If you listen closely … in the distance you can hear North Wind’s train as it whistles its way south. Leaves of many colors scatter before him as the wind whips by only to settle again into piles by the fence or corner of the house. Mr. and Mrs. Squirrel busily scurry back and forth gathering and storing nuts for the cold winter soon to come. Even in Texas a chill is in the air. A glance at the calendar reminds us that Christmas is less than a month away.

Ordinarily, this is my favorite time of year. It the time to hang decorations, search for the perfect Christmas tree and, of course, gather the kids around the fireplace for a story or two … Not so this time around. This fall has not been good to me; in fact, I sometimes wonder if the Ancient Fish Gods haven’t gone out of their way to deal me Aces & Eights, better known as the Dead Man’s Hand. Other than for a couple of short-term spurts of feeling almost decent, being sick has been the name of the game for several months. This article is the result of a couple of those spurts, although the spurts were a couple of months apart. I’m delighted to get it to you before Christmas.

The only good thing about being sick is there is lots of time to read. That’s exactly what I have been doing, reading! Among other things, I’ve read the entire backlog of fly fishing magazines I dutifully subscribe to but seldom read in detail. Other than finding a short list of worthy articles, the best thing was looking at the ads.

As I perused one magazine after another, one ad from Cabela’s kept popping up. The advertisement was for a 7-piece, 9 foot, graphite rod called the Stowaway 7 that collapses into a 17-inch package. The price? $125.00! The ad claimed the rod included spigot ferrules, nickel silver hardware, wood reel seat, and case and rod sock. Cabela’s further asserted that the rod has the feel and performance of a 2-piece rod.

“Impossible,” I thought. Now, it just so happens that I know a little bit about the profit margins involved in fly fishing rods and reels. While some are quite large, others are not, particularly on the lower end. I didn’t believe anyone could market a quality multi-piece travel rod for $125.00 and make a profit.

By-and-bye, I received an email inquiry asking for my opinion on the Stowaway 7. Pinned to the wall, I called Cabela’s and asked for the opportunity to review the rod. A few days later a Stowaway 7 6-weight arrived via UPS. Fortunately, it was an “up” day for me. Eagerly, I ripped into the package … When what to my wondering eyes should appear? No tiny reindeer, but a nicely done zippered Cordura case. Inside I found a quality rod sock containing the goodies -- the 7-sections of the Stowaway 7. “Nice packaging,” I thought.

Next came the examination of each section for fit and finish. I was then, and remain today, pleasantly surprised. The wrappings are very good and the Cabela’s brown finish is beautiful under strong light. To make assembly damn near impossible to screw up, each spigot ferrule features an alignment dot, a very thoughtful addition by the designers. Even the cork is of high quality. This particularly surprised me, given the fact that quality cork is increasingly scarce to come by without paying a premium price. In the last couple of years, I’ve seen lessor cork on rods costing three times more.

Following the close examination, it was time for my famous “wiggle” test. This is where I lay out several assembled rods and wiggle first one and then the other. Several rods were used in this wiggle test including a Sage RPL, a Gloomis GLX, a Gloomis GL4, a Fly Logic Premium, a Fish Creek, etc. Some are 2-piece, the rest 4-piece rods. Thirty minutes of wiggling the rods led me to deduce that the Stowaway 7 is/was a tad heavier in comparison to the others. On my scale it weighed a little less than 6 oz. Little Stowaway 7 is smooth, fast, accurate, and throws a very tight loop. In close, tip casting a light line is fun and easy requiring little more than a flick of the wrist.

Is there something I don’t like about the Stowaway 7? You bet! The stripper guide is two sizes too small. While the smaller guide might be aesthetically pleasing to the eye, the person’s eye that finds it pleasing doesn’t know beans about fly fishing. The fact is the small stripper restricts the otherwise smooth flow of the cast. Besides changing-out to a larger stripper, I would also like to see a hook keeper on the rod. Since neither change would break the bank, I should think Cabela’s interest would be making a bunch of fly fishers even happier.doubt that the Stowaway 7’s extra weight is directly attributed to the spigot ferrules that, by their very nature, must weigh more than no ferrule at all. On the other hand, just what do you expect a seven piece 17” traveler to weigh?

The second thing I deduced is the Stowaway has excellent lifting power, especially for a 6-weight; further, the tip’s deflection assures the ability to tip-cast a short line. Remarkable! Compare these features of the Stowaway 7 to an Orvis Trident TL 6865-7 at only $595.00. No doubt a fine rod but available only as an 8 foot 5-weight, methinks the difference in cost between the two rods, a mere $470.00, is a bit difficult to justify.

The proof of the pudding is how well the rod casts. I paired the Stowaway 7 to a Scientific Anglers Mastery 67 loaded with a Mastery 6-weight Quad Tip. It was a perfect match. Clearly, the rod has the capacity to long cast any distance the caster is capable of throwing. I believe the rod would throw even further if the stripper guide were a bit larger. (SEE next paragraph.) In any event, the

The Stowaway 7 is also available in two other models: (1) an 8 foot 4-weight that breaks down to 15” and (2) a 9 foot 8-weight rigged for the salt with fighting butt and anodized aluminum reel seat.

If you decide you might like to see a Stowaway 7 under the Christmas Tree, I don’t think you can go wrong. Now that you know my opinion of the 6-weight, I have a hunch that the 4-weight may be even better! I’m certainly looking forward to the opportunity to throw it. After trying any of these rods, one thing is certain -- Cabela’s is the best company to deal with in these United States … Your total satisfaction is their number one priority.

For more information about the Stowaway 7, contact: Cabela’s, One Cabela’s Drive, Sidney, Nebraska 69160. 1-(800) 237-4444.

To read the first Stowaway review and other great fly fishing product reviews and articles, please view my writer profile here at LBF.