I drove up to Cabelas and got my Three Forks 9' 8wt w/ a Prestige Plus reel yesterday. Went to a buddies pond this AM and I absolutely love it. I bought one of those foammaster frogs from the fly shop, and I couldn't cast that frog worth a flip. Turns out, the leader that came with the rod was pretty weak. I finally got the frog on top of a bass, he inhaled it, I set the hook, and lost my frog 5 minutes after I tied it on. Went back to the truck and tied on a flashy streamer of some sorts that I figured a bass would like(also from Cabela's), tightened the knot, and it popped again. So I ended up cutting the leader up to where it was fairly large diameter wise and tied the streamer on with a palomar knot this time and seemed to hold like it was supposed to. Made 2 casts and caught my first fish on the new set up. Moved to a different part of the tank where I saw about 3 bass hanging out and made a cast to them. 2 of the hauled it out of there, and one inhaled it, but I set the hook too soon. Threw it back to him and he sucked it in again, but this time I sunk the hook in him for fish #2. Left shortly after that, but the rod casts great...love it so far.