fishinwrench

I bet I can whip a piece of dacron onto the line quicker than you can thread & slide that miniature football up the line. 😁. At the tackle shop over the hill those little bastages are .20 apiece.

Also..... here's a little tidbit that you might be interested in...... Making 4 piece blanks is way cheaper/easier on the blank manufacturers, and far more convenient in warranty claims The fact that you can't hardly buy a quality 2pc. rod anymore has nothing to do with popular demand. The manufacturer CONVINCED the general FF public that 4 piece rods were the way to go. That's total BS. A conspiracy I tell ya ! 😉 It benefits nobody except the blank builder. What's the actual percentage of guys that air travel so much that they need 4-piece rods ?

If you handle rod blanks much, then look at commercial rods, you'll notice that alot of those blanks look & feel VERY familiar. Some rod makers try to hide it by painting the blanks (Duckett and Moonshine rods use some of the cheapest low grade blanks available) yet guys will blow all kinds of smoke telling everyone how utterly awesome their rods are. All-Star blanks are bottom line IM6 junk. Perfectly fishable.....but there's definitely nothing special about them. Other production rods can really surprise you. BPS Intruder rods used a hell of a nice blank. Cortland uses the Batson Rainshadow line and has for years. So did Quantum...and may still. The old Cabela's Fish Eagle rods used really fine Kennedy Fisher blanks. Piscifun rods use what I'm almost certain is the same blanks as the St.Croix Imperial. Rod blanks are kinda like Batteries......there really isn't that many companies out there making them. Blank makers like Sage, Winston, St.Croix and others will advertise that they selected and blended certain fibers to get some specific "special" action ON PURPOSE......when the REALITY of it is that when it comes to purchasing graphite fiber and resin sheets.......you get whatever happens to be available at the time. There ain't no choosing !

You're probably right, but in the 70's I hadn't had my paws on "top end" rods,.....but now that I have I can appreciate how ridiculous it can be. There are rod blanks out there for under $100 that you couldn't tell which one was used on the $900 rod, and which was used on the $80 rod. Granted, good cork and guides are a bit more.....but they aren't THAT MUCH more.

Will NOT ! 😅 If the weight doesn't slide over it, it will probably jam it up inside the nose of the weight and get partially stuck, unless you put a bead on it too.......in which case.....what purpose does it serve? A better choice would be a split shot. Also cheaper than a bobber stop....and easier to install. And listen here Roland, a "C-rig" is a C-rig regardless of whether you have a plastic lizard, a Brush Hog, OR a wad of chicken livers on the hook.

No, you can't effectively substitute a swivel with a bobber stop on a Carolina rig. Swivels are cheap, and if by chance they aren't cheap enough......at least use a split ring, as they are even cheaper than bobber stops.

I'm blown away by the cost of some of those items. I kinda get it on the high-end flyrods..... because what you're actually buying for that price is an unconditional warranty (you are paying for 3 rods instead of just one) so there's a chance that one out of 15 purchasers are true klutz's and might actually get their money's worth. The problem though, is that unless you break it twice in the first year of ownership there's a good chance that THAT model won't be offered anymore.......so let's just hope that you weren't too in love with it. Rod builders have figured out the psychology of it though. They know that if you spend over 400.00 for a rod......you are gonna be REALLY CAREFUL with it. No jamming the tip between two rocks to salvage a scud or a crappie jig. 😅. And being extra cautious around open car doors.

Within the theory of creation you have to wonder how/why most critters are colored so that they are somewhat camouflaged in their environment.......while a few others are colored as if the creator had recently dropped a half hit of blotter acid. That little fishie looks painted up like a micro-bus headed to Woodstock.

The one with the Crackleback logo. 🙄 They are very slow shippers.....so please order TODAY or else it might not make it until next year.

I'm flipping through a Christmas catalog from one of the major FF retailers and I have a wish list for anyone here that may be looking for a gift for me. At the top is the 9' 6wt. Winston Air 2 for 1200.00. The Sage R8 Core at 1050.00 or if the budget is a bit tight the Scott Centric 9 for 6 at a mere 950.00 would be ok. Those Simms line nippers are ONLY 81.00 and that would be a cute stocking stuffer. I'd prefer orange. If you REALLY loved me though......the Hatch line nippers are ONLY a tad more at 137.00 and come with a knotted Paracord lanyard. I bet my daughter would like a pair of those too. Any one of those 200.00 flannel shirts would be nice to work in. Surely they are treated so the gear lube stains will wash right out. Thanks, and here's to a very pleasant and PROSPEROUS 2023 🥂

What? like how to levitate 10 feet over the water, type of skill ? Cuz when you're wading a flat, 150 yards from dry land, and a 12' shark starts chasing the bonefish you just hooked...... you'd better know how to Flip a Pallet !

