Played around with it for a few minutes today, tossed a 1/4oz croc at the park a few times to see how far she casts. Is similar to the 6' spinning rod I've been using, and thats with mediocre casts in fading light. Im sure with a good cast it'll cast farther than the 6' rod ever did.
I noticed the bottom guide has a big gouge in it. Its the thickness of fishing line, so I can only imagine its from years of wear. The 10lb test on the reel I was using was getting chewed up pretty bad by it... SO that guide needs replacing before this rod ever sees real use.
Im interested in rod building, so screwing around with fixing this one up will be good practice. Then I can look at building my own custom 4wt like Rods got... Guides are dirt cheap online, I can get the two I need for like $6 or less, a whole new set for just over $20... Can you get supplies anywhere near this cheap in-store somewhere? Or do I just need to bite the bullet and pay for shipping too?
Buying a new rod that is this long and this soft for any sort of reasonable price is not going to happen. I'll just have to screw around with what I've got and see how it goes long term.