Jack Cummings
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
You willing to make me that bet, Jack?
Zach
Targets at 35′, 55′ and 75′ and yes, I’m willing to make that bet! 😎 🙂
So you agree with this statement “but the idea of a high dollar rod making someone cast better is,, “?
If all we’re talking about is 35′ then all bets are off… maybe. Go much beyond that and I believe the rod has quite a bit to do with things.MikeA, if you’re sure in your convictions, I have an el-cheapo rod I’ll let you use while I’ll use the same weight and length in one of my favorite rods and we’ll have a go at it.
You game?As Mighty Mouse was prone to say… ‘here I come to save the day!’
ffffg, Anderson used the wrong line on the BIIx. Those stiff rods he likes need that extra 1/2 weight the GPX gives. The BIIx just does not work well with it.
You admit in another post you’re not the best caster. That might explain how you can’t get feel or accuracy out of the BIIx. The VERY first thing I test on a rod is how it behaves at short ‘fishing’ distances. When testing the BIIx I personally felt that no way a rod that behaves that nice up close could throw a long line… I was wrong.
This is the rod I use for casting competions simply because I find it so darned accurate… at all ranges.
I can tell you I had to actually teach some very good casters how to make the most of that rod. They were used to hanging on for the ride as brute force loaded the rod. Do that to a BIIx and it’ll puke all over you.
This is the beauty of having so many choices. One rod action does not fit all. With most rods it’s an either/or situation. The TFO Finesse works well close in, the TCRiX excells at distance and power. Aside the old GLX, I’ve not found a rod that worked so well at each end of the spectrum.With the fly show season in full swing there’s no better time to actually cast all of the contenders!
They must be contagious but a lot of my buds and I have gravitated to the Winston BIIx for fishing the tail races like the South Holston. You might appreciate the way the BIIx casts, sorta like a ‘boo rod in that it’s more or less the rod that does the work. A good friend and bamboo rod afficianado threw my 5 weight BIIx last year at an outing. I couldn’t hardly get it out of his hands… and he usually hates plastic rods! I think Matt now owns one.
We found the BIIx has the power to reach out when needed, yet the grace to protect light 7X tippet on those big browns from the SoHo. Three of us settled on the 9′ 5 wt. BIIx and another on the 8.5′, 4 weight.The only line weight I feel doesnt get much credit is the 7wt.
MikeLove my 7 weight. The only rod weight I can’t seem to find a use for is an 8 weight and I really sometimes need an excuse to buy a rod.
Zach, I do have a Charlton. It’s the dink though, an 8350C for 1-5 weight line with the 1-2 weight spare spool. That spare spool is about the finest piece of metal whittling I’ve ever layed eyes on!
I bought the reel before the 3M debacle and yes, was able to talk to Mr. Charlton himself on several occasions. Sure was nicer than going through a key puncher in Minnesota!
There are but two fasteners on the entire reel… the screws that hold the foot on! Since the drag is sealed I have no idea what is in there. All I know is what I feel and what I’ve read about the inner workings. It has a carbon fiber drag that is self adjusting. That calibration Buzz spoke about? It’s supposed to be good forever. I don’t know what kind of pawls are in it but turning the spool VERY slowly, what I thought was one click turns out to be more like three (triple redundancy?) Aside from the carbon fiber in the guts, the only thing I know of that isn’t metal or wood is a rubber-like center hub on the spool for releasing it. On the larger Charltons (which I wish I would have bought but did fondle for hours) the spool releases via small metal fingers that act just like the iris in a camera. That’s about the coolest, most imaginative and inticate device I’ve ever seen on a reel.
The drag is, without a doubt, smoother than any other reel I own.
Each component came with a congratulations and thank you letter signed by Jack. How cool is that!
Somethings this reel is missing are drag juice and instructions on how to maintain the drag! That’s stuff I don’t miss!If I were in the market for a new vise, this is the one I would buy without hesitation:
It has the neck design of the Renzetti Master but at less than half the cost.I like your thinking, Steven!
There is so much to learn and if you have the need, to buy, just to fly fish effectively that you might do well to hold off.
I had no desire to tie until 12-15 years ago. First off, just learning how to fly fish properly, with the time allowed between work and family, limited my free time. Besides, I had it made for a while with my wife tying what I thought I needed! The birth of kids wrecked that great set up!
Everyone is different but if I had it to do all over again I’m pretty sure I would do the same. By learning more about what flies I needed before getting into tying must have saved me some bucks in wasted material.1) First, what type of reels do you use for most of your fishing? The best way to characterize these is by drag type, so available answers are click-and-pawl, gear-driven-disc, and draw-bar disc? As a sub-question, do you think you have a good grasp of what those terms mean (subjectively)?
