Vision Merisuola Predator 9' #9

 

9' #9 Predator ready to be fished on a beautiful autumn day.

Vision Merisuola Predator is the new next generation rod series from the boys at Vision fly fishing. It's based on the awesome original Merisuola rod series but with some new materials in them and new and improved tapers. This rod series also has a "sister" series the Merisuola Graphene rods which have tapers much more similar to the original Merisuola. The Predator series however is something completely different...

The Predator is a high end top of the line rod. It easily competes with high end brands like Sage, Scott and G-Loomis when it comes to build quality, materials used and performance. It features REC Cerecoil stripping guides that are durable, flexible and light. The blank is unsanded and it has graphene reinforced resin in it which makes it possible to do lighter blanks without sacrificing any durability. The fighting butt and grip is made from high quality EVA. The EVA grip is pretty comfy and almost immune to the normal wear and tear you find on cork handles. The unsanded blank has blue details that look kinda gothic, but in a good way:) . The uplocking light reelseat has double locking nuts on it and is very care free to use. Once tightened it virtually never gets loose. 

That reelseat works very well.

The first thing you notice after picking up the rod is how light it feels in hand. The scale also confirms its lightness as it only weighs 111grams. Vision puts it at 112grams. It's always a nice surprise when the manufacturer puts true info about the rod out on their website:) . Many times the opposite happens.

That distinct lightness also makes the rod perform the best when using light reels. The 8-9 XLV   for example suits it perfectly. You can of course use heavier reels on it, but if you don't have to, I strongly recommend to go light as it will make the set up feel like you are fishing a 6 weight( not that I even remember how a rod that light feels like:).  

First time I used the rod I had to double check the line weight. It just felt way too light for a nine.

The rod has a pretty stiff blank. The action however is med-fast+.  The strong tip transfers the load very steadily to the lower parts of the mid section. The recovery is lighting fast. Like super fast. It doesn't vibrate or "recoil" much after a cast. The action is the biggest difference to the original Merisuola series. Where the original series had some problems casting really big flies and heavy stuff as it's tip was so light, the Predator is a real powerhouse when it comes to casting big shit. That of course is always a bit of a double edged sword as a stiff tip will make the rod less responsive in some scenarios. 

Line wise the Predator eats up a wide variety of fly lines. The nine weight Big Mama and Grand Daddy lines both work like a charm, but I have also used it with Airflo Sniper line in both 8 and 9 weights. Beginners or people who like a deep bend in their rods can even use a 10 weight Grand Daddy line on it. You can chuck a 4gram Clouser or a 11" pike fly with it with ease and the tip won't overload. I was planning to use it with some normal SW lines too, but for obvious reasons that did not happen last fall so that will have to wait.

Big Mama with beautiful markings was subdued with the Predator 

Fishing wise the rod is very light to use. The nine weight Predator is in my opinion so light to use that you can do the big scandinavian three (Pike, Perch and Zander) with just one rod. You can easily work small perch flies with it in the summer and use the same rod for the biggest pike fly in your box in mid November. The only negative thing I can think of is that it's a bit more precise to use than for example the Grand Daddy rod series from Vision or Payload and Salt series from Sage. After a long day I've noticed that I can end up throwing one or two tailing loops more with this rod than with my other rods. This is something that especially beginner to intermediate user might want to think about before buying the rod.

Some big perch were caught with that rod last fall.

Fish fighting wise there were no surprises. I caught hundreds of pike and perch on the rod with no failures or surprises. I used it 96% of the time from the belly boat as my lake season was just about over when I got the rod, so it got very little boat time.

These skinny, but long early season pike are top dogs when it comes to fighting fish up here in Finland. fierce takes and super fast first runs are the norm when they are lean and the waters warm enough.

Last but not the least here are the classic pro's and con's of this rod...:

Pro's

+ Build quality. There's really nothing to complain. Top notch.

+ Lightness. It's just so light in hand

+ The action and overall performance/taper of the blank. When you hit your cast right it can shoot your chicken sized fly a country mile!

+ Lines. The rod can handle a lot of different lines. The powerful tip just transfers the load to a slightly different spot on the rod. There doesn't seem to be any "bad spots" on the rod.

- + The EVA handle can be a bit of a turn off for some on a premium rod. For my use it suits very well as I am mostly using the rod for pike and perch. If this was a mainly SW rod for me I would definitely like a cork handle more. 

Con's

- Price. Premium price for a premium rod, but still that's a lot of money to be spend on a fly rod. It is money well spend however when it gets you what you want!

-+ Action. I know I just listed as a pro, but I have to mention that the action on it can be a bit stiff feeling for some people. So if you are a fan of laid back rods like the Vision Big Daddy or Sage Pike you might want to try this rod first before buying it. 

-+ The looks. I know that some people don't really like the looks of the blue reelseat and EVA handles. I would rate it at 8/10 on looks so it suits me just fine.