Is it still necessary to introduce the Mouches de Charette company ? Born in 1986 in the Saône-et-Loire, it has been developed under the impulse of Jean-Marc Chignard in the 90's to become today a must for french flyfishing anglers, and even well beyond the borders of the country. Sensitive to evolutions, the brand has been a sponsor of the french fly fishing team for many years. We will review the best JMC models and we are starting with the Pure Team 10' #7 dedicated to lake fishing.
Static test:
With its matte blank, black wraps and carbon reel seat, this rod is definitely sober. Like all Pure Equipe rods, a french tricolor wrap appears at the base of the grip. It underlines what this rod is designed for : competitive practice of fly fishing. In terms of technical highlights, we can mention the presence of 2 Fuji stripping guides and a fish rule on the inner part of the first piece.
Measurements :
The Common Cents System protocol was used to characterize the action, the power and the frequency of this rod :
Regarding the power, 70 cents were required to load the rod over a third of its total length, which gives after conversion an ERN of 8.86 and a theorical #8/9 line power. With an AA of 66°, the action is in the Moderate Fast category (AA between 63 and 66°). The frequency at 85cpm attests to high reactivity. This rod is comfortable to use : it just weighs 3.91oz and the BTW is 12.56oz, which ranks it among the best balanced references of the market in this range of power and length.
JMC Pure Equipe 10' #7
* Note: The AFTMA standard stipulates that the number of a fly line corresponds to the weight of the first 30 feet. However, when lake fishing, casting distances are longer than on river. During the final shoot, it often happens that the length of line deployed in the air reaches 65'. The rod must have sufficient power to effectively shoot this weight which is greater than that's provided by the number of the rod. Thus, in our tests, the conversion of the ERN into "ideal line number" is different from that of the "river rods" : for lake rods, it make sense to use a number of line lower than that which would dictate in theory the measured ERN.
The opinion of Grégoire Juglaret (Mouches de Charette, member of the French Fly Fishing Team since 2009, World Team Champion and Vice World Champion Individual 2017) on the Pure Equipe series :
"The Pure Equipe series is an evolution of the Pure series, to which we have added specificities to satisfy the specific needs of competitors. While in the Pure series, we find standard rod lengths and versatile power, we instead find in the Pure Equipe series specific lengths and specific powers to target a kind of fishing for each rod. All this is defined by international rank competitors."
... and about the Pure Team 10 '#7 in particular :
"To give one light-hearted example, the last prototype of this rod was validated during the 2017 World Championship in Slovakia won by the french team. Captain Delcor imposing it on the whole group. We could define it as an evolution of the 10 '#7 Competition. With these two models, we have tryed to propose rods to make long distance casts easier, without getting tired during long fishing days. It should be combined with shooting lines like JMC Competition, Cortland Competition, airflo 40+... That's why they are built with 2 Fuji K guides usually reserved for spinning rods. They avoid the tangle (and so hence a gain of distance) and the twisting of fine and flexible running line. The large diameter of the handle provides an excellent grip in order to have a perfect holding rod. It allows to support the shoot without breaking your thumb after 2 hours of fishing.The blank is faster than its little sister's in order to gain even more line speed during shoot. But it keeps a real progressiveness to reel the fish whatever their size and absorb the rushs of the most powerful to preserve light tippets."
The opinion of Sébastien Delcor, seven-time French Champion, 2017 European Individual Champion and 2015 Individual European Vice-Champion, 3rd in the 2017 World Individual Championship, World and Team Europe Champion in 2017:
"The JMC lake rods series (Pure, Compétition and Elite series) have become references. It's impossible to say which is the best, they simply have different actions and powers. Let's focus on the 10' #7 Pure Equipe: we like the sober and efficient design. It includes a nice carbon reel seat, a matte black blank and nice black wraps. The single foot guides help the carbon to express itself fully and decrease the weight. On the technical side, the Pure Equipe uses Nano resins that allow to use more carbon and less resin. The rod gains lightness and reactivity. It will be more comfortable with an intermediate or a fast sinking line number 7, S3 or S5 for streamer or booby fishing. It is the ideal rod to make long distance casts without getting tired and especially without hooking-off ! It also accepts line number 8. Its fairly progressive action is very important to limit arm fatigue that happens quickly in this range of power. "
The opinion of the editor :
A top-range rod adopted by many competitors of international rank, which is the best guarantee of quality ! Small details (action moderate fast, thick handle) facilitate an intensive use of this rod, which is very important because lake fishing gear is more powerful and less comfortable than that used in river. The relatively high power of this model (ERN at 8.84) must be taken into account when choosing the fly line.
