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Fishing - a rod's true test of character

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tight loops	Fishing - a rod's true test of character		Lead	[-]
Posts: 261 04/03/2009 07:42	Tags : None While fishing my favorite bushveld stream a few days ago, it occured to me that the only real test of any fly-rod happens on-stream. Rods that have felt great on the lawn, have dissapointed out on the stream, and the reverse is also true. Then there are those rods that feel... hmm... kinda nice out on the lawn, but on the water, the lights come on and the fireworks go off. This weekend I fished my 8' 5-wt Jennings which just came alive on the water - a true fishing rod. This leads me to wonder how on earth one is meant to select the cosmic rod, if at best, we only get to cast them on the lawn? Pondering...... Tom
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Slate Drake 9		#1	[url]	[-]
Posts: 86 04/03/2009 08:59	I couldn't agree with you more about fishing a rod is the best way to really tell if you will like it. I solve this by lawn casting rods I love to fish and then using how it lawn casts to compare it to other rods I lawn cast at shops. Not always a dead ringer of a solution, but most times a good indication of how I'll like it. Overall, the best test of a rod for me, as to whether or not I'll fall in love with it, is actually landing a fish on it. Some rods cast wonderfully on lawn and stream, but then you land a fish on them and they really aren't that impressive. Or vise versa, they are not a great caster, but the feel with the fish is magic. I haven't found a way to test this out other than catching a fish. Fishing with bait is like swearing in church.
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seattlesetters		#2	[url]	[-]
Posts: 634 04/03/2009 09:57	You just can't simulate fishing on the lawn. The tension of the moving water on the line, the way a cast must be altered to get the fly to land in just the right spot from where you happen to be positioned in the stream, deftly setting the hook when there is quite a bit of slack line on the water, playing that big rainbow on 6X, putting the screws to that screamer that's managed to get out in the big current. etc., etc., etc. Fishing a rod is the only way to tell what that rod is about. It's a shame we can't fish them before we buy them....we make do on the lawn with daydreams and hope. "You know how much I *love* a nice rack!"
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bluejayee		#3	[url]	[-]
Posts: 708 04/03/2009 11:47	Hi Guys, I heartily disagree! All rods are alike when I fish because I'm fishing. It has to be a violently bad rod for me to go stomping off the water muttering to myself about a rod's poor ability to..... The rod disappears when I fish. Now flies are a different story, or leaders, or fish or......Jay Edwards
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Aransas		#4	[url]	[-]
Posts: 131 04/03/2009 17:20	Lawn casting is a good time to work out which line suits a rod best. Also, you definitely learn something about a rod's character on the lawn, but seattle nailed it. There are so many intangibles that occur when you're actually fishing.
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Flykuni2		#5	[url]	[-]
Posts: 47 04/03/2009 18:00	I tend to agree with the 'know thy rod through fishing' set. Sorry, bad word. Over the years I've noticed -- and it's evident in my rod collection -- that I've softened as far as tapers go. I have a fine 7 1/2' Goodwin Special, thanks again Phil, that I used to think was more medium than I liked. It's not. It's a fine medium, it's fantastic on water, it's done well for me on larger waters and on my normal, smaller places. And it fishes well with a four or with my present preference, the DT3. Lawn casting does something strange to nearly all of us -- we start tossing longer and longer casts. We seem to get hypnotized. And when we hand over the rod to the next guy, there's more than 40' of line out. I live in California and fish small waters all the time -- my rods should be able to cast a leader. I fish every rod I won. They get sold if they aren't fishers.
