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Ken, and Mike. Thanks for the tips.. I'll check em out, Chuck
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, January 16, 2006 10:06
AM
Subject: Re: [VFB] Fly Rods, Reels, and
Combos
Hey Chuck,
Just to add my 2 cents...
I have a
number of "value priced" rods. That means they're not junk but they weren't
expensive. I have some bass pro rods, a cabela's rod, and some others. One of
my favorites is the first "combo" I purchased. It's a scientific anglers
concept 2 outfit. It's an 8/9 combo, and the rod surprised people when they
cast it (in a good way). It was $90 for rod/reel/line/backing/leader. They
also have a 5/6 wt outfit for around $60. A buddy of mine, who's a casting
instructor, uses that as his primary rod for peacocks & largemouth. Worth
looking into.
Ken
On 1/16/06, Mike
Morris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
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
>
>
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