Fishing The Fly Scotland
Index => Main Discussion Area => Topic started by: Magnus Angus on 16/04/2008 at 00:34
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Since Rob seem to sneer at Korean made rods maybe a Korean made caster....
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Cool video, great line control :)
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How very PC Mike - no mention that she looks slightly more attractive than Hamish in waders.
She can cast.
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Effortless :cool:
What a pleasure to watch, just proves its not about power but timing :z16
Sandy
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Does anyone have the Web address for Korean Fly-Fishing Brides?
:grin
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Does anyone have the Web address for Korean Fly-Fishing Brides?
:grin
If you find the site order me two :z4
:z18
Jim
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Magnus,
You are having a laugh arn't you??
I have absolutely no problems with Korean, Japanese or even Chinese rods. I do have a problem with a company still trading on a "Made in England" reputation without being upfront where there rods really come from! Ask any angler holding a new Hardy rod as to where it was made, and I bet 9 out of 10 say England!! (A common discussion in the Douglas Arms with the resident salmon boys)
Even the coarse anglers, who are used to stuff comming in from the far east, think that Greys build there rods in England.
I have a Korean blank at home just now...a 10 foot 10 weight that I am building into a shooting head special for the Pike..and thats a cracker.. :)
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Yes I'm having a laugh Rob
"just after I had finished building it for a customer. Have to say, that did come with a sticker saying Made in Korea....but naturally I removed that Smiley"
You know whats odd about this is until recently the Angel was the only carbon rod Hardy still made in the UK.
"Ask any angler holding a new Hardy rod as to where it was made, and I bet 9 out of 10 say England!!"
Really? All the Hardy rods I get, except the Angels, come with a made in Korea sticker - are you suggesting 9 out of 10 anglers can't read? Hardy have made no secret of their move to far east production. Get a copy of http://www.thelostworldofmrhardy.com/ and you'll hear interviews with Jim Hardy and Richard Sanderson (current MD) explaining how and why in a fairly public way.
"Even the coarse anglers, who are used to stuff comming in from the far east, think that Greys build there rods in England."
Really? So they too can't see the stickers on the butts of their rods?
Hardy Greys design and develop rods in the UK - thats what Colin Skene and his guys are for.
Or read the Hardy site
"When the design, prototyping and testing of each product is complete and we are confident we have everything right at head office, we work with manufacturing partners around the globe who, in our opinion, are able to replicate the level of expertise and craftsmanship we expect. Of course, we continue to maintain a manufacturing facility in Alnwick and going forward, our product range will include both overseas and UK manufactured items. "
http://www.hardyfishing.com/index.php?if=aboutus
They are perfectly up front about how they work.
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magnus,
There are no stickers on the rods. I have 4 Prodigys myself..not a single sticker.
As for there website..thats a fairly recent update is it not ;)
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We've got 2 prodigy's and they both had 'made in korea' stickers on.
Perhaps someone took yours off before they sold you it :z4
Sandy
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Rob
The first notice I had from Hardy saying they were taking manufacture "offshore" came several years ago when I was speaking to Richard Sanderson. That was followed by a press release which many fishing magazines reported upon - ain't no secret when they send out that sort of statement
Just checked a couple of US made rods - guess what - not one has any indication of country of origin. One Bloke rod - far eastern blank, and fittings, UK built - no indication of where it was made (I guess it should have - Made in Mick's Shed on there somewhere ? :wink)
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Just checked a couple of US made rods - guess what - not one has any indication of country of origin. One Bloke rod - far eastern blank, and fittings, UK built - no indication of where it was made (I guess it should have - Made in Mick's Shed on there somewhere ? :wink)
But is that 'Built in' or ' Made in'
I would class that as Made in Far east, Built in UK :z8
Sandy
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The terms now are pretty mixed up. A good UK custom builder will cherry pick what he wants to use from all over the world - Recoil rings (US made) - Pacbay, Alps, Strubble reel seat - Chinese, Korean, US blank or even British blank. Spend a few hours making it up and it's Made in the UK in the mind of the person dealing with that builder. Despite the fact that the only parts of that rod was the labour, the person buying knows that rod was made specially for them, thats custom building not factory building.
