360Tuna - View Single Post

Uncle Russ · 05-13-2008, 07:34 PM

Here's the way I look at rods breaking for what it's worth: the damned things have to be designed to be (1) light enough to use all day long, (2) limber enough to cast a lure or work a jig, (3) with a firm enough butt to fight a large fish, (4) economical enough so that an uneducated, non-elite middle American like me, who clings to his God and his guns can afford to buy them, and oh, yes: (5) strong enough to stand up to heavy drag and sudden surges without snapping in half. I'm not sure there is any product outside of what astronauts fly in, that has to meet so many contradictory design criteria. Add to that the fact that theoretical experts like me turn to jelly when they get a big fish on, screaming like an express train, and start high sticking at the wrong time, and: rods are going to break and components are going to come loose. All you can ask for is a good guarantee, which you normally get when you pay 5 or 6 hundred dollars for one, but not in rods with great price points like the OTI line...oh wait!

I read somewhere (maybe here) a year or so ago that Loomis once said: "I could make you a rod that wouldn't break---but you wouldn't want to fish with it."

Russ

05-13-2008, 07:34 PM	#11 (permalink)
Uncle Russ Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 1,136	Here's the way I look at rods breaking for what it's worth: the damned things have to be designed to be (1) light enough to use all day long, (2) limber enough to cast a lure or work a jig, (3) with a firm enough butt to fight a large fish, (4) economical enough so that an uneducated, non-elite middle American like me, who clings to his God and his guns can afford to buy them, and oh, yes: (5) strong enough to stand up to heavy drag and sudden surges without snapping in half. I'm not sure there is any product outside of what astronauts fly in, that has to meet so many contradictory design criteria. Add to that the fact that theoretical experts like me turn to jelly when they get a big fish on, screaming like an express train, and start high sticking at the wrong time, and: rods are going to break and components are going to come loose. All you can ask for is a good guarantee, which you normally get when you pay 5 or 6 hundred dollars for one, but not in rods with great price points like the OTI line...oh wait! I read somewhere (maybe here) a year or so ago that Loomis once said: "I could make you a rod that wouldn't break---but you wouldn't want to fish with it." Russ __________________ "Tschirhart: Helluva deal. You bait the hooks--I catch the fish!--Grimm."