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oysterbamboo		#6	[url]	[-]
Posts: 291 04/03/2009 18:04	tight loops wrote: While fishing my favorite bushveld stream a few days ago, it occured to me that the only real test of any fly-rod happens on-stream. Rods that have felt great on the lawn, have dissapointed out on the stream, and the reverse is also true. Then there are those rods that feel... hmm... kinda nice out on the lawn, but on the water, the lights come on and the fireworks go off. This weekend I fished my 8' 5-wt Jennings which just came alive on the water - a true fishing rod. This leads me to wonder how on earth one is meant to select the cosmic rod, if at best, we only get to cast them on the lawn? Pondering...... Tom I know what you mean. I find that a crisp, stiff-butted action can sail line across the yard like a dream. On a trout stream, a rod that bends deeper and loads quicker always feels like it has my best interest in mind. Just do what most folks on this board do - just keep buying new rods until you find a few good ones! Just like in fishing, sometimes the searching is half the fun. Bill O. (custom bamboo rods) www.oysterbamboo.com (rod making classes)
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bobbeegee	Interesting	#7	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2546 04/03/2009 18:08	I've never lawn cast a rod, and really liked the way it handled an appropriate line and my style, and was then disappointed with it on the water. I have lawn cast a rod, and didn't particularly like it, and the same held true on the water. Bob Go Heels!!!
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quadrate		#8	[url]	[-]
Posts: 66 04/03/2009 19:10	A rod is only as good as it fishes. A lawn cast is an ok way to see how it casts and if it suits your casting style but fishing it will show its true colors. I have rarely seen a rod have a dramatic difference from lawn to water. There is going to be some difference but not significant. I love seeing collections of older rods at auctions (used to be at Lang's). Walk down the aisle that had the rods and people are looking at the near mint rods. I always put those rods together and more often than not they were bad. They were mint cause someone didn't like how it fished. You could look at some of the other rods that were not in perfect condition but well cared for and you can see how someone loved to fish that rod. Lots of Dickersons, Youngs, 8' and 8'6" Paynes, Leonard 50s all had a lot of miles on them from catching a lot of fish. Don't always look for a great condition rod if its not new from the makers. Its in great condition probably cause it didn't fish well. I had a 6' Carlson quad once that was gorgeous in every way but one. It cast horribly. It had a great finish and was marked Thomas Four. Just not a nice rod to cast. Tim Z
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tim simbari		#9	[url]	[-]
Posts: 340 04/03/2009 19:10	Guys, with all do respect, you're making this sound like running a particle beam machine. You can get a pretty good idea what you have in about 30 seconds on a lawn with a line or two and before you call the lynch mob it's also something Bob Summers told me about 20 years ago as well. I never owned a rod that surprised me on the water.
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bobbeegee	Surprised	#10	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2547 04/03/2009 19:26	tim simbari wrote: I never owned a rod that surprised me on the water. Ditto! Bob Go Heels!!!
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Aransas		#11	[url]	[-]
Posts: 132 04/03/2009 21:00	tim simbari wrote: Guys, with all do respect, you're making this sound like running a particle beam machine. You can get a pretty good idea what you have in about 30 seconds on a lawn with a line or two and before you call the lynch mob it's also something Bob Summers told me about 20 years ago as well. I never owned a rod that surprised me on the water. Agree... I think we have a tendency to take this all too seriously, but it can be that way with one's passion.
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czkid		#12	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3914 04/03/2009 22:36 Moderator	I've never cast a rod that I enjoyed on grass that I didn't love on the water. Conversely, I've never loved a rod on the water that I disliked on the grass... But then again... I'm pretty picky about what I'll even try......... Ralph
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gooseberryrods		#13	[url]	[-]
Posts: 598 04/03/2009 22:38	With all due respect I disagree. If you want to see how a rod really works, take it to your favorite stretch of water and discover its true soul while placing a fly on the water and playing a fish. This is starting to sound like an argument the graphite guys would make. Scott Last Edited By: gooseberryrods 04/03/2009 22:44. Edited 1 time.