Craft manufacture has begun to grow on the tackle scene. David Norwich has been doing it for years. Burkheimer rods - makes his own blanks - special rings, grip turned from shives, nice reelseat. Cane builders like Gary Nicholson, Gary Marshall, Edward Barder, etc etc- start with cane culms and really make their own blanks by hand - then fit rings and seats.
Reel makers - have a look at a Waldron reel - or any of a host of Scandinavian and US craft makers - http://flyreelmania.free.fr/
In the UK we have centre-pin manufacturers. Part of the deal, part of the price and the wait, is knowing that the reel is hand made by the guy you speak to on the phone.
Net makers - so long as you want a wooden scoopnet - plenty of beautiful nets to be had
That type of manufacturings is essentially one or two men and their workshop. Fantastic - more power to their elbows. I feature as much of that type of gear as I can in FF&FT. I do wish some of those guys would look forwards rather than playing the heritage card quite so often or so strongly. I guess thats to do with why they do what they do. Then there are rogue figures like Ari t'Hart producing simply stunning designs.
Such as it is, the cutting edge of reel and rod design is in the R&D departments of a very few tackle companies. Hardy Greys have invested a lot in that area - far far more than most. They've also reached outside - briefly employed Ari t'Hart - used a Russian design team for a couple of reel designs.
Could those custom builders and craft manufacturers supply the demand for rods and reels? Nope!
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I suppose its like asking
Is a Mercedes still a german car if its owned by the yanks and built in South africa
Sandy
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:z4 :z4
Yep - tried a Skoda recently?
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let me think :roll
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We've got 2 prodigy's and they both had 'made in korea' stickers on.
Perhaps someone took yours off before they sold you it :z4
Sandy
That would not supprise me in the least.. :wink Would not be the first fast one that particular shop has pulled ;0
Magnus,
I do hear what you are saying, but i still say that if you ask the average Hardy owner where is rod is from, he will say Alnwick :z7 I noticed that Loomis have quelled rumours by using the words Made in the USA in star spangled text on there adverts :z4 :z4 :z4 Subtle as only the Americans can be!
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Yes from the outside it seems like Loomis were all but forced to take some sort of action to assert where their rods are made because they are owned by Shimano USA - people jumped to wrong conclusions. Sage took similar flak when they introduced their "value" ranges - which are US made.
Premium Winston rods are US made - their lower priced rods Vapor and Ascent are made in China http://www.winstonrods.com/pdf/06FFAVaporEdChoiceAward.pdf They take some stick for that, its used against them in some competitor marketing.
"if you ask the average Hardy owner where is rod is from, he will say Alnwick"
How can you criticise a company for what uninformed people believe - the tooth fairy, Santa, George Bush, that Dyson still manufacture in the UK?
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You mean..........................................
.......................................The tooth fairy isn't, isn't......................................isn't REAL :cry :cry :cry
You a weel mean mean man :cry
I'm gonna tell my mum :cry :cry :cry
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How can you criticise a company for what uninformed people believe - the tooth fairy, Santa, George Bush, that Dyson still manufacture in the UK?
Ok..maybe its the dealers fault???? But if someone is told the rod is made in the UK..then they will believe it if its got a Hardy sticker on it.
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Sandy :z4 :z4 :z4 :z4
Rob
"But if someone is told the rod is made in the UK"
By who, where and why?
What do you expect rod manufacturers to do, paint Not Made in England on their products? Hardy like a load of other companies have decided that country of origin will not be their major selling point. Frankly, having tried fly rods from most sources the country of origin matters a lot less than the quality of design and the person or people who decide the line rating.
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What the heck, Mick's rods are still cracking bits of kit and modestly priced, to boot. Going back to the comments on the Korean lassie, the timing was certainly just awesome.........if I were not a sexagenarian kirk elder :oops, I'd say "count me in".