Long term tackle review: Major craft Ceana CNS-802ML - 5-21g - 8ft of pure, budget friendly lure fishing rod joy!
February 10, 2024
Lyle Swan
A review of Major craft’s entry level lure fishing rod, aimed at beginners, but performs like something 3/4 times the price.. no joke, this 8ft version is an absolute peach for harbour, estuary, river & light boat work. If you are looking to scale down your lure fishing rods in your pursuit of Bass, then this rod is an ideal candidate for someone looking for sensitivity, accuracy, lightness & fun, all while not breaking the bank.
Bass caught on the 802ML, working a Megabass spindle worm through dense weed
Majorcraft Ceana CNS-802ML- 5-21g 8ft available at High street tackle: £89.99 - CLICK HERE
After 6 months of ownership, how do I really feel about this rods performance and value for money?
Why did I buy it? (Are you in a similar position?)
For some context, I decided to buy this rod from Gwinear Angling in Cornwall at full price. I had been toying around with the idea of using lighter rods for some time. A lot of the new areas I had been exploring resulted in really close quarters fishing, where long casting distance was not necessary, but feel, lightness, robustness where required.
Honestly though, I had also started to ask the question of myself, do I really need to be fishing with a rod thats rated to 35g for what is really only calm conditions? There are of course, many rods out there that do the all rounder lure rod job very very well, however they tend to be in the budget category of £250 or more, which was out of the questions for me, especially as I cannot trust myself with rods very well!
Now, to cut to the chase, I am going to 100% recommend this rod to anyone who is in need of a rod in the 5-21g or ‘light’ casting range. I wholeheartedly believe that you do not need to spend any more money than this on this style of rod. Whether you want to is a different matter, but the benchmark of necessary performance is set here, with this exact model of Ceanna.
“I wholeheartedly believe that you do not need to spend any more money than this on this style of rod”
So, as you can tell from the intro so far, I absolutely love this rod. For the ground I fish 80% of the time (the areas) this sweet little 802ML delivers a perfect solution for my Bass fishing.
The rod is an excellent tool for precise, lightweight fishing that when combined with a lovely light Shimano reel & supple Berkley Sick braid, creates an outfit thats a real peach for ‘gentle’ Bass fishing.
Who is this rod for?
This rod will suit you if:
You fish in calm conditions
You Fish in harbours, creeks or estuaries
Want to go lighter in your lure rods
You are Looking for optimal performance chucking soft plastics, light metals, small topwaters & shallow divers
You need a budget friendly rod but don’t want to compromise on performance
The rod in detail
Length - 8ft
Section summary
Performs just like a typical 8’6 rod but less cumbersome
Lightweight
8ft, so its a shorter rod by the standard of typical shore fishing lure rods (typically they’re 8’6 and up), the rod is not going to be contending for casting distance, especially in any headwinds over the late teens but what you gain, is sensitivity, lightness & lack of inertia to overcome on the cast & when working soft plastics with the tip of your rod.
That said, compared with lets say, a typical 8’6 medium-fast action rod, the 802ML does not feel overly pokey or stiff, this, I think is down to the more ‘medium’ action the rod has and not ‘fast’ as many lure seem to be. This blend of reduced length but slightly softer action results in basically a shorter ‘fast’ action 8’6 rod, if that makes sense!
‘The blend of reduced length but slightly softer action results in basically a shorter ‘fast’ action 8’6 rod’
The lightness of the blank and rod is great, and being only 8ft, there is less extra rod weight waving around. This allows you to place your lures where you need them, often in a crucial moment to tempting a fish.
Casting weight - 5-21g
Section summary
Performs excellently at both ends of the casting range
Can take some punishment with heavier lures
Suited well to unweighted soft plastics & weighted
This rod is really suited to chucking unweighted soft plastics like the Megabass Spindleworm 5” & 4”, small topwaters like the Patchinko 85mm, or even small shallow runners like the Tackle house feed shallow 105mm.
The 5-21g rating is of course well within the rating of other rods considered ‘all rounder’ lure rods, like the famed HTO N70 Labrax special N7089ML - 6-40g, so without looking at the price, you might automatically go for the HTO, given its seemingly extra capability to chuck heavier stuff. But, and I think there is a but here, is that rods that claim they have a low casting weight and a heavy casting weight (40g is relatively heavy for most lure rods), don’t do the lower extremities as well as a lighter rated rod does at the lower end. In short, the Ceanna has more feel and precision when throwing unweighted SP’s because its closer to its blanks sweet spot than the HTO n70’s.
In short, the Ceanna does a fantastic job of casting, small, light lures in scenarios where precision and finesse is key.
