[Ryan]

Hi Horwood, don’t wish to be a kill joy but your old les moncrief is not a stiff rod by today’s standards. In fact Les was a great advocate of rods that bend and was the man behind rods such as the long bow and spring heel, these rods had a reverse taper making them bend ALL THROUGH. I will agree that they are thick in the tip but this is mostly due to the old materials used modern rods are much slimmer and stiffer.

Just some words of caution be very careful before buying a stiff rod stiff doesn’t = distance and in many cases an angler will actually hinder there casting buy getting rods that are too stiff for them to compress.

Regards as always Ryan.

 

[Ryan]

Ryan you beat me to it, I have a LongBow (my first beachcaster) and it's the softest rod I've ever owned

Hi Bigfish, i thought buy the time i had finished some smart 8r5e would have beat me to it Does that mean i was a bit premature again

Ryan

 

[Ryan]

Hey Dab, each to there own bud, I have owned in the past the following, Abu 484, 486, Conoflex Cod 5 & 6, Nemisis, nemisis +, ZZiplex 2500, pro am, Federation, zf250, zf500, bullits, quattra, quattra sport, + loads of light beach or Bass rods from the above, I have also had the chance to cast pritty much all rods manufactured by Conoflex, Centry and Zziplex + countless others including the Ron Thompsons.

Your words would of been true a few years ago however you neednt spend a fortune now to get a quality rod that is very capable. There are allot of rods in the £80 to £150 bracket that are absolute crackers and ones i would recomend. Fact is cloths, resins and mandrills have moved on big time, this has enabled rods to be produced at a cheaper cost without skimping on the quality or performance.

Not wishing to offend you bud, but i am not on a tight budget and have owned rods of the highest calibre.

Regards Ryan.

 

[Ryan]

Hi Dab, I couldn’t agree more. I only ever offer my opinion on a thread, same as anyone else, any comments I make are never meant to offend, belittle or ridicule anyone and I hope you took them in the manner they were intended.

There is a faction within sea angling that suggests that the only rods worth using are from a very small selection of manufactures. I am afraid I was one of these people up until a few years ago, however I have learned to except that with modern materials and improvements to machinery the production of a very capable rod is not restricted to just a few producers anymore.

Indeed it could be argued that some of the very big firms that mass produce rods would be in a better position to buy the very best in raw materials and machinery, giving them an edge over the smaller specialist outfits? We only need to look at business in general to see the benefits large powerful suppliers are able to offer their customers.

I often draw a comparison with cars, sure that Aston Martin is a fantastic car and many enthusiasts would aspire to one, however you needn’t spend Aston Martin money to enjoy Aston Martin performance. There are many other much cheaper vehicles that offer all the performance at a fraction of the price. The resale value of course will be very high on the Aston but can it really be justified on a performance only basis? I think I would have a little trouble to justify it on a longevity basis again that Aston will last a lifetime but how many TVR’s could you buy until you had spent the same amount of cash? And how much better would each one be making the Aston a little dated?

I’m open to suggestions here but I think a big reason for buying that Aston, Zziplex, Conoflex, Century ect is the kudos of owning the best! and I see nothing wrong with that.

As already said I’m only offering my opinion, hope we still buds dab

Ryan

 

[Ryan]

So we still mates then dab

Ryan