tip-flex, but it was difficult for me to load that way with a 3 wt. I didn't bring a 4 (or 5, or 6), but while I think it would load it better, I never found any real life to the rod; it always felt stiff. With a 14 dry, I kept finding myself putting in a haul to get some control at 20'. It needed a fast stroke and attentive stop, and its sweet spot didn't show up until about 35 feet, and even then wasn't all that sweet; it was still mostly a straight-line caster, without time or control for me to curve anything, and requiring a lot of attention to timing. I put on a bushy 10 with a beadhead 14 dropper, but it didn't really calm anything down. I didn't go further down that path because that's not a direction I want a 7' 3 wt. to go. I could never get it to roll cast well, esp. at small stream distance.
It dapped nicely, and is a pretty blank. Cork is nice, although I prefer the grip shape on my 5'9" CGR, which actually has a longer overall seat/grip. And the CGR has more space between the rings; it was hard to get a BBS II to fit the 7' CGT, although that would ease up with use.
Obviously, I'm not a fan; even my compliments above were qualified. I'm sure some will like it, but I'm really a long way from appreciating its virtues. Although some favor fast rods for small, tight streams, that's never worked for my casting and fishing. I haven't tried such a rod in a while, but in my memory, those I did and rejected seemed better suited to the role than this.
I wondered whether I should even post this; clearly it's just my opinion and I'm at least as idiosyncratic as the next fisherman. But, I figure it's one data point. Use it as you will, but beware of overusing it.
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