The new Lamson Guru fly rod surprised me.
I had the opportunity to try out and fish the 7-weight Lamson Guru fly rod recently in Sabah Borneo for mahseer and then later on for pacu in EAK.
Click on video below to watch the Lamson Guru in action.
ACCURACY IS VERY IMPORTANT
A rod that loads nicely and casts very accurately is required for mahseer fishing in the jungle rivers in Sabah.
Accuracy is the utmost importance as the jungle is thick with vegetation and you are often require to place the fly into tight spots and also avoid snagging tree branches and vines in the back casts.
Being able to cast 60 to 70 feet accurately will be a real bonus as the mahseer are very easily spooked especially when the water are very clear.
For anyone that casts and hope for the best will often mean catching fewer fish or no fish.
LINE SELECTION
For the Sabah rivers I matched the Lamson Guru with a Rio Bonefish WF7F line.
The bonefish 7-weight line has a 198 grain (gr) head weight which actually makes it half-weight heavy (AFFTA approved 7wt fly line should be 185gr).
The line has a head length of 48.5ft which is what I prefer over short heads as longer head length offers me more control for accuracy.
The Lamson Guru being a medium-fast rod naturally loads very nicely when used with the bonefish line.
What that translates to is being able to also make accurate shorter casts in tight spaces.
WITH A 6-WEIGHT FLY LINE
I wanted to see how the 7wt Lamson Guru handles with a 6-weight fly line. My line of choice is the Rio Elite Flats Pro WF6F.
This line has a 185gr which technically should be a 7wt line and a 48ft head. Incidentally this is one of my favourite fly lines now.
You can see me using this line in the later part of the video above fishing for pacu.
The line matches the rod nicely. Bear in mind however that everyone fishes differently and what I like or works for me may not be your cup of tea.
CONCLUSION
For a lower priced fly rod targeted at beginners, I think the Lamson Guru is great. It doesn’t fish like a beginner rod.
It is slightly heavy but not so much that it bothers me during a long day of fishing.
The built quality is decent although I’m not so sure of the cork quality. But that is something that can be changed later if necessary.
The rod tube I find a little odd as it is longer than it needs to be. I had to pack it diagonally in my luggage bag. On a later trip I packed this rod into another rod tube that’s shorter and more “standard” length.
Do I recommend buying this rod? Yes.
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