Primal MEGA CCC Fly Rod | Pro Review
If you’d asked anglers only a few years ago what they thought of the Primal range of fly rods, most wouldn’t even know what they were, let alone how they felt about them. Testament to Rene Vaz’s rod building and design brilliance, and Manic Tackle putting their money where their mouth is by offering up a serious piece of kit at a seriously reasonable price, Primal Rod Co. is now a well-known and respected brand right across Oceania that competes with some of the biggest names in the business.
It's been a few years since the first Primal series, the Raw and Mega, hit the shelves of fly fishing outfitters across Australia and New Zealand and since then we’ve seen a flurry of new offerings from the brand in response to their increasing popularity and demand. Most recently, Rene turned his eye back to those first pioneering models and given them a complete overhaul with the latest and greatest technologies now available on the rod building and design market.
While not necessary in the slightest (the original Raw and Mega series are seriously good bits of kit and still hold their own all these years later) the update has breathed new life into the original series by offering even greater performance, aesthetics, and attention to detail than their predecessors, which, for anyone that has fished with a Primal knows, is no easy feat.
The new generation of the Raw and Mega series are named after the ground-breaking technology utilised in the rods design – Compressed Carbon Chain or CCC for short. Naturally, the CCC range offer the usual weights and lengths we all know and love, but the Mega CCC range received a few extra additions to the line-up that certainly raised a few eyebrows when they were first announced: the eight foot six and eight weight models.
When I first heard Primal were offering a shorter eight weight model, I knew I had to get my hands on one. The rod weight and length was a unique combination you don’t see much of in the current market, and it looked just about ideal for the sort of fishing I have on my doorstep over the summer.
While I’ve only had the chance to fish the eight foot eight weight for a few months, in that short amount of time I feel like I have really put the rod through its paces. From casting big, ugly Murray cod flies to white knuckling it with the local GT population and everything in between, I am confident that I have enough of a read on the rod to be able to share my thoughts with you now. Don’t worry - I’ll spare you the techy sales pitch because 1. I’d wager you can read a website and just want to know how the bloody thing fishes, and 2. I don’t know what 90% of it means anyway! Let’s get into it.
First impressions – crikeys - look at that rod tube! Manic haven’t just thought outside the box, they’ve turned the bloody rod tube into a box. While I have a feeling this change might be a little divisive amongst the fly fishing community, I personally don’t mind it at all. Having flat surfaces on the rod tube makes storage an absolute dream and the materials used and shoulder strap are quality and finished nicely.
Out of its tube, the rod is very, very nicely finished. To be honest, at the price point Manic have these at, I really wasn’t expecting the rod to look and feel as quality as it did. As well built as the previous Mega models were, the CCC series is a definite and noticeable step up. While the CCC technology is obviously used for its performance enhancing capabilities, it also happens to give a finish to the blank remiss of Scott Fly Rod’s un-sanded blank motif which I have to say complements the aesthetic of the rod superbly. In keeping with the blank’s fit and finish, the componentry is impressively refined and finished to a quality normally reserved for rods twice the price. All in all, it receives top marks from me on the look and build front. But, as I remind myself daily while looking at my aging face in the mirror, looks aren’t everything.
So, how does it perform? Really bloody good, as it turns out. I don’t know what Rene and the team at Manic have done to the Mega series (I suspect it has something to do with all those fancy technologies they’ve jammed into the rod), but it performs above and beyond the previous Mega model, which again, is no easy task. The shorter eight foot model, while taking a little getting used to as someone with predominately nine footers, is very intuitive and will have you firing off enviable loops in no time. The swing weight of the eight footer is also quite impressive, and you notice the distinct lack of weight towards the top of the rod from the moment you pick it up. With such a light swing weight, the rod lends itself well to repetitive action, like blind casting from a boat or kayak. Add a weight forward line like the Airflo Ridge 2.0 Power Flats Taper and you have a serious weapon for hitting the mangrove or weed edges with.
The short stature of the rod also helps in tight situations. I found it particularly useful when kayaking skinny water for mangrove jacks and while rock hopping down gorges for Murray cod deep in the Aussie bush. It casts bulky flies quite well, too, and performed its duties sending foam poppers into surface feeding frenzies or water logged monstrosities into a cod’s liar with minimum fuss. No matter what I threw at it (or with it, I should say) the eight foot eight weight Mega CCC just got it done.
Another bonus of the shorter rod is the greater leverage you have when fighting the fish. This certainly came in handy when trying to break the spirit of hooked GTs circling under the boat, or a stubborn Murray cod attempting to head back into its bouldery home.
To me, this rod seems just about ideal to those amongst us that spend their sessions firing out a lot of short-to-medium casts in tight country, where the shorter rod not only helps reduce casting fatigue but allows easier access into those hard to reach spots while also providing the backbone and leverage to muscle your quarry out of any nasty structure. For me personally here on the Mid-North Coast of NSW, this rod is my go to for all things mangrove jack and Murray cod related, especially out of the kayak.
While I can’t comment on the performance of all the models in the Mega CCC range, if the eight foot, eight weight is anything to go by, they will all blow your expectations of what a rod at this price point can do right out of the water. Do yourself a favour and hit up your local fly fishing outfitter and request a test cast; you won’t be disappointed.
About the author
Fisho, photographer, writer...but most proudly now a dad. Tom Clancy is not the Rainbow 6 guy, but he sure is bright ray of sunshine to the fly fishing world. Check out his insta channel here: https://www.instagram.com/clancy_flyfishing/