Gear Review: TFO Finesse 8'9" 3 Weight

Unfortunately, I can only review gear I've used, so I'll start with this long 3 weight rod.

The TFO Finesse 8'9" 3 Weight has excellent specs - a nice long 3 weight, medium action, 4 pieces, and a reasonable price ($179) for a rod that's offered with a complete replacement warranty. When I hear of guys asking for suggestions on longish 3wts, it’s often referenced as a prime option.

To start things off, $179 buys you the rod, a rod sock, and a warranty card, and that's it. You're on your own for a rod tube or a piece of PVC pipe. The build quality is good, nothing special, but perfectly acceptable for a rod of this price range. 

The rod, being a 4 piece 3 weight, is pretty ideal as a backpacking rod for High Sierra use. The 8'9" length is nice for holding back casts up above lakeside brush and rocks. The lack of a rod tube makes a DIY tube mandatory, and it’s not exactly picturesque.

Unfortunately, I feel this rod comes up a little short in the casting department. It gets the job done, and actually casts reasonably well in very amateur hands (mine) to about 60 feet. But that's just it: It's just reasonably well. Not good, not great, definitely not excellent.

For starters, the rod feels overly heavy given the light, 3 weight designation. And, this is not to say that the rod is physically heavier than it should by, it just feels, clunky. I have no other way of describing the feelings, other than clunky... it just feels not right. I have it lined appropriately with a Scientific Anglers Mastery Trout, WF3F.

The rod does its job, gets line out there, and presents the fly reasonably well, but it certainly doesn't excel over other rods. As a direct comparison, a Cabela's Stowaway comes in $50 less and 3" shorter... but when I've cast that Value Priced 3-weight (it was a Stowaway 5 piece, which has since been changed to a 6 piece), it’s a MUCH nicer casting rod than my TFO is. That's not to say I'm completely unhappy with the rod, only that I think there are better options out there for the money, unless you have a habit of slamming rod tips in car doors and need the warranty, at a budget price.