Ultralite Lure Fishing Outfit.

[The Diamond Geezer]

quote:

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Originally posted by Newt:

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7ft is fine for boat work. Unless it is a very short boat and you are fishing with a partner. In that case, you do have to be a little careful of your backswing.

 

I routinely use lure rods to 7½ from my boat.

 

You can probably fix the balance by adding just the right amount of weight to the butt to make it feel like you want. Find a rubber piece (like a crutch/cane tip but as light as possible) that will fit tightly over the butt and add weights until you like the feel.

 

The better US lure rods have a threaded butt and you can buy weight kits that are made for balancing the rig but I haven't heard that any UK rods are built that way.

 

 

I agree with you totally, Newt, but wait if/'til Steve Berke posts a response. He won't have it that a balanced set-up is the biz but for him there's a reason I understand .. his medical condition.

DG

[Peter Waller]

Steve Burke:

Peter, in your article you mentioned the Drennan Spinflex rod, whose action I was very impressed with when I handled it in a shop a few years back. Have the other rods you recommend got similar actions?

Steve, like you I was suitably impressed with the Spinflex. It was rather akin to the old ABU Zoom rods. I lent mine to a friend who liked it so much that he bought it off me. I was happy to let it go as it annoyed me that the tip had developed a slight set, something that didn't worry my friend. He's been thrashing it hard over the last three years. I then replaced it with an ABU Severan 8', now discontinued, a rod I would NOT part with, nor lend to a friend incase he also fell in love with it.

 

Re the Spinflex I have heard that the old model tended to snap near the tip and that the rod has since been updated. I note DG's less than complementary comments re the Spinflex but I always felt comfortable with mine. Like a good pair of shoes, what suits one man cripples another, perhaps.

 

As a light spinning rod I recently bought a Shimanno DiaflashEX 210ML that I am over the moon with. It's rated to cast 5 to 20gms and, within that range, does 9/10s of the work for you. It is certainly not a tiring rod to use and is delightfully balanced with an ABU Severan 2000M CD reel. Like the Spinflex it is tippy, crisp as well, supremely light and power goes down to the handle, rather as the Spinflex does! The downside is that it is a silly price, unless you have a friend in the trade, but it is a cracking rod. I can't say that it matches the Spinflex as I no longer have one to compare it with, sorry.

 

[ 16. June 2003, 10:24 AM: Message edited by: Peter Waller ]

[The Diamond Geezer]

quote:

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Originally posted by Peter Waller:

As a light spinning rod I recently bought a Shimano Diaflash EX 210ML that I am over the moon with. It's rated to cast 5 to 20gms and, within that range, does 9/10s of the work for you. It is certainly not a tiring rod to use and

NOTE:

is delightfully balanced

with an ABU S

u

ver

ä

n 2000M CD reel. Like the Spinflex it is tippy, crisp as well, supremely light and power goes down to the handle, rather as the Spinflex does! The downside is that it is a silly price, unless you have a friend in the trade, but it is a cracking rod. I can't say that it matches the Spinflex as I no longer have one to compare it with, sorry.

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I too have a Shim Diaflash. Super rod, magic blank, mental price :mad:

DG :cool:

 

[ 16. June 2003, 07:04 PM: Message edited by: The Diamond Geezer ]

[The Diamond Geezer]

quote:

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Originally posted by Peter Waller:

As a light spinning rod I recently bought a Shimanno DiaflashEX 210ML that I am over the moon with. It's rated to cast 5 to 20gms and, within that range, does 9/10s of the work for you. It is certainly not a tiring rod to use and is

delightfully balanced

with an ABU Suverän 2000M CD reel. Like the Spinflex it is tippy, crisp as well, supremely light and power goes down to the handle, rather as the Spinflex does! The downside is that it is a silly price, unless you have a friend in the trade, but it is a cracking rod. I can't say that it matches the Spinflex as I no longer have one to compare it with, sorry.

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The thing is, PW, lest we forget, that Steve B is on-record many, many, many times as saying that a well balanced set-up is NOT what he wants Tip-heavy is what he says is better .. for him. As you say, one man's meat is another man's fish

 

Also Drennan are not and never were best-known for their spinning rods Almost anything else, yes, but not lure-rods ... and when you have a Spinflex, it rests my case. QED

DG

 

[ 16. June 2003, 07:12 PM: Message edited by: The Diamond Geezer ]

[Peter Waller]

Hi DG. Can't say that I have noticed Steve waxing lyrical about tip heavy rods, but I don't doubt that he does. It might sound contrary but a light, tip heavy rod does have its advantages! A very light lure may not have sufficient weight to load the tip in casting. A tip heavy job can load itself. I can only guess that this is what Steve is on about.

[Newt]

Peter - that may well be but for me anyway, a tip heavy rod (or a butt heavy one for that matter) will seriously tire my arm after a while. It may be a matter of total casts during a session or something.

 

And while I don't think you folks go in for flipping and pitching very much (boat and for working in very heavy cover), with them you need a balanced outfit for sure.

 

Mostly I think you need to match the lure weight with the rod/reel/line. A lure suited to the rig should load the tip just fine.

