Graphite Rods That Changed The Fly Fishing World
- This topic has 20 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated Jan 1, 2012 at 2:08 am by
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I still love my GLX classic:
http://midcurrent.com/gear/retro-rod-review-four-graphite-models-that-changed-the-fly-fishing-world/
Randy
I haven’t been enthusiastic about much from Sage since the LL and SP.
Scott seems to have a better philosophy when they make changes, slow and deliberate.
Many of these companys just keep pumping models out every year to turn stock by making models seem obsolete. They must have to every few years at least or folks would lose interest.
Nice thing is though that a used rod of high quality can be had for a song compared to a current model.Many of these companys just keep pumping models out every year to turn stock by making models seem obsolete. They must have to every few years at least or folks would lose interest.
Agree entirely.
The same philosophy is followed by digital camera makers
Please provide some additional explanation for that remark. While I agree it is hard to add benefit to a fly rod, outside of the casting stroke modification, you can not say the same for a piece of electronics such as a digital camera.
Roy
Steve, though Camera manufacturers or any other electronic manufacturers do the same thing, it is quite easy to see and to evaluate whether the advanced features of a new DSLR model are worth the price to stay current, or whether an Iphone 4 vs Iphone 4s $ outlay is worth the extended features.
You can actually quantify the new features. The problem with fishing rods is that every manufacturer seems to have the latest and the greatest then every year or two the model is replaced. In 5 years you wont recognize any of them. They generally push the techno crap behind the rod and forget what the rod is designed to do.
I like advancements to current models – I hate the discontinuance of a worthy taper or series which is replaced by maketting babble and techno speek!
Here is an example from a leading rod company –
“where precision casting accuracy is needed over a wide range of conditions. Hand crafted from our ******* technology three long years in the making, the *** rod is a game changer. Your game. Its fast action incorporates a built in sweet spot, making the *** rod the ideal choice for experienced and aspiring casters alike.”And another, same company different model –
“With ultra high line speed and a slender shaft design that reduces overall weight, each rod in this series is consistently smooth and responsive. Great for beginning and experienced anglers alike, the *** is designed with more high modulus materials resulting in a lighter rod with a slender shaft design.”
Then it goes on to list the great cork and fine wraps etc.
What is that ?- how do I sell that?
How do you quantify whether to buy rod A or rod B?I’m not saying that rod manufacture is not moving forward, there is some great stuff out there. Everything in our economy is driven in the same way.
One of my Prostaffers asked me once – “Why would I ever need to buy a $700 fly rod when my $249 model works fine”
My answer was this –
A good angler can catch a fish on a willow twig. But sooner or later you will come against a technical issue that your equipment can’t overcome – that is when you may need a $700 rod.
A few months later he presented me with an issue – Holdover Rainbows 5-6lbs average in water too deep to wade 50+ feet out taking cahills.
His rod could cast that far but was too stiff to set the hook on 5X at that distance without breaking off or when he held back so as not to break off on the hookset he missed the fish often.
My suggestion was a Scott S4 905-4.Listen to Scott’s explanation of the rod – It will also illustrate why I use and recommend Scott rods –
“The S4 handles a wide range of fly sizes with plenty of power and line speed, balanced with enough sensitivity to fish the small bugs on light tippet.”
And it does exactly that. That model will always do that no matter what technology is behind it, I just have to decide whether it’s time to change.
I don’t care crap about scrim, nano resin and how their hoop strength is achieved. I care what the rod is designed to accomplish.Here’s their G2 –
“If you stalk big, wary trout with tiny flies, long leaders and light tippet, look no further for the perfect fishing tool.”
That is exaclty what I like to do – I can toss 7 or 8x and hit hard and land a big fish. I can put it in my client’s hand and let him do the Bob Izumi hookset and not break off the fish! That is important to me.The S rods bend at the butt for forgiveness at the long end. G rods bend at the tip so as to forgive close in and don’t proport to do all things nor cast all sizes not are for all levels of anglers. Price will likely dictate that.
Sure they make some technical changes every few years as the technology pushes forward but the G rods will always do G stuff and the S rods will always do S stuff.
If one of these old G guys wants to get current some day – they will have a good idea of what to expect. Meanwhile their G rods will have high resale value because the series is still current and understandable.