The Ceanna however, is obviously made of some strong stuff. I have cast lures in excess of 50g, albeit relatively softly with the 802ML Ceanna apart from a subtle cringe on my part, the rod has taken it like a champ. Chucking seekers out to the tune of 28g has been no sweat for the Ceanna, and I have really attempted to find the limit with this rod, but it still keeps on casting away quite happily. So, in those situations where you only bring one rod and plan to fish somewhere calm, but the conditions where not what you were expecting, the 802ML will allow you to still fish on quite happily with some slightly heavier gear.
Action
Section summary
The action suits light soft plastics very well
The rod provides lots of sensitivity, letting you know everything thats going on underwater
The action is on the fast end of medium, ‘medium-fast’ - perfect for the lure discipline.
The Ceanna’s action is on the fast end of medium, with a touch of steeliness running 3/4’s of the way up the rod, with the tip section providing a little more pliability.
What’s lovely about the action is the way it responds to super light lures. On the load-up section of the cast, the tip & mid section compress in such a way that allows you to flick out the lighter lure with ease. Equally, when chucking something 21g (or over as is very often the case), down toward the butt, the rods backbone comes into play, loading up and dealing with the extra weight at play.
The medium-fast action style of the rod makes it fantastic for walking the dog too with top waters. The tip section doing most of the work for you with its subtle compression characteristics.
Working shallow divers with this rod is also a pleasure in itself. Most SD’s run within the weight bracket of this rod and are matched really nicely to the action. On the retrieve, you are given a reassuring level of feel from the lures wobble, even feeling the lures hooks glancing weed and rocks as it passes over. Yes, it really is that sensitive!
How does the action work with metals? Well, most of my fishing has been done with metals on this rod and I absolutely love it. Wether you opt to sink and draw, shore jib or straight retrieve, the rods action works in your favour beautifully.
Talking more about the shore jigging style as I like to call it, which is sort of like a horizontally applied vertical jig technique, where short sharp jabs down and to the right or left are combined with quarter turns of the reel hat are designed to keep you in contact with the lure. The rod compliments this technique well, allowing you to work metals like the 12g seeker & 16g version in such a way that results in the leaf-flutter fall we desire happening in quick succession. Super handy in shallow water! Using this technique I have had sessions where I believe Bass and Wrasse where competing for the lure, resulting in Wrasse, Bass then Wrasse again!
Lovely green Wrasse caught on the Ceana!
Price
Section summary
The value for money lure rod under a hundred quid
Available for £90 quid (!!!)
The rod doesn’t compromise in many areas for the money
Okay, so with this rod the price is an essential topic. If you are looking at the Ceana range, you’re looking at something that many would call ‘mid-range’ for a lure rod and what some might call ‘entry level’. Whatever you call it, the rod is in the sort quarter of rods prices. And that is where the beauty lies!!
This rod, available for less than £90 quid (!!!) performs truly like something that up there with the more expensive Major craft offerings. I dare say, I once had the fortune to fish with an Apia Grandage in a similar category and to be totally honest, the difference was very very marginal, forgetting the fact that the Apias run around £250 plus on a good day.
Lets not forget, that the Ceana is Major crafts most entry level product. But it enjoys the same amazing fishing qualities of its more expensive cousins that is for sure. I’ve no way of proving this but by way of experience and feel (I have had a couple of Major craft rods and tried a couple) I am totally sure that the blank is shared with more pricier rods from MC.
You might be wondering, what are the drawbacks then? Well, I suppose it could be the fact that the handles are just plain (but comfortably shaped) EVA foam without much jewellery appointing them. The rod is equipped with Fuji guides & Fazlite rings, which are not the most top of the range but this has not been an issue at all and have performed excellently for the last 6 months. The reel clamp is a simple twist grip in black plastic it’s a no frills mechanism but it works and doesn't loosen over time like some do!
How have I set this rod up
Reel
Shimano Stradic C3000 CI4+ (Now discontinued)
Superceded by the Shimano Vanford
A Shimano classic and a peg bellow the famed Vanford but very similar in features. If I where to pair with a new reel, it would definitely be the Vanford in 2500 or 3000 size. These lightweight reels compliment the balance of the Ceanna beautifully.
Mainline
Berkley Sick braid X8 16lb (0.10mm) 7.5kg
This lighter braid works so well at communicating essential information from the lure. As I mentioned earlier, when running shallow divers, you really can feel everything thats going on.
Leader
Berkley Trilene 13lb Fluorocarbon
A 3-4ft leader always gets added to my mainline, and when in the estuaries, rivers or harbours Ill opt for the 13lb Trilene leader. A light leader helps to increase the feel through the rod which for this lightweight setup I deem essential.
What would you like to see reviewed next? Please send in your suggestions on our Instagram, facebook or Tiktok page or leave a comment below with your thoughts on the state of budget rods!
Disclaimer: If you click through any of the links on this article, purchase through those links, I (Tidework) may make a commission. I do however aim to provide purely anecdotal reviews for you to inform your purchasing decision.