 

While we are on the whole U/L topic, BassPro is haveing a sale on some of their small lures. 69¢ each on line where they are 89¢ in the stores and normally that on line. I just ordered a bunch (about 30 total) in 1/8 and 1/4 oz and a bunch of replacement rubber tails for around $2.50 per package of 25. They are available in 1/16 oz as well but I didn't want to go that light.

 

The location of the eye and the spinner keeps the lure running with the hook pointed up most of the time so they don't hang up too badly and at this price, it doesn't hurt to lose some. The hooks are fairly light wire so with a big fish on, you have to play it slowly. Or for summer angling and the way pike react to the warm water, you might want to just try to horse them in and let the hook bend out so they get off. They aren't really designed as big fish lures but are really deadly on smaller ones to maybe 3lbs or so.

 

 

 

[ 16. June 2003, 11:58 PM: Message edited by: Newt ]

[Peter Waller]

Spot on Newt! I just can't see any other reason for wanting a tip heavy rod, bit of an anachronism though.

 

No we don't flip, unless wound up! Pitching? New one on me. Do have reels with 'flipping' capability, tried it, not convinced though.

 

Just mild curiosity Newt, why Newt? Over this side of the pond it tends to be someone who can't hold their drink! Heaven forbid that that should be the case.

[Steve Burke]

I seem to be misunderstood regarding tip heavy rods by some, who have got the wrong end of the stick if you'll pardon the pun.

 

What I disagree with is the oft-repeated advise that a rod should balance at the reel seat. I find that this is tiring to use as the rod is then like a see-saw. Additionally I want the tip to be as still as possible as I watch the tip as well as feel for bites.

 

Instead I prefer a rod where the balance is a few inches above the reel seat. Yes, technically this is tip heavy, but very different to some of the older designs in particular that balance way above the reel seat.

 

In other words I prefer a rod that is slightly tip heavy but not grossy so, and have indeed gone on record as saying this many times in the past.

 

What I liked about the Spinflex when I handled it (the 9ft version was the only one available then) was the action. This shouldn't be confused with the balance which is a totally different factor. I seem to remember that the Spinflex had a nice soft sensitive tip but the power progressively increased in the butt.

[The Diamond Geezer]

Originally posted by Steve Burke:

I seem to be misunderstood regarding tip heavy rods by some, who have got the wrong end of the stick if you'll pardon the pun.

 

What I disagree with is the oft-repeated advise (sic) that a rod should balance at the reel seat.

 

 

This is pure semantics from SB I don't know any lure-anglers who hold their rod mostly around the reel seat, or who suggest that this is best.

 

Exactly who have given oft-repeated advice that a rod should balance at the reel seat? :confused:

 

A balanced set-up, in my view (and that's what I believe most other anglers understand by a balanced set-up), is one where the fulcrum of balance is at the point on the handle where you mostly hold the rod i.e. somewhere between the reel mount and the top end of the handle. If you lure-fish from the bank (i.e. not from a boat) and typically walk 3 to 4 miles and maybe fish for 5 - 6 hrs at a stretch, I defy anyone not to get tired and have their casting distance and accuracy reduced if their set-up is tip-heavy i.e. not balanced at the point on the handle where you mostly hold the rod during casting & retrieve. I know, because I've fished with a lot of lure anglers who visit my beats and venues and who soon start to flag ... and when you see their set-up, it's obvious why.

 

SB is also on record that he mainly lure fishes from a boat (i.e. not from the bank) and not for much longer than a couple of hours, because of his medical conditon. In my view, this isn't a just assessment of a set-up; it's a skewed one, to suit SB's particular needs and disability, but they don't necessarily suit other or many able-bodied lure anglers.

 

With the Spinflex, unless you fit a heavy reel, add a fly-rod-type butt-extention or add other counter-balancing weight to the butt end (a la Newt /Basspro), this just isn't achievable, not with the Spinflex I've got anyway ... and the longer the Spinflex model, the worse it is. Trust me

 

It's also rather disingenuous of some, including SB, to suggest or imply that some, presumably including me, are confusing a balanced set-up with the action of a rod ... come-on :mad:

 

Like I said, if some rate the Spinflex, I've got one and am open to offers .....

 

Some

 

[ 17. June 2003, 10:48 AM: Message edited by: The Diamond Geezer ]

[The Diamond Geezer]

Peter Waller:

Hi DG. Can't say that I have noticed Steve waxing lyrical about tip heavy rods, but I don't doubt that he does. It might sound contrary but a light, tip heavy rod does have its advantages! A very light lure may not have sufficient weight to load the tip in casting. A tip heavy job can load itself. I can only guess that this is what Steve is on about.

Hi, PW,

 

Well, one discussion was in a thread (now archived) on the Pred-fishing Forum, and one which you may have missed. Personally I have also heard many comments and feeback from people who have spoken directly to Steve in the past .. when he was selling lure rods, and then seemed quite happy to go-along the balanced set-up idea

 

I'd also suggest that if one's lure is so light that it won't load-up the rod tip, then it's easier to use a rod with a softer tip than run a tip-heavy set-up.

 

But you're right, it may well be what SB's on about.

 

Keep on finessing (as you say)! Hope the season has kicked-off well for you.

 

DG