It seems that while we teach others we still have much to learn ourselves.
I am curious how many rods and reels those in our group have. It seems that
while I have several rods for trout that I dearly love I am always interested in
finding something better. I have a 5wt. Thomas & Thomas HS905 which is a
fantastic rod; a Cabellas 6wt. 9' fast tip which is also a wonderful rod, but
seems to have a soft spot; a Fly Logic 6/7 wt. 9' Med-fast action; and an Echo
5wt. 9' competition casting rod. For fishing I never use the Fly Logic or Echo
rods, even tho the Fly Logic with the Wulff triangular line is a decent line and
is good for distance. I mostly use the Fly Logic and Echo for distance casting
practice and will probably use the Fly Logic for my testing as it is a much
heavier rod and I can be deadly accurate with it and hit my distance better than
with the lighter rods. I've looked at the G. Loomis and Temple Fork, and still
may invest in a 7wt. in the near future. The problem is that I am not near a fly
shop that will allow me to test the equipment, therefore I am at the mercy of
reading details out of a catalog. I do know that while I handle the lighter rods
very well in the water, on land the heavier rods work best for me, and I can
transfer that to my light weight rods when fishing. "Feel" seems to have a lot
to do with how well I respond to a particular rod and be able to execute casts
with consistency.
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Robert...
As I talk and cast with
some world class casters and fly fishermen including members of the FFF Casting
Board of Governors, I find that as these folks progressed they became less and
less concerned with the particular rods they used and more concerned with
casting techniques and fly line designs.
This, I think, was due
largely to their developing skills sufficient that the rods became subordinate ,
and partly due to the development of much better fly rods which narrowed the
performance gap between high end rods and inexpensive ones.....a dramatic
change, indeed, and a market trend of the future, I think.
Competition distance
casters do develop very strong opinions.....based upon what works best for the
individual competitor. These, however, boil down to a few rods about which
most of them agree.
As you have seen in our
discussions, there are some really great casters who will say, "Just give me an
outfit...I can cast any combination." Even these folks, however, will have
their favorites.
Salt water fishermen
look at the fish handling capacities of the rod as strongly as they do the
casting qualities. (I have one 9 wt. TCR made up by a friend with unbelievable
attention to detail such as connot be found in factory rods. It's my
favorite Permit rod.)
Discussing the, "feel"
of these favorites is almost like discussing the subtleties involved in
wine tasting....often an indefinable personal
preference.
If you wish to try many
rods and have meaningful discussions about casting with them, there is, in my
opinion, NO SUBSTITUTE FOR ATTENDING AN FFF CONCLAVE....PARTICULARLY
THE INTERNATIONAL CONCLAVES HELD EACH YEAR.
With respect to
feel........Your last sentence says it all.
Gordy