I use all sorts of reels but mainly click & pawl for the light stuff and a variety pack for the heavier weight rods. Having done a bit of salt water fishing, I can’t really say I could tell a rat’s behind in difference between how the conical drag of the Lamsons, the draw bar of the Bauers or the other type from Ross behaved. They all performed well.
2) Second, what price range are most of your reels in?
$50.00 for my most-used composite CompOReel super large arbor line holders to a priceless (to me) Charlton trout reel.
3) Do you try to keep a particular pound test drag setting, or do you simply set the drag where it “feels right?” Have you ever broken off a fish due to having it come tight against a reel that was set too tight?
I set the drag using the seat-of-the-pants method! I always tend towards the too light setting which, when you introduce the parasitic drag of the line through the guides and water seems about right. If needed, further tweaking is just a knob twist away.
4) Do you find yourself drawn to the more creative reel designs like the Lamson/Waterworks and Nautilus reels, or are you more likely to spend money on a more traditional Orvis Battenkill/Abel/Tibor?
My reel collection looks like an orphanage though I must say when the Litespeed reels first came out I returned it strictly due to the Peterbilt hub cap look. It later grew on me and I’ve since bought and used another.
5) How often do you ding your reels and how important is it to you that they remain un-dinged? Several new reels are using an anodization process called “hard anodizing” or Type III that makes a much tougher surface on the reel than the old Type II, which was closer to paint. Would you pay a premium for the harder coating? What if it meant you could only have shades of gray or black?
My Charlton has the tough coating. Though I use it a lot and bought it well before SA/3M owned them, I’ve yet to see even a nick on it and it’s use is mainly in the boulder strewn mountains of NC.
As for the older Hardy and Orvis click & pawls I use, each ding brings a smile.
As for paying a premium, I don’t really think so. I consider them tools.6) Last, based on your subjective knowledge of the market, which is better: cork or synthetic?
The only reel I had to return to the manufacturer was because the cork delaminated from the frame. I would have to say I like synthetics better, they need less maintenance.
Though I appreciate tradition and use traditional reels frequently, I’m not locked into it. What I’m waiting for is some enterprising company to come out with a woven graphite reel using technology like the OCLV stuff that Trek uses on their ultralight bicycle frames.
I’ll take one in a certain green color to match a certain reel seat, thanks! 😉Having cast, examined and used a good sampling of the rods you mentioned, I did indeed roll my eyes.
I’m just not going to even try and convince you why since you already said it is but your opinion.Winston 8.5′ 4 weight BIIx
Scott ‘G’ 6’10” 3 weight
My two favorites with others rarely collecting dust… thank goodness!dmk34363 – I use a Rio Selective Trout on it. No problems with it either. I thought for poppers and such for smallies the line might be too light but it’s been working quite well for me.
It’s a good, all around line IMHO.A Michigan Mitt! In just got two of those in the mail from a buddy up there! One for Christmas and another for a club auction!
Seems like a great idea and large enough to have gloves on while using them. The funnel/cuff seems like a good idea too!Nice, fat chunk of steel there! Dang I miss it!
I bet you could tweak that hat color with Photoshop or something.
Waddya think Matt… white balance setting on his camera?That’s the ticket, Salty_Ryan!
Any other method other than using weights seems to be pure conjecture and judgement call. The fact you will do several runs makes the tests that much more conclusive!
Chatillon and Amtek make force gages that latch on to the peak breaking strength.
If I still lived in Michigan I would pay a visit to my buddy at Nils Jorgenson and borrow their machine!The only test I did was in a river in PA two years ago. I was nailing the fish while my buddy couldn’t buy a bite! We ended up rigging him up identically down to the bug and dropper length. No change. We even went so far as swapping rods. It is then he started in on catching all the fish. The ONLY difference was I had on Flouro and he was using mono.
That sold me and him on the practical difference flouro makes.Its the one with this finish right?
No Carter, actually is a very early BG and the anodizing wasn’t pure black when it came in. In sunlight it has a slight purplish cast to it. It also has machining marks on it that are cleaned up in the later production versions.
I’m not getting the new Momentum. That thing weighs a comparive ton for a brand new, latest and greatest offering from Ross. Maybe it’s designed to balance spey rods. Who knows?
Just the name, Momentum, brings to mind the old saw ‘an object in motion tends to stay in motion’ (especially if it has a lot of mass)
