Mike McKeown
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Thanks guys – I count myself extremely fortunate to be able to work a fair amount with South African anglers. Awesome people and some hugely talented guides and fishermen.
I’ll take that as a compliment… LOL…
Like having a giant vultures swoop down to have a look at you while you’re taking a snooze under a Willow tree on the banks of some un-named alpine stream…
Like almost stepping on Leopard spoor that’s so fresh the water is still seeping into it…
Like being so far up the mountain that it snows on you in the middle of summer…
and my favourite summer pastime…
Like hearing the sound of the thin rind of fat sizzle on the steaks on the braai (BBQ), while the boys drink beers and bullshit about the fishing…
Interesting reading…
I wonder what will happen with the distribution channels regional and internationally?
Also wonder what standing this put Sci Angler with the other big S and the big A?
And what does it mean for the end consumer?I don’t know if those ring tones are that good an idea, 2 of them sound like the reel giving in, the others just show how poor the drag system is…
Lost
1 X Olympus Waterproof Camera, with all my pics on it…
Found
Lots of snakes…
Sage 2w SPL
T&T 2w LPS
Sage 9w Xi2, with Abel and line, no fly though.All were returned to their owners. Funny how I knew their stories before I found their sticks…
Finally, and this is what I was waiting to discuss, SA is unveiling a new line category called Mastery Textured.
[align=center:2lg3mpmt]
Scientific Anglers Mastery Textured
(Microscopic view comparing Mastery Textured (left) to Sharkskin (right))[/align:2lg3mpmt]I’ve been testing a couple versions of this line for a few weeks and I think they’re going to be very popular. They have a different embossing pattern than Sharkskin, which is not as deep and therefore diminishes some of the things people didn’t like about Sharkskin (like its tendency to cut you). I’ve been fishing a Nymph and a GPX; both are very nice lines that in my view exceed their non-textured versions from a performance perspective. The Nymph is a nice light green with a tan/peach hi-vis tip. I’m told the taper has been revised even since my version, to make it more radical. I’m in favor of aggressive tapers, especially on specialty lines. Look for these to fall in the price range between regular Mastery and Sharkskin.
Zach
OK, and no quibbles here, but that means that Sci Angler have like a thousand veriations in their lines, take colors and styles, versus taper… it is just not viable to carry every line they have.
This brings in an interesting delema for us here in South Africa. We cannot carry every line, so if a customer wants something we don’t have, we need to order it, this can take 4 weeks for us to get it. “Wait till we have a big enough order, then the shipping takes 2 weeks, etc…” if we ship an individual line, the shipping will kill us.
So this customer then goes on-line, orders the line from an American on-line store, who can get the line in a day, at almost no shipping, and ship it out. We loose the customer and he is now an on-line buyer, we become a catalogue store, either ordering from a catalogue for customers, or just carry the stock for the customers to look at and then they go on-line and buy.
Back to the original issue, creating too many “lines” with-in a brand is detrimental to the retailer, well that’s the way I see it.
Anyway, looks like a great line, can’t wait to cast it…
Then we would complain about lack of choice.
If there was really choice, then companies would be producing slow, medium slow, medium, medium fast, fast, ultra fast, etc. 10 sticks in 10 different colors, but with the same action doesn’t equal choice in my mind.
Let’s figure this out:
10 sticks in 10 different colors/actions = 100 sticks
100 sticks in different colors/actions x 15 different weights = 1500 sticks
1500 sticks from 10 different manufacturers = 15,000 sticks
Just wondering how many fly shops are willing to put that in their inventory. It’s a recipe for bankruptcy.
Very Well Put. As it is we battle to carry all the sticks in one or two of the brands…
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Loomis = Steve Rajeff
Echo = Tim Rajeff
Sage = Jerry SiemThose three gentlemen are large individuals, physically strong people.
Scott Rods = Jim Bartschi
Winston = formerly Sam Drukman, currently Annette McLean (the only lady rod designer right now)
Orvis = Jim LePageNot to cast aspersions on anyone’s physicality, but those three are noticeably more lightly built in stature and/or upper body strength. LePage and Bartschi are both athletic but on the shorter side compared to the top three.
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I have often thought about this… and do I want a rod that’s designed by a distance casting champ, or by a top fisherman???I think I would rather want a fishing rod and not a casting rod…
I love my Z-Axis and hate the TCX, LPS over Horizon, G2 over S4… if you know where I am going.
Seems like this debate goes on every time a new rod is released. I agree with Mike. For a trout rod, I want a rod designed by trout fishermen (and women) for trout fishing, not distance casting. In my humble opinion, if a rod gets too fast and light, it eventually doesn’t want to work within the realms of normal trout fishing (or at least the kind of trout fishing I do). I end up over lining those rods to get them to work properly at a closer distance. I guess this is why I tend to favor the rods of Scott, Winston, and to a lesser degree Orvis (although the new Helios is really nice). Not that the other guys don’t make really fine rods, I know they do, they just aren’t generally my cup of tea.
I think the finest designer of trout rods on the planet is Tom Morgan. He recognizes that a vast majority of trout are caught inside of 50 feet, so why do you want a rod designed to cast 100? Go cast, and more importantly fish, a Morgan designed rod and you will see.
When it comes to bigger rods for salt and steel, I like a little faster, more tip flexing action and lighter and faster is more of a concept I appreciate. I don’t think one style of rod fits all situations. As I like to say, Michelangelo didn’t paint this Sistine Chapel ceiling with 1 paint brush. . .
Jay
Had a look at Toms web site, which should be called, Wounded Buffalo – the Tom Morgan Experience… hell that’s pricey for a stick.
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Loomis = Steve Rajeff
Echo = Tim Rajeff
Sage = Jerry SiemThose three gentlemen are large individuals, physically strong people.
Scott Rods = Jim Bartschi
Winston = formerly Sam Drukman, currently Annette McLean (the only lady rod designer right now)
Orvis = Jim LePageNot to cast aspersions on anyone’s physicality, but those three are noticeably more lightly built in stature and/or upper body strength. LePage and Bartschi are both athletic but on the shorter side compared to the top three.
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I have often thought about this… and do I want a rod that’s designed by a distance casting champ, or by a top fisherman???I think I would rather want a fishing rod and not a casting rod…
I love my Z-Axis and hate the TCX, LPS over Horizon, G2 over S4… if you know where I am going.
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#3 I don’t like the heavy weight of all CF boxes. Their lightweight boxes could easily have a gasket system attached and be made waterproof.
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I have seen the new range… The small one is get a casket…
Kendal – looking good.
Just one thing that’s irritating… please switch off the tooltips for the mail/top menu.
Jay – also looking good.