That's cool. I wanna master the bow & arrow cast. There are old dudes like Joe Humphreys out East that can pling a leader and fly 30+ feet with amazing accuracy. Like the flyfishing version of shooting docks. That'd be a pretty handy skill to have in my quiver. I wasn't born full grown, but I did figure out how to shoot line before I even knew it was called "shooting line". When I was a kid (3rd-4th grade) there was only 2 known Flyfishermen in my town, and my papaw was one of them. He didn't have the patience to teach a kid anything except how to cuss and gather firewood, but he did eventually teach me how to attach thread to a hook and allowed me to tinker with his fly tying stuff when I was at his house. My cousin somehow came across an old Fenwick glass flyrod with Martin reel and brown level line, and I won it from him in a bicycle jumping contest (I was a huge Evel Knievel fan). I checked out a book at our school library......and I wish I could remember what it was, or even who the author was, because I'd love to have a copy of it just for nostalgia. But anyway, that's how I learned and got started. Once I could pull it off I was given 4 McGinty wet flys and a galvanized bucket so I could go get enough 5-6" bluegill to bait a trotline for flatheads. I succeeded, and even had 2 bonus bullfrogs......so after that accomplishment I was taken flyfishing for bass with Papaw anytime he went. Took me 4 years to skunk him, and after that glorious day he never took me flyfishing again. And he also stopped giving me flys. 😂. We did lots of other kinds of fishing throughout the remainder of his life, but after that day if he went flyfishing.....he went ALONE. And so did I. Met a dude when I was 14 that was a pretty serious flyfisherman & tyer (known on this forum as @Uncletube) and he not only flyfished and tyed flys......he had a driver's license, a bag of weed, and a car. We became bonafide TROUT BUMS way before being a trout bum was cool. And that's my story 😉

@BilletHead. Well ?

I know. That's why I asked. Fair warning:. I'm hitting the Tincup tonight, so nobody gets off that easy. 🙂

Always wondered where the glory of being dubbed "Master Caster" lied ? And what the test entailed ?

And whom might that be ? If I came off that way then it's an interpretation error, because it was definitely never implied. Guarantee I've taken more Clousers to the head, neck, and face than anybody else here.

Let me get this straight.... For 20 long years you had trouble shooting line because it was getting looped around your rod butt.......And it took the likes of Lefty Krey to make it stop. Jesus H Christ man, I don't know what else to say. 😂 I take this whole post/thread back.....maybe y'all DO need to hire an instructor.

What was the mistake ?

Typical under-priming & over-choking. Hand that sumbitch to ME before you flood it......and I'll have it started and warming up in 5 pulls or less.

I'm definitely not too proud to take a lesson. Pretty sure that I learn something from everyone I ever fish with......even if we both get skunked. Whether it's ever mentioned or not, if we are fishing together, you can bet every bit of your gear that I am actively trying to outfish you. That just comes natural. I had to "front-end" the hell out of @fshndouglast summer just to hold my own on a Carolina rig bite. 😁 And that was in my own back yard. My daughter, for the first time, put it on me twice last year. Once on a dryfly Trout trip ON MY BIRTHDAY OF ALL TIMES!!! , and another time out chasing Whites. And both times it was an honest asswhoopin'. Talk about a bittersweet feeling! It's been fun watching her try to be humble about it 😅 The only thing I can say in my defense of her reoccurring smartass comments about it..... is that I tyed her dang flys ! ☝️

Oh God😳 Please shut your mouth. Surely nobody wants a 4-stroke chainsaw.

True that. I recently got called "old school" for manually balancing a checkbook register. "Who writes checks anymore" they said. 🤷‍♂️ Heck, if I had one of those sexy @BilletHead pens...... I'd write even more of them. 😁

I guess I can understand that. I enjoy target shooting more than actual hunting.

Can't argue with any of that...... And 30' is typically more than enough line to have out on any of our local trout streams. But stocker trout aren't the only thing that we have available to cast flys at. Matter of fact, for many of us, trout in spring creeks are at the very bottom of the list. You won't catch many Smallmouth, Largemouth, hybrid stripers, white bass, or even Crappie or bluegill if your max casting distance is limited to a mere 30'.

Yup, it was YOU GUYS buying into the lies and succumbing to the BS.... that has everyone buying new boats with 4-stroke outboards. There isn't even another choice NOW ! Nice work dumbasses ! Hope you enjoy your glorious 6-7 years before you are forced to buy another new one. 😅 How much CLEANER is the water now? Anyone even checking? Hell no! 🙄 Zero independent thought anymore. Everyone has to be told what/how to think. Sickening.