I've been thinking about a new boat rod and a nice fat catalogue dropped out of T and S yesterday...
Nearly every rod over 9ft now seems to have to have a 'fighting butt' which I've always found surplus to my requirements. In fact I hate them. Also want to go lighter than my current 7 wt.
The Airflo Streamtec is on offer at ?60. 10ft 4 piece either 4/5 wt or 5/6 wt. It seems ideal for my needs and very reasonable.
Does anyone have any experience of Airflo rods and/or the Streamtec?
Thanks
Tim
Tim,
I got a very cheap airflo rod off ebay a PS-Tec, if I remember correctly, its a 10ft 6 weight, without a fighting butt. I've been pleasantly surprised by it, maybe a wee bit soft for some but by no means a bit of spagetti. Its caught me plenty of Loch Brownies, Grayling (I used it for bugging a fair bit) and the odd Sea Trout. Its handled this all just fine. Cosmetically its no better or worse than the rest of my, admittely, mid price range, rods. Airflo has quite a good reputation for its rods, unlike its floating lines :D
If you've got a wee bit more to spend (well about three times more) then think about a Greys Streamflex. None of these rods have a fighting butt. I have a 10ft 4 weight, it is an absolute delight, and the reason why I've stopped using the aiflo.
Norm
I've just got a 4 piece 9' #4-5 stream-tec for using on the rivers, not had a line on it yet but it looks very nice for the price.