Flyfishing Christmas gifts

[fishinwrench]

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 🥂  

[Krazo]

Thanks for the tips.  All great ideas.  I was just thinking about what I could get for the grinch.......I mean wrench.  jk

 

What catalog?  

[fishinwrench]

2 minutes ago, Krazo said:

Thanks for the tips.  All great ideas.  I was just thinking about what I could get for the grinch.......I mean wrench.  jk

 

What catalog?  

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.    

[fishinwrench]

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.   

[tjm]

I haven't looked at the latest offerings, but generally speaking I think the costs are about the same as in 1970 for the premium stuff; after you do the inflation math.  Of course any so called warranty is an added insurance premium that may equal the value of the product. Compare what the hourly wage of a mechanic was then and now. 

[fishinwrench]

36 minutes ago, tjm said:

I haven't looked at the latest offerings, but generally speaking I think the costs are about the same as in 1970 for the premium stuff; after you do the inflation math.  Of course any so called warranty is an added insurance premium that may equal the value of the product. Compare what the hourly wage of a mechanic was then and now. 

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.

[tjm]

https://northforkcomposites.com/fly-rod-blanks/

If I was building one I'd want to try one or more of these  on sale.

[fishinwrench]

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 !    

[fishinwrench]

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 ?

[tjm]

Fisher made rods for a lot of companies, but they weren't all the same rods. he had his mandrels and some of the companies he supplied had their own mandrels that had unique tapers. I'm not up to date on the newer stuff and it's been 30? years since I wrapped a rod. I've thought Batson was a pretty usable   blank. I just would like to try Gary Loomis'  latest  innovation/iteration. The black Friday prices ain't too steep, but I've read the shipping is slow.

Four piece rods suck for sure. I own one and its an antique pack rod by Fenwick. I don't want another, last week I watched as a fellow was fitting together a five piece 9' and I know I don't have that kind of patience.  There are any number of people that would and have argued that four or five piece rods are more expensive to make, but I know that machining short mandrels is cheaper than machining 9' mandrels and the cutting and lay up of the prepreg is easier, faster and requires less skill in short pieces. With short pieces you will have a lower percentage of defective blanks and if there are defects it's just a section that gets scrapped not a whole rod, so yeah it's bound to be a lot cheaper to produce them. Then comes repair time all you have to do is sub in one short section and you're done; all perfect interchange, some companies don't even require the broken rod back for fitting. With tip over butt design the female just slides farther down or less far until it "fits" the male. On the other hand I own about 15 two piece rods, and that too is a reason for interest in NFC blanks he has some that are two piece and some heavy one piece. Do you know of any 5/6wt one piece blanks? or finished rods, my son wants one.

On the Piscifun rods, aren't they Chinese? I'd rather imagine they copied the St Croix taper, but who knows. I have read that all the fishing stuff out China comes from one town/province, all pretty much a single  company, but again, I don't know.