Primal MEGA CCC 808 | Saltwater Fly Rod Review

Firstly, I am a bit like most other fly fishers. I don’t need much of an excuse to get a new rod but in this case, I needed to update my fly rods both for personal use and for guiding. I needed a rod that would suit both beginners as well as seasoned fly fishers.

I had a bit of research to do and came across the Primal MEGA CCC range. New on the market and not a whole lot of information on the rod until I came across the Manic Tackle video on CCC and the new Freshwater Primal RAW CCC. Rene went through a lot of information in the video and it all related to what I wanted to know.

I managed to sneak out to The Fly Fisher in Melbourne and asked to check the rods out. Easy, they had the full range as well as lines to put through them. I cast a couple of rods, the MEGA 8 weight, 4 piece 8 foot fly rod and the MEGA 10 weight 4 piece 9 foot fly rod.

 

I was pleasantly surprised with the 8 weight, accurate casting, long casts, it didn’t matter what I did, I was happy with it even though there was a stiff breeze blowing in my face.

I then went back in the shop and we grabbed a 10 weight. The rod has dots to line up each section, not much you might say but I really appreciate the little things. The uplocking rod seat was easy to use. I am not a big fan of double locks that are hard to separate but these were fine, so they did their homework there as well.

We again went outside for a cast and the 10 weight performed as the 8 weight so it was only fair to take them both home.

I was really keen on the 8 weight having had tennis elbow in the past and took it out the same weekend. I just wanted to fish it and had a very small fishing window so headed out to fish for carp.

 

 

On arrival, it was blowing hard and it was overcast. Sometimes, you can’t pick the weather so I kitted up and started walking the banks. It wasn’t long before I saw a couple of tailing carp, the wind was not letting up and I knew the carp would spook if my cast wasn’t on the money. First cast was short but the second was bang on. I let the fly sink a little and began a slow long strip with one fish following my fly. A slight hesitation in the fly’s movement ad I strip struck (out of habit). With that came an explosion in the water and the carp took off. The rod had done well delivering the fly but this was going to test it out as I applied pressure, probably more than usual.

A few minutes later, a 9lb carp lay on the bank, it was quickly dispatched and I moved on to the next opportunity. My cast landed a foot in front and across the carp’s path so a slow strip had in on its nose. No hesitation from the carp as it engulfed the fly, a strip strike saw me bust the carp off – note to self to back off a bit on the strip.

 

I tied on another fly and kept walking the banks only to spot another carp with its back out of the water. A quick cast into the wind and my fly was on the carp’s nose. It was inhaled and my strike was a bit more subdued. This carp was around 5 ½ lb and was also dispatched. This brought my 2 hour fishing window to an end and I headed home please with my purchase.

This rod did everything I needed, cast well in tough conditions and fought fish well. The next test would be on Murray Cod.

Our Murray Cod are referred to as the fish of a thousand casts, I think this is not quite right having cast more than that on many occasions.

My first outing would be with the 8 weight. The river is a medium river, not overly large so I was keen to see how it would perform with big flies. These are between 4/0 or 6/0 with 4mm dumbbells for the subsurface flies to double hooked surface flies. Not very aerodynamic, or subtle.

I kicked off with subsurface flies, did I say that I normally weigh these as well? Anyway, I started wading the river and found I could cast these flies accurately mid distance. Please note that the lines I use are specific for big flies in order to turn them over.

I didn’t get a subsurface hit that afternoon so went to surface. Again, no issues casting the flies which was surprising. What I did find was that I could not cast as far as I wanted but could cast very accurately under trees. I do like my roll casts and I think that a 10 weight is better suited with these large flies.

I will be using this rod from my float boat, it is light, casts well and casts heavy flies. It is well suited to float tubes, float boats and Kayaks. It will be perfect for those targeting fish from any of these platforms. It has great low-down power, which suits me fine so I can target hard fighting fish. Having said that, it is well suited to small rivers land based sorties and would be perfect with slightly smaller flies.

The next morning had the maiden outing for the 10 weight. This is again loaded with a heavy tapered line to cast big, heavy flies.

I kicked off the morning with surface flies, after all, who doesn’t like a surface cod boof. I found I was able to put the fly where I wanted too. With twin 4/0 hooks, its not light but it landed where it had to. I covered all the snags and fished with confidence and was rewarded with a surface take half an hour into my dawn session. A short tussle and pic saw him on his way. That was it for the surface action which is often the case – short bite windows.

I rerigged with a subsurface line and spent the rest of the morning peppering snags and anything that looked fishy. This rod enabled me to roll cast the heavy fly where no back cast was available. This rod had everything I wanted, cast accurately, both short or long casts. It casts heavy subsurface flies as well as surface flies and wasn’t worried by the first cod it caught.

Overall, I really like these rods, punchy without being broom sticks. They cast well and each has its purpose. I do recommend them to both beginners and seasoned fly fishers so much so that I have bought the 9 foot 6, 7 weight Primal Raw CCC.

If you’re in Melbourne, swing past The Fly Fisher and cast one. The crew will only be too happy to help you, the rest is up to you.