In a reply to a post in recent thread elsewhere on the forum I mentioned (and I'm using some of that text again) that my favourite river rod used to be an Orvis Trident, a through actioned "noodle" as a former forum member classed it.
Back then, when I was fishing the Don a fair bit (say 12+ years ago now) I found it always preferable to have a softer rod for short range fishing which, by and large, is river fishing in a nutshell. Now I had the choice of more modern rods such as Scott's and Sage and others but, when I looked for a replacement, I opted for a custom build on Winston BiiX blank which Sandy very kindly built up for me. Those Winstons were fast action, some might have said with a 'wobbly' tip but I never felt so, but the rod simply
bent and the bank still recovered quickly. I could 'feel' what was going on through the cork as (when you needed to pop out a longer line) the rod simply bent further into the blank.
Thing is (in case you hadn't figured it out) the rod bent.
I maintain that a softer rod can help "protect" the lightest of tippets and the finest of hooks when playing fish.
Having done some casting instruction recently with an improver, it was rewarding to note that moving to a softer rod (a Vision Onki - interesting, try one) made for some really big improvements in her casting, at end of the lesson she tried my Mackenzie FX1 9' #6wt I happened to have with me and bingo
Even better results - although I think her husband was less amused at the potential for
another fishing toy purchase
Thing is, why did it all come together
Well... obviously my instruction
but when we sat down and debriefed it was clear that the client preferred a softer rod. Or let me put it another way... a rod that
bends for more than just the first few inches.
It got me thinking and I had a play with some double handers the following day. In my 'collection' is a 15' rod that is based on a Daiwa CF98 blank. For those who don't know, that is old. Very old. It wobbles (would love to try some different rings on it) but it also bends and when chucking a 75' head line around that's a
nice thing. Didn't like it with shooting heads on, except a tournament head, but I liked that the rod bent. It was somehow comforting.
So I continue to wonder.... we produce lighter, faster rods which are often casting cannons... which is nice. But we have also gone to the extremes of developing gear designed to mitigate that stiffness and provide what a softer rod would naturally provide... have we gone too far in the quest for lightness and stiffness
Where does the future lie in rod design and action
What is more important...
feel
weight
bendiness
I don't have answers as it will be down to individual preference at the end of the day. But I do know it seems I like a rod that
bends and that I have come to appreciate those qualities more of late. Maybe it's because I'm less inclined to pick up a rod and try and cast to the horizon than I used to, instead I'll pick it up and see what loop shapes I can generate, what it's like at real fishing ranges.
So it's possible that over time it's just me that's changed but, whatever the reason, it's why I'm part of the way through changing out a
significant number of rods for things that bend a bit more.
I'm
never going to move to split cane, but I do have an Epic 'fastglass' rod coming my way....
H