What material is your rod made of?

[chesters1]

perhaps he wasnt talking about fishing ,sex was kept a bit quiet in them thar days

Edited January 13, 2011 by chesters1

[Dick Dastardly]

I often wonder what the tackle scene will be like in 50 years time.

 

I say that as I can see that people of Dave and Dens generation who have "lived" through cane,steel,fibreglass,carbon can say things have improved a lot (well in most areas) tackle wise. Ive at a mere half century experienced the change from heavy fibre glass rods to light carbon ones.......................but that's about it! other than the drastic fall in prices Ive not really seen any great break through/change since then! So will there be in the future? will my grandchildren argue the merits of their days tackle over stuff from the present? Will an original Shimano bait runner or Okuma Aventa be collectable or sought after? I find it hard to see what advances can be made or that any of today's "top" items will be wanted!

 

But then did any of you old timers think stuff would be (or indeed has been!) improved on?

 

Kind of makes me think! in the 70's I certainly didn't think my ABU All England match rod was heavy! it certainly caught plenty of fish.Would still be quite happy using it today if carbon hadn't been developed. My fly rods weight (as they are relatively short) never really caused a problem BUT even though I enjoy the feel of cane I would certainly never go back to glass ones now! But as my carp/pike rods spend more time in a rest than my hand it wouldn't bother me going back to glass! I wouldn't even want to consider not having long carbon poles though! makes me laugh when I read guys on here complaining they cant hold their 11m carbon pole without back ache! Try 8m of glass from Lerc! (I'm sure the ancients can tell us tales of Tonkin poles!!!)

 

So I wonder have we reached the limit or will there allways be potential for such changes?

[chesters1]

if you think about it a rod is nothing more than a stick a reel a bobbin ,all that changes is the weight in the case of the rod and the quickness and distance you can wind or unwind line on the reel

as i say a good fiberglass rod is hardly different in weight than a bad carbon one ,i still use glass why change when the difference is so subtle?

one thing that springs to mind thinking about it is rod lenght is longer today ,is that down to weight or the need for longer rods?

i have a very early glass rod at 16ft i couldnt hold it for any length of time today long rods are common ,need or weight?

at one time carp rods were 10 foot ish ,sea rods 12ft now you can buy pretty well what lenght you want there is no standard any more to compare like for like

Edited January 13, 2011 by chesters1

[far bank stalker]

I get the impression from things like this that Barder do things laboriously by hand that other makers do not. The question for me is whether it is worth paying someone to do that, or whether the more efficient ways of doing it yield equally good results. Would you rather have your aluminium panel hand beaten by a chap at Aston Martin or hydroformed and laser cut by a machine at Audi - the Audi panel will be perfect... Are the efficiencies of the cheaper manufacturers like that, or are they like casting a fly reel instead of machining it? I don't know, and I guess I would have to try both types - if I couldn't tell the difference, there would be no point paying more, if I could, maybe there would be.

at the risk of being annoying from reading that excerpt he definitely isn't doing anything particularly special. hand tempering is probably quicker than tempering in an oven and not as exact.

 

i promise you, his rods are brutally overpriced because of the cache his name add's. what makes his rods so different to one any gifted carpenter could do barring experience? and experience comes with practice i.e. anyone, with practice can do it.

 

i would urge anyone to check out these sites

 

http://www.goldenwitch.com/

 

http://www.bamboorodmaking.com/html/ralph_..._biography.html

 

the bamboo rod making one will land you on a duff page, but navigate your way around. if it's your thing then welcome to alladins cave of free information

[Anderoo]

I have to admit, I did once have a fantastic pike rod that wasn't carbon - well, half of it wasn't! It was one of those carbon butt/glass tip rods. It was quite cheap so I assume it's because at the time carbon was relatively new and it was a way to keep it cheap while still being able to say it was a 'carbon' rod!

 

Anyway, because the tip section was glass, it was lovely and soft, while still having lots of power further down in the carbon section. Absolutely spot on for lobbing out big deadbaits without tearing the hooks out. Unfortunately one day some little scrote nicked it while I wasn't looking.

[Leon Roskilly]

Anybody got a sintrix rod yet?

[chesters1]

i still have a pair of "composite" pike rods ,they work why change them

just had a peek

 

DAM megalite pike (cheeeeeeeeeap) now their old they wont be noticed on the bank so much

they do what they did launch dead fish out and hopefully on occasion haul live ones back

Edited January 13, 2011 by chesters1

[far bank stalker]

at the risk of being annoying from reading that excerpt he definitely isn't doing anything particularly special. hand tempering is probably quicker than tempering in an oven and not as exact.

 

i promise you, his rods are brutally overpriced because of the cache his name add's. what makes his rods so different to one any gifted carpenter could do barring experience? and experience comes with practice i.e. anyone, with practice can do it.

 

i would urge anyone to check out these sites

 

http://www.goldenwitch.com/

 

http://www.bamboorodmaking.com/html/ralph_..._biography.html

 

the bamboo rod making one will land you on a duff page, but navigate your way around. if it's your thing then welcome to alladins cave of free information

now i come to think of it he does have ONE taper that he designed himself. the rest of the tapers, the thing that makes a rods characteristics can be downloaded from the rod making forum i posted

 

so, unless your rod has THAT taper then it is to all intents and purposes just an-other fly rod made to a pattern thats probably existed 50 or 60 years. unless mr barder is a wizard and imparting some special magic into the cane, otherwise just following simple mathmatical instructions with a plane, micrometer and depth guage. the planing forms do the rest. granted the plane may have a slightly more specialised blade than usaul, but it doesn't have to be. normal, ones work just fine but wear out quicker.

 

anyway, i'm off fishing now

[chesters1]

Anybody got a sintrix rod yet?

upmarket ugli stick?

Edited January 13, 2011 by chesters1

[Steve Walker]

i promise you, his rods are brutally overpriced because of the cache his name add's. what makes his rods so different to one any gifted carpenter could do barring experience? and experience comes with practice i.e. anyone, with practice can do it.

 

Interesting - he's certainly got his marketing sorted out

 

Well, it makes no odds to me, I couldn't justify spending that sort of money on a rod either way.