Riverworks Rod Co. ZX-R 300CM (In Development)

The goal for creating the perfect headwaters/small stream rod began in 2014, in the infancy of Riverworks. Many changes have taken place with the company since then, but the goal to perfect this type of rod has not changed. Last year, Rob Worthing joined Riverworks as the head of R&D, and now in a collaboration, Rob and I have put our heads together to build the ZX-R 300. A couple of years ago, I released our very popular ZX Micro. This was my dream rod for small water. It had everything I wanted in a small stream rod, but in the spirit of continuous improvement, and with Rob's input, I knew we could could make this rod concept even better. The ZX-R 300CM prototype is much slimmer in profile, much lighter, and has a much more forgiving flex profile. I will continue to fish the ZX Micro until the day I die, it was a fantastic rod, and the fact that it is a bit faster (totally my style), is a great attribute in my arsenal of rods. With that said, the ZX-R 300 is a totally different animal. 

Working with a company in Japan, we are working toward a production blank. As the process is ongoing, and given our current workload with other projects, we are hoping to have a really close production prototype by mid-summer of this year. 

I anticipate we will do another PRE-SALE program as soon as we have the final prototype, and rods will be shipped to customers in the same manner as our other PRE-SALE events. 

Just by judging from the early prototypes, we are already pretty close to having what we want, so this rod is already past the concept phase. 

Early price projections will put this exceptional rod in the $300 range, and as with all our rods, quantities will be limited. We don't do big batch orders here because we don't source our blanks from the Chinese Mega-Factories, but instead we work with small shops. The fact that the shop we are working with to fabricate these blanks is in Japan makes the deal even sweeter. The RRC ZX-R 300CM will be our first true Tenkara rod and as we get closer to the finished product, I can tell you, this rod will be an exceptional piece of gear. 

INITIAL SPECS (Prototype)

Length:                             300CM (9.85')

Weight:                             1.75 OZ (49.61 Grams)

Flex:                                  Progressive Medium in the butt section, full in the tip

Grip:                                  Handcrafted Biaxial Carbon Fiber Sleeve

Blank Material                 Japanese Toray 40T Carbon Fiber Cloth

PROJECTED PRICING: $299