Hardy sintrix artisan

[Inchlaggan]

If it adds 10 yards to my best cast I'll have it.
What is 900 quid to double your cast length?
And I get nice packaging as well!
And Stan says it is good.
And it catches 10lb rainbows.

[Traditionalist]

A young man ventured forth one day, to fulfill his dearest wish,
he thought perhaps it might be good to learn how he might fish,
Straight to the nearest tackle shop, he sped in quite great haste,
to buy a brand new fishing rod, he had no time to waste.

Arriving breathless at the shop, he saw to his dismay,
that the place was full of fishing rods, a very large array.
Turning to the owner, he then asked "but which is best?
and how much of my hard earned cash, must I then invest?

"Well that depends ", the owner said, "but you need have no fear"
"We will soon help you out I think, we have everything here".
"just tell us exactly what you want, and what you want to do,
and we will then determine, what is the best for you".

Some anglers stood around the shop, and all were very nice,
they all chipped in at various points, with info and advice,
"We have a nice rod here" the owner said "a lovely piece of cane"
then a voice spoke up, "Be careful lad, the price is quite insane"

"Apart from which as everyone knows, cane is not so good,
better to go with a modern rod, not an old one made of wood"
"What would you know", said another voice,"cane is quite fantastic",
"a far nicer tool for fishing, than a lump of lifeless plastic".

"You are full of shit, you idiot, with your traditional pose "
and very soon the shop resounded to the sound of heavy blows.
the fight raged long and furious, and the lad got rather nervous,
"I thought fishing was a peaceful sport, and I only wanted service"

" Of course of course", the owner said, "the guys are all OK",
"they just like to discuss some things, and this is just their way"
battling still, the customers, fought on engulfed with rage,
while the owner tried to sell the lad, a very nice new sage.

"Don´t do it lad", the plaintive cry, echoed around the walls,
"get some cane, that plastic stuff is just a load of balls".
"shut your mouth, you gibbering fool, the sage is really fine,
you just cant´cast at all of course, and you are an ignorant swine"

Other customers chimed in, and soon it came to pass,
that the argument extended, to stuff like steel and glass,
Hard words flew, and fists as well, even rods were grabbed,
and used like swords, in actual fact, quite a few were stabbed.

Those stabbed with cane, were safe enough, all they got was splinters,
but those stabbed with steel and glass did not see many winters,
the owner most upset by now, not knowing what to do or say,
closed the shop, and told the lad, "come back another day"

"Eventually they will all agree,or at least agree to stop,
and it would be an honour then, to have you visit my shop"
Confused and sad the lad then thought, this stuff is not much fun,
so instead of buying a fishing rod, he went and bought a gun.

TL
MC

[Highlander]

On an aside but still Hardy, There was a guy in todays Sunday Mail "The Judge page" complaining that his "new Hardy rod" just broke. Bought from the Glasgow Angling Centre, they informed the buyer to send it back to Hardy, despite they as the seller  should have sorted out. Sale of goods act & all that. Hardy duly inspected & decided that is was not a manufacturing fault but because the Sunday paper got involved they will get the guy a new rod.
Bit I was a bit bemused by was the picture of the damage. It had snapped mid way at the cork handle.
strange to say the least, would not have thought a rod would break there in "normal" use. It would however break there if someone stood on it.......... nay surely not.
:roll:
Tight Lines

£899 for an 8'6" 4wt

Words fail me for once

[Wildfisher]

'Tis bollocks!

And no one says it better than Rowan Atkinson  :lol:

http://www.wildfisher.co.uk/uploads/How-did-the-war-start.flv

[scotty9]

Yeah at the end of the day you will always have 'top of the range' gear in any retail, whether you see the value personally in it or not.

The reviews can be totally discounted - those guys will be paid for it or perhaps received free or discounted gear. I do, in theory there's only a few brands out there I could review without any potential bias thanks to the financial side of things.

The marketing is indeed bollocks, but it has to be and always will be. They need to write something to place in catalogues and their website don't they. The majority of customers probably don't buy after trying the rod in question so they need "something" to inform then, no matter how trivial. Do you think these people would buy the same things if no information was provided? The largest market is most likely the 'uneducated' fisherman, that's not the right word but you will know what I'm getting at.

One of the biggest things for me is not the price of the rod (unless stupid like this one!) but what it feels like. I prefer the feel of a faster, stiffer rod which usually comes at the higher price range. It's bugger all about doing X better, or Y further but that I get a more enjoyable time out of using it.

Fred - how much is that TCX and S4 at retail value again?  :makefun

A few of my friends in Australia have been playing with the Sage one, all very, very good casters, and they do say the piece of marketing on the rod's tracking and resistance to lateral movement appears to be true. I can't say without trying but I do believe what they say... Whether that matters to the individual or not is a whole different matter of course.

There's only so cynical you can be, at the end of the day it's up to what everyone wants. As Alan says, there's cars out there that cost more than houses, there's phones out there that rival the costs of a lot of high end fishing rods, there's TV's that cost as much as cars, it's the same everywhere.

PS - just read your post Brian, definitely not just Hardy. How is the Vision rod? I saw it on the vision site recently and wondered about it.

[Inchlaggan]

apparently the olive green colour of the blank "lets other anglers on the bank know your serious"

Can't afford replacing/respraying my rods so that everybody knows I'm serious.
But then again, I don't want to be seen waving a wrongly-coloured rod that lets everyone know I'm a d*ckhead.
What colours do I need to avoid?

[scotty9]

Can't afford replacing/respraying my rods so that everybody knows I'm serious.
But then again, I don't want to be seen waving a wrongly-coloured rod that lets everyone know I'm a d*ckhead.
What colours do I need to avoid?

Tweed pattern effect?

[Inchlaggan]

Well if you need your silica matrix fix, and you can go with Gallatin Green instead of Olive, then I can save you around £700- you'll have to paint "Hardy" on it yourself though!
BUT, you also get ART, IPC and SC^VI as well.


http://www.stcroixrods.com/product/legend-elite

[Traditionalist]

Can't afford replacing/respraying my rods so that everybody knows I'm serious.
But then again, I don't want to be seen waving a wrongly-coloured rod that lets everyone know I'm a d*ckhead.
What colours do I need to avoid?

Tartan and pink

http://www.lakeladyrods.com/images/family-tartan

https://www.google.com/search?q=pink+fishing+rod&hl=en&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=w4HKToukAdGi-gbW4_UR&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CCEQ_AUoAQ&biw=1277&bih=758

( Although they may all be excellent rods for all I know. I'd just feel like a pratt using them!     )

I'll use anything as long as it's matt black.  If it isn't;

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_210031_langId_-1_categoryId_165495

TL
MC

[Wildfisher]

Fred - how much is that TCX and S4 at retail value again?  :makefun

TCX was £600 Scott. Stupidest thing  I ever did was buy that rod new. I was only stupid once though and quickly learned that what I should have done was wait a fortnight  for Buzz to get fed up of his and but it for less than 1/2 price like  I did  his S4 and ZXL.   :

Mark is now my preferred vendor.  :lol: