Soft Rods (Sandy no more than 1000 words please)

[Malcolm]

There have been lots of posts on rods on the forum lately. I think this is a winter thing; during the season we think of things that'll get us that two pounder under the low hanging willow, in winter we think of tackle.   

The consensus as I see it is that fast is good, really fast maybe better, modern tackle is much better that ever before and slow rods of whatever vintage are baaaaad.

Seems to me however that getting that two pounder has little to do with whether you favour the latest ?600 8ft 5# Sage XYZ or your old fibreglass Hardy 8.5 ft #6 from 1978.

For short casts soft rods are much better. They flex under their own weight and deliver short casts much better than fast rods. They also have that undefineable feeling of being alive.

In the States this is well known: there is a thriving split cane community of fly fishers; another community of fibreglass afficionados and some tackle companies make a business out of supplying their needs. See :http://www.steffenbrothersflyrods.com/.

Why not here?

Malcolm



     

[Wildfisher]

For short casts soft rods are much better. They flex under their own weight and deliver short casts much better than fast rods. They also have that undefineable feeling of being alive.

I think a fast rod is more versatile though. Remember for short line work you can carry a spare spool with a heavier line. Easier than carrying two rods. Some members here do this a lot

[Highlander]

Fast is only good because that it what they hit us with. If more anglers "demanded" different tapers then I am sure someone would oblige.

How many go out on a boat with an 11' 4#, casting a team of wets a few rod lengths in front of them?

I do

How many fish down and across these days?

I do on occasion

Tight lines

[Sandison]

This pretty well says what I think about rods (published last year in the John O'Groat Journal). However, I do also have a very slow, 10'6" cane sea-trout rod, and a lovely, spliced, cane 12ft salmon rod. Each to his own, I suppose?


START>  As I tried to come to terms with my grief, I sang a few lines from a song written by London?s  ?coster laureate?, Albert Chevalier: ?We?ve been together now for forty years, and it don?t seem a day too much?? But I knew that it had to come. Good things can?t last for ever. Of course there had been times when we were parted, but it was never for long and the joy of being together again soon blew cares away.

This time there would be no happy reunion, only bitter-sweet memories of the care-free days that we spent together; our first meeting on the Roman Wall in Northumberland; of walks into Scotland?s wilderness places where our only companions were red deer, otter and wildcat; when golden eagle and greenshank marked our passage; the heart-stopping sound of trout rising on a distant lochan.

I assembled my fishing rod for the last time, fitted reel and line, made up a cast and tied on three favourite flies. Nothing but the best would do: Ke-He, Greenwell?s Glory and Silver Butcher. All that remained to be done was to find a suitable place on my work room wall from which to hang the rod. At least, in spirit, we would be together, even although I would no longer fish with my old friend.

Anglers are like that. They become attached to their rods, physically, of course, when they fish with them, but also, at least in my case, emotionally. The rod was built for me by a Mr Stott who lived in a cottage near Twice Brewed on the Roman Wall. He had spent most of life building rods for Hardy?s of Alnwick and I asked him for a 9ft 6in split-cane rod with a butt-extension so that I could use it for both trout and sea-trout.

When modern materials, such as carbon fibre, arrived, everybody rushed to embrace the new, lighter, rods. They became status symbols. Anyone who was anyone had to have one; all very nice in their own way, but expensive if you were bringing up a family and, as our lot did, they all fished. Apart from that, I liked my cane rod and was more than happy to keep fishing with it, rather than with any of the new boys in town.

Inevitably, over the years, it was damaged. The top section snapped when I was trying to retrieve a fly that had become stuck on an underwater obstruction. The resultant repair reduced the length of the rod by a couple of inches. I took it to Chile with me in the 1990?s where it encountered a lot of seriously large brown trout, brook trout and salmon. It was in use every day, six days a week for twelve months.

A complete overhaul helped, but the tip by this time was permanently out of alignment with the rest of the rod. No problem. I just adjusted my casting technique to compensate and got on with it. More serious, however, was the fact that the jointing mechanism between the middle and top section had become loose and, in moments of extreme excitement, when casting over a rising trout, the top section would fly off into the distance much to the amusement of fishing companions.

Indeed, as the years advanced, we, my rod and I, became figures of fun. When we appeared at mooring bays, knowing glances would be exchanged, tongues wagged and hands raised in failed attempts to stifle ribald laughter. At first, I tried to explain the advantages of cane-built rods over the new-fangled jobs: firmer action, greater accuracy, perhaps not lighter, but much more comfortable and easier to use. But to no avail. So I gave up trying. The rod worked for me. That was all that really mattered.

The end came last year during a gale on Loch Hope. Whilst rowing back to the mooring bay, my angling companion inadvertently sat on the rod. I sent it off to hospital, yet again, but, eventually, even I had to admit that it was done, finished, and deserved nothing other than honourable retirement. It hangs on the wall next to my chair. When I glance up I remember the good times we spent together. I will miss it.   

[greenwell]

Aye, Bruce, I have to say I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a photo of you with a carbon rod. My reaction at the time was "Och, no' him as well now!" I used Sharpes' cane rods until Xmas 2006 and I must say I sometimes still wonder if I made the right decision retiring them.

                       Greenwell

[sandyborthwick]

All right Malcolm less than 1000,

On a whim bought a Jarvis Walker 9ft 4pc 6wt cheap glass Fibre job for some wee water work. part of the Penn group so thought I'd chance it. Have used it this year and what a memory trip. Soft tip through action just like my youth. I've had great fun with it this past season and just love to rig it up and have a wee cast now and again - there just is no substitute for this sort of action rod when it comes to catching wee bandies. Wee bandies being a speciality of mine and some of my greatest moments.

Sandy B.O.