Review of Wild Water Fly Fishing 7/8 Weight 11 Foot 4 Piece "River Run Series" Switch Rod

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(More customer reviews)Some background: I fish the Salmon river (Pulaski) annualy with friends, using 9wts and speys.
One of the guys picked up a new 7/8 River Run Series Switch Rod model HX78?--110-4, and it performed really well last Sept. I tried a few casts and liked it, so decided to get one.
Upon inspection of the rod I received, there were some issues of concern.
Overall, the lacquer finish job was no where near the quality of the same River Run model that my friend has.
Of major concern is what appeared to be a major defect in the second section from the tip section, appeared to be a crack covered by lacquer, raised from the surface. I would consider that unacceptable since breakage would most likely occur. Also, there appeared to be blank imperfections in the first two sections near the tip ends, raised spiral areas, not smooth and evenly leveled/tapered as with other areas of the blank.
Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed given the quality of the rod my friend received from Wild Water.I showed this rod to him, and he agreed that his rod was nothing like this one, with regards to quality of build.
>>contacted Amazon, and they took it back for a refund, paying return postage.
OK, so, I really liked the rod when I used it on the river, so thought I'd try ordering a replacement.
Mistake....
It appeared that this rod may have been a customer return since the plastic bag had clearly been cut open at one end.About the only positive thing I can say is that the cork quality/density seemed very good.
This 2nd HX78?--110-4 rod that I received missed Quality Control when built.
The rod had No lacquer finish (missed a step in manufacturing?), and it had No hook keeper, which the 1st rod had both. (both steps were missed on this rod when it was built!?)
Compared this one to my friends (same model), side by side, and it was night and day..
At this point, I'm very disappointed in the overall quality of this rod and Wild Water's choice of manufacturer (some co. in China).
>>> Again, Amazon Customer Service took care of it, but interesting that they would not schedule a UPS home pickup for the 2nd return, just the 1st one.
>>I fish with many Cabelas rods, Orvis rods (as Sage & G-Loomis are out of my budget), so I guess I will stick with those. Cabelas & their Korean made rods have always performed well for me.

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Product Description:
Wild Water's new 4 piece Switch rods. This is a redesigned version of the popular River Run two piece single handed rods. The blank has been changed to four pieces to make traveling with the rod much easier. The foregrip and extension butt have been lengthened slightly to accommodate two handed casting. The stripper guides arrangement has been improved by adding a third, larger stripper. The blank taper is redesigned so the four piece design maintains the same comfortable, in-control, power feeling as the original 2 piece River Run rod. The reel seat slide ring has been changed to provide a firmer lock on the reel foot with less tightening required. The reel seat is anodized in a Gunsmoke color and is in a Downlocking configuration. Rod Specifications: Line Weight: 7 or 8; Rod Length: 11 Feet; Number of Sections: 4; Rod Case Length: 38 Inches; Flex: Mid; Rod Action: Medium-Fast; Rod Material: IM8; Rod Weight: 6.2 ounces; Grip: Switch; Rod Blank Color: Dark Brown; Winding Color: Dark Brown

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