# Century T700 - First impressions



## Jeremy Schrader (Feb 7, 2009)

Finally I got my hands on my Century Eliminator T700 and after seeing some reviews and specifications on the rod I had a reasonably high degree of anticipation of what she would be like. 

The rod arrived in the new padded century rod bags with the individual pockets for each section and I was pleasantly surprised at how light the rod was even in the bag. With the introduction of the new Graphene material Century have been able to reduce overall weight the rod , but what was of most interest to me was the balance of the rod as at 15' long a tip heavy rod is something that I would not have wanted. Well I must say that I was more than happy when I weighted the rod and individual sections and can confirm the following based on my digital scales. Overall weight is 724 grams with a full set of Fuji Titanium guides , shrink wrap on the joints as well as the standard full length grip on the butt section. Balance has been achieved very well with the tip section weighting 230 grams and the butt coming in at 494 grams . This combined with my preference to mount both my multipliers and fixed spool low on the rod adds to the overall light feel even when loaded up with the sinker. 

Butt diameter is not as slim as my 15' SRE but there again these are different design specs for the rods. 

I was eager to take the rod out for a casting test and decided that despite the weather I would give her a run the following morning after receipt. I loaded up the rod with my Penn squall 12 which is the same as the UK 515 Mag 2. this was filled with 6 kg Low Stretch mono and had a plaited double tied to the 60 pound Ultima shock leader. 

As you will see in the attached video the rod performed very well and put the leads out a good distance. I wasn't trying for maximum distance in this session as I need to get the feel for a rod before doing that . 

https://youtu.be/cRVodIxHa0k

I was more than happy with the initial performance and found the rod very smooth to cast with a flat swing pendulum , and can understand why Century recommend the rod for an easy OTG style of casting. The parabolic action really allows a smooth progressing in the cast and a relaxed release. this matched with the glass tip on the rod should be ideal for softer baits . 

The second session with the rod was not long in coming as I was looking forward to casting the rod with the heavier 150 gram lead . Once again I headed down to Cherry lake as it allows me to send out a few casts quickly with no need to walk out and retrieve the lead . Casting was once more a relaxed action and the 150 gram weight loaded the rod just that little bit more and as a result distances were slightly up. I must stress at this point that I wasn't trying to do a comp level cast but held it more closely to how I would use the rod on the beach. 

Here's the video from session number two. 

https://youtu.be/KbCeO6-9lyc


The third session with the rod was also on the same day but in the later part of the afternoon after I had finished in the office. I once more went down to the lake but this time had my Daiwa Excellor 4500 Fixed spool loaded with 20 pound Ultima braid and running a 50 pound Spider wire braid shock leader. 
This combination makes for a smooth release of the line through the guides as the join knot is tinny in comparison to the normal mono shock leader that I use. casting this time was once more with the 125 gram lead. 
I should state here that I am not the best caster with fixed spool and as such take it much easier for the whole cast. Also with the total lack of stretch using the braid leader I am fully aware of the danger of cracking the sinker off if too much power is put into the cast at the wrong time. 

As you will see the casting was very relaxed but the rod put the lead out a very respectable distance, even with these cast. 

https://youtu.be/YCzWtE36dt0


All in all I am more than pleased with the way the rod performed with the two reel setups and am looking forward to taking her down the beach and trying to get into a few good fish, with luck I will be doing that tomorrow before I head into work. if not then Saturday as a mate and I will be targeting some Gummies ( Smooth Hound ) . 

Will put a full report with pictures up as soon as I get a few fish on her and confirm the bite detection and action of the rod more . 

Regards


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