P.S. the prostaffer bought the S4 and loves it. It solved his problem.
* Note
This wasn’t intended to be a Scott Commercial – it just made a handy illustration. I no longer work retail and have no relation to Scott other than as a loyal customer. (As long as they keep it real) ;DBrian & Roy,
Here are my thoughts on incremental improvements to Digital cameras and fishing rods with the understanding that, like some of you, I’m probably more comfortable behind the curve than on top of it. For photos, I believe it’s the eye of the photographer and a good lens that results in capturing a great shot. The camera is secondary. Also, many shots taken are manipulated in photoshop or other program which further blurs the difference between camera generations. As far as rods go, there are many of us who use bamboo or glass and are still able to catch fish. If a 100 foot cast into a 6 inch area is required, I’ll try to get closer or just pass up that opportunity. There will be more. Improvements in their material composition or manufacturing techniques have been made, but not to the extent that every two years you feel compelled to keep buying. I agree that incremental improvements are necessary to fuel demand and keep the manufacturers in business. That’s a good thing, especially in today’s economy. However, at this stage in life for me, it’s more about the enjoyment than the acquisition. It was not always so.This is an interesting thread, especially since Scott seems to be a main subject and they’re what I’ve used primarily for thirty plus years now. I was just thinking about the various eight weights Ive owned starting in the late eighties with a G958, nineties, an STS 1008, and anHP888, and more recently an S3 958, and an S3 1008 and thinking about how much improvement there was along the way. Jumping from the G to the STS was huge in terms of power and refinement and then the S3 was just so much smoother and nicer casting, another big jump, but then we have the HP, same vintage as the STS, a direct decendant of the G series, this rod was, is, and will probably always be one of the best casting rods ever.
The point is though, that there is a lot of refinement going on, it just isn’t year to year, it’s almost like decade to decade if you want to see meaningful increments of change, and then there are rods that stand out over time, defying obsolescence.
JCI dont think that the Winston IM6 can be left out of this conversation. Or the RPLX salt water rods
I’ve been giving the Winston boron rods a rest the past couple of years and have gone back to fishing their IM6 rods, along with glass and grass rods.
I think Winston has done a great job with using boron and lead innovation in the past ten years. The BIiX led to the Z Axis and now the BIIIX that I think feels so much better than the Sage One.
Not sure Winston gets enough credit for creating a rod with feel and power with their boron rods.
How about the first one that was ever made. I believe that should be credited to Don Green, the founder of Sage, some time back in the mid 60’s.
The BIiX led to the Z Axis
Where on earth did you get that idea from?
Heard from a huge Sage dealer that the BIIX was so successfull that Sage specifically designed the Z Axis with that in mind (which has an action not all that dissimilar). The BIIX was a huge hit and one of the first rods to be super light and smooth with power to cast close and far. In my opinion started the trend for rods that bend a bit deeper in the blank.
On a related note, own a few Z Axis and love them. I have fished the a Sage One demo on a few occasions and while a nice rod just doesn;t seem to have any magic in it. The BIIIX on the other hand I really like.
For so many years, we anticipated the introduction of the next new rod, featuring the graphite, resin or whatever, that raised the bar. In every case, as far as I know, that improvement resulted in a price increase. Whether the technological improvement, or the felt/demonstrated performance improvement in fishing the rod, matched the price increase, was always a question. Regardless, today’s graphite rods are better (lighter, stronger, more durable) than earlier rods.
With all that as a given, I’d like to suggest another “rod that changed the world”, and that’s the one (or those) that legitimized bargain-priced rods. Once upon a time, a fisherman pretty much had to have a top end rod to have top end performance. That’s perhaps still true, if we’re again talking about that last 5% increment.
But, more and more, we’re seeing anglers fishing with “value rods”, and doing so without any feeling of inadequacy.
If we had to name a brand, for many it might be TFO, having really good rods, and a pro staff that includes several top tier anglers. Others might say Orvis, since they’ve had value-priced rods for years. Or Echo, with Tim Rajeff.
Regardless, I think the value-priced rods have done what many folks have said was at least part of what was needed to grow the business – – – make it more affordable to a larger group of anglers.
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