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alistair59		#14	[url]	[-]
Posts: 216 04/03/2009 22:59	gooseberryrods wrote: With all due respect I disagree. If you want to see how a rod really works, take it to your favorite stretch of water and discover the its true soul while placing a fly on the water and playing a fish. This is starting to sound like an argument the graphite guys would make. Scott Scott, I second your comments. I feel that until I've tried roll casts, cross-current mends, stack mends, and other casts and maneuvres on a variety of different water types, at different distances, I haven't really learned how to fish a rod. From time to time I even master a few of these maneuvres with a given rod on a given stream ;=) I feel similarly about playing fish. It is one thing to haul in a 12" trout in a spring creek, it is another to play a 20"+ trout in freestone streams that are in some level of spate. Until you've done both a few times with the same rod, you haven't started to understand all its subtleties and nuances. I love learning about a cane fly rod's characteristics and behaviors, to me it is part of the charm of the game. Sometimes I regret not being strong enough to stick with one and only one rod. Ron Manz uses a Garrison 209e tapered rod made by Don Schroeder around twenty years ago for every dry from Hex to trico, from Namekagon and Brule, to Timber and Rulland's Coulees. What he can do with that single rod, that he's dedicated twenty or so years to mastering, beggars belief. He's worn a lot of the varnish off, and it has the most wonderful patina of a heavily and lovingly used tool. Last Edited By: alistair59 04/03/2009 23:03. Edited 1 time.
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bobbeegee		#15	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2549 04/03/2009 23:10	gooseberryrods wrote: This is starting to sound like an argument the graphite guys would make. Scott I don't understand that at all. Personally, I can tell by casting a rod a few times if it's going to perform well on the water. I don't understand the argument that the only way to understand if a rod fishes well is on the water? If the rod performs well in the backyard, I know I can certainly make it perform as needed on the water!! Bob Go Heels!!! Last Edited By: bobbeegee 04/03/2009 23:17. Edited 2 times.
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creakycane		#16	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2154 04/03/2009 23:17	I agree with both persectives - it may take a season or many years to learn all the subleties of a rod, and certainly fishing (casting and playing fish) gives a rod a more true workout, but you can tell quite a bit from loading up the estimated correct line and pumping out a few casts. I have seen a few recent posts about particular rods (Summers 275 is one that there has been more than one post about) and what line to get for said rod from lawn casting (I tried WF-5, DT4, DT5 and silk, and none feel right, help?!). I would say if the rod doesn't feel right on the lawn, it probably won't feel much better on the water - and maybe the problem is the rod is not so good........and I think that is the unfaceable that is hard to face , since we are talking about "true rests" of rods.....some rods are better than others. That said, I rarely dislike a rod that has a Garrison taper as its root.... Last Edited By: creakycane 04/03/2009 23:21. Edited 1 time.
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FWdB		#17	[url]	[-]
Posts: 337 04/04/2009 05:46	There's a big difference in how a fly line + leader acts on grass and in/on water. So there's a difference in how a rod feels when you try it on a lawn or on a stream. If it's big enough to make a good rod bad or vise versa, is a different story. Wilfred de Bruijn The Lowlands Of Holland
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glassorcane		#18	[url]	[-]
Posts: 272 04/04/2009 09:55	When possible, I go to a local pond to cast, but if I'm lawn casting, I seek out the trees rather than an open field. Moving in and around trees (I prefer double and triple lines of evergreens that separate soccor fields at the local park) is more like working around the trees and vegetation on the stream. Lets me aim for reasonable distance targets, shoot around and between the trees, figure out my backcast, etc - all the things I would do here in the Midwest. No substitute for fishing, but I get a better sense of a rod than in an open field which is not very helpful (to me). You do what you can.
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tim simbari		#19	[url]	[-]
Posts: 341 04/04/2009 13:28	Go outside pick 2-3 leaves on the lawn, cast, done. P.S. It's a tool, a piece of wood, your grampa has a soul not yor rod. Most of the really good rods, you don't even need to line, put them togeather 2-3 good snaps, you know about 90% of what you need to.
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Chartist1		#20	[url]	[-]
Posts: 315 04/04/2009 17:16	czkid wrote: I've never cast a rod that I enjoyed on grass that I didn't love on the water. Conversely, I've never loved a rod on the water that I disliked on the grass... But then again... I'm pretty picky about what I'll even try......... Ralph I find this comment to be so true. I lawn cast my rods or perspective rods I might buy.....If I like it on the lawn, I know I'll love it on the water....And I really love the remarks from the neighbors, "catch anything?"
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