One of my first fly rods was a Fenwick I bought somewhere around 1976 or so , It cost $40 used, which to a 16 year old was a small fortune, Fenwick at the time was one of the better fly rods available (fiberglass anyway) and one of the very first to get rid of that nasty metal ferrule. Make a long story shorter I used that rod with a level line on trout, bass and bream, until I bought a Cabela's PT series rod in 1998. The Cabela's is a nice rod and I've bought another FT series rod (from the bargain bin in eue Claire for $125) that I really like but that old Fenwick will probably never leave the place of honor in my fishing memories, I still take it out once in a while and it still feels as wonderful as the first time I cast it.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tom Davenport Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2006 12:32 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [VFB] Fly Rods, Reels, and Combos When I started fishing I was using St. Croix's cheap Pro-graphite rod and thought at the time it was too expensive and said "you won't catch me paying hundreds of dollars for a rod..." Well that was about 10 rods ago, none of which cost less than $100.00 and some much more (like the Powell LGA 6-7 weight that fell out of the back of my truck somewhere in Idaho). I'm sure I will spend more big bucks before I am done... But let me tell you a story. In addition to the St. Croix I had a cheap Fenwick fiber glass rod that had been given to my father when he retired in 1972. He never used it, and I found it in his basement with a broken tip. I glued on a new tip and actually attempted to learn to cast with it. I had no luck, so I bought the St. Croix. In those days, many of my purchases were motivated by the assumption that if I just had a better rod, I could cast better. Well, that fiberglass rod sat unused for about five years, and I had spent hundreds on ever more and better rods, and yes, my casting did improve. But one day I pulled out the old fiberglass rod, and found that I could cast it just fine! I could throw a line out with it as far as I could with any of my other rods. In other words, it wasn't the rods that were making me a better caster, it was just five years of practice. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying premium rods aren't worth the money. But I am sure I could go to any Sporting goods store and find a rod that will cast and fish well for under $70.00. The rub is, it might not be a rod I want to FISH with. After a while a rod becomes an extension of your body, and some of them simply "feel" better and "fish" better and it is all related to how you cast and how you fish. And it is pretty much impossible to tell how much you will like a rod until you've fished with it. Right now, my favorites are the old LGA (lost in Idaho, and not made anymore) a Scott SAS and a Sage XP. I like a stiffer rod because I nymph fish a lot and need to be able to feel the bottom and sometimes the strikes. Anyway, good luck, but if you are like most of us, you will find your best rod after a lot of trial and error. But the good news, it is a lot of fun, especially if you can afford luxuries like leaving your tailgate open... Tom On Jan 13, 2006, at 5:33 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Folks: My Rod and Reel combo is a Wal Mart elcheapo that My Kids > gave Me for Fathers day 2004. I want to upgrade ASAP... But talk > about confusion as to WHAT to buy... I see reels from $39.95 to > $700.00. Rods from $59.95 to $900.00, and Combo's from $79.95- > $10000.00. Then, I see cork drags, Teflon drags, stainless steel > drags, and composite graphite drags... My reel don't really even > have a drag system. You flip a button and it either had a silent NO > drag, or a clicking very slight drag. Do these disc drag systems on > the better reels I'm talking about have a drag system work like a > regular bait type reel??? From basically zero drag all the way to > line breaking drag??? And the rods come in 2-3-4-5and I've even > seen 6 piece. Is a lot of pieces just for convenience when > traveling???I know the thickness, or thinness in my case will > dictate the type system I purchase. But how does one know what is > good, what is bad??? etc etc.. Is it like the saying "You get what > you pay for" pretty much, or are there any less expensive combos > that ARE very good??? I'd probably want to buy a "combo" as they > tend to be cheaper than buying separately...Thanks in advance for > any help, Chuck > >
