Two New Rods, Two Extremes

[River Chatter]

I do like a bit of bling I have to admit, but it seems to me that rod blanks are getting closer in quality regardless of price.  The only thing that seperates the bargain from the bling these days is often the finish and quality of components, which is hardly an excuse for a difference of ?400 or ?500  :shock: A mate recently picked up a Spring Creek #5, which a few members tried out at a casting club meet. All gave it a thumbs up and it cost just ?25.00!!! The only real criticism was the fat handle, so I'm interested in how you managed to shave some girth off yours Fred while keeping a reasonable shape. Did you use a lathe?

[Wildfisher]

Did you use a lathe?

No, just some very rough sandpaper and just kept turning it in my hand. Finished it with some smooth sandpaper.

[scotty9]

Some on FFF are strangely dismissive of cheaper tackle and make, frankly, daft suggestions on the strength of this. One beginner who came on saying that he was having difficulty casting was told he needed to get a Sage XP and a Sharkskin line as the cure.
Another poster said he'd had a go of a cheap Shakespeare rod and it performed brilliantly - where could he get a more expensive rod that would cast the same as it??  :shock:

There's good stuff on there but some can't see past their bling.

There's too many fannies that offer advice to beginners on there  :lol:

Having done the transition from never having held a rod, to getting better to now thinking i know what i'm talking about, all recently my advice would be buy a very cheap rod, a mid range line, any reel and a lesson. You'll soon know if you like it, the cheap rod will do the business and you can buy bling later if you want.

I went ron thompson, shakespeare, shakespeare, loop, loop. That's the way my 5 rods have been collected, all apart from the loops were cheap as chips. The loop double hander i got half price and my loop trout rod i got ?75 off.

[Wildfisher]

There's too many fannies that offer advice to beginners on there  :lol:

There's too many fannies that offer advice to beginners on there

[Fin]

This takes me back a couple o years ago. Ardbeg and myself were fishing Kinardochy. I had to jump out of the boat to help a guy unloch the other boat. I took my rod with me as Ardbeg is not to be trusted  :makefun.

  This chap asked me what rod i was using, when i told him, the cheeky bastard said that he had tried this rod and it was a cheap pile of shite, that was not his exact words but i knew what he was trying to say. He had two or three rods with him seemingly good rods. Then he went on to tell me where the best places to fish were, oh and if i wasn't catching to come and see him as he had a killer flea for this loch.  

This was all translated back to Ardbeg, whose reply was cheeky so and so. Well at the end of the day we 21 between us, shared out  equally bar one. Well you could tell by our smug smiles, when the he with the expensive rods came ashore and said the fish were not playing today. None had he caught Our reply was that at least 21 came out to play.

I am for not one moment knocking expensive tackle, i would have some myself if the purse strings stretched further. I would never try and knock other peoples gear, i could not believe this guy said as much that my tackle was shit. :x

All the best Fin....

[corsican dave]

i had two good fish on the bank and was playing a third, no-one else catching (at the local goldfish pond last thursday), when a spectator remarked "I'm surprised you're fishing with a big dry fly when they're obviously taking buzzers..."!

yeah, like i hadn't noticed the daddies all stacked up outside my front door that morning :roll:

he continued, "You'd also do better getting a modern rod instead of that heavy old cane one."

love a bit of advice, me :lol:

then i went out on friday and got 24 pollack off the rocks in under two hours on my trusty shakespeare :

saltwater fly fishing in the uk is definitely not for the tackle fashionista

[johnny boy]

I think a lot of us may have come across this kinda guy sometime in our fishing adventures.

I went out one evening fishing and could hear this really weird noise, getting louder and louder.  All a suddon this guy appears round the corner and the noise was from him casting.  Ikid you now, I doubt I could recreate the noise if i tried.  He asked how i was getting on and i said just arrived but one ok fish about 3/4 landed.

He proceeded to tell me that he had been there all day but only caught tiny fish but that i should change my files to what he was using as that was obviously what they were on, he would get a big one soon (as he always did).  On the positive side he did offer me one, it was a huge (about size 2 longshank) abomination of fritz and marabu, nothing against either in their place but this thing would have shown up on radar.

I, as i always do, listened to what the fellow angler had to say, bade a polite farewellwished him tight lines and went on my merry way (without the fly). 

I watched him along the loch, casting as far as he could with all 3 flies landing in a heap ontop of the last 2 yards or so of line, maybe he was a good angler and thats what his local fish like.  What i couldnt get over was that he hadnt really seen me fish. He was clearly not from round here with his accent and i look like a yokel if ever you saw one, yet not the slightest interest in asking my opinion and as it wasnt asked for it wasnt given.

They are out there, know it alls who have all the answers yet never ask any questions........ wish i knew it all

[River Chatter]

I haven't known it all since I was a teenager.  :lol: I don't have a know-it-all story unfortunately cos every time I've met one I recognised it immediately and switch to my nod knowingly postion while backing away slowly!