Rods

I suspect I am very low down in the list of who has the most rods and I will not have the temerity to even hint at those at the top! However apart from just liking them and buying them over many years how do you actually manage to use them all?

I used a carp rod yesterday which I had forgotten I possessed and which I had never used. I probably have about 10 rods and I genuinely struggle to use them all regularly. I accept there are different lengths for different venues , different strengths for feeder use and different attributes for prevailing conditions but can you have too many? Isn't it ultimately like a pair of jeans or a car or a wine i.e. your particular favourite for whatever the reason?

Morning Mike...

As you probably already know I'm comparatively minimalistic and a dozen rods cover just about everything for me without too much overlap of purpose and I could probably trim that down a bit in all fairness.

You should really have asked how many combined feet of rods, including extra tops and quivertips, that people own.

That question really messes with people's heads

Yes it's like when you ask the wife "don't you have enough pairs of shoes?" We know the answer.

No I don't need them but I want them. We could manage and still do well with far less but if we enjoy it, is that not as good a reason as any?


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Personally right now I'm really into my lure fishing so mainly use 3 rods, light, medium and heavy depending on what I'm targeting and the conditions. All the rest of my tackle currently gathers dust.


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I have never possessed many rods at one time finance being one reason, a total disinterest in them unless they were capable of performing a specific task that they were purchased for being another. Lack of space is now a reason that I own few rods but those I do have now double up for other fishing, my barbel rods will get used for fishing for Zander.

As an example I once owned 3 13ft Armalites, they were purchased to fish a big pit where distance was needed, I owned them for 2 seasons and when I stopped fishing that pit they were sold as I no longer had a need for them.

I can understand others having lots of rods some of which have increased in value or are used occasionally just for the pleasure they give the user or even because they belonged to a late relative its just not for me though, they are just tools to be used when needed and nowadays my needs are not what they once were.

Clearing the garage yesterday, getting ready for a match this week, I added another 5 rods to the ones in the shed. 2 12' pike rods, 1 avon, 1 specimen, and a 12 meter pole all unused for years. Also a reel,a dozen or so rod rests, 2 rod pods, a couple of rod quivers and a unused drennan rod holdall.
Do I have too much tackle, yes far too much.
Most of the time now when I go out I just carry a lure rod.

Hi Mike,
If you are still mainly on the stillwaters, you might find the scope for investment in carbon tube widens when you find your way onto rivers more often. Long rods in different lengths and strengths for float control and deep water; rods to fish for barbel in snaggy places and floodwater; longer than usual feeder rods to fish well out and hold line off the water on big rivers... And so it goes.

Some people, quite understandably, sell one rod to buy another, but unless I positively dislike one, or feel indifferent, I keep it, adding to the numbers. I don't find a lot of duplication - each one tends to feel ideal for different places, styles, species.

I look after rods, so I still have and use things bought as much as 30 years ago, and rods that pre-date the commercial boom have a different character and were designed for different uses, so they can't be replaced, entirely, by today's.


And I imagine this will appear too sentimental to those who say a rod's just a tool, and focus on, probably, more important things like actually catching fish, but I can remember when I had no fishing rod but wanted one, when rods were a kind of magical object and a passport to another world to be stared at in a shop window. I still have a bit of that attitude. This laptop cost more than any rod I own, but if I tripped and poured coffee over it, I wouldn't mourn it or beat myself up as I would were I to stand on a favourite rod.

I wouldn't want it t seem as though I have a vast expensive collection - quite a few of mine were cheapish and some even home made from cannibalised butts and tips. The price is incidental.

nottskev said:

And I imagine this will appear too sentimental to those who say a rod's just a tool

Click to expand...

You old softy Kev

Yeah I was thinking I was getting a bit dewy-eyed and wicker basket there.

When I started fishing I bought a starter set and that had a carp rod, a match rod and a 5m pole. I have never used the rods, sassing them on to my brother almost immediately, and bought a cheap Ron Thompson match rod and Okuma reel reel. I used those for a good while and then bought a feeder rod, and then another, and then a carp rod and another feeder rod, and a short pole and a long pole and then people started giving me 'vintage' (not that old) rods, and then I bought some dropshot rods, and another feeder rod, and a carp waggler and another carp rod...

My favorite rod at the moment is an old early carbon float rod that I was given. I also get a lot of fun out of that 5m tele-pole that cam in my original starter set - now I have elasticated it.

How many rods do I need? Probably only one. How many rods would I like? Lots!

My problem is now, I need a few more reels

Ralph.

I don't actually have that many rods.
To keep things sensible if I get something better I move them on.
At the moment me new favorite is a modest series 7 compact silver fish rod who knows what is waiting around the corner

I was sort of minimalist and had 9 or 10 coarse and fly rods that covered my fishing and would alternate their use quite regularly.

I do have somewhat more centrepins than rods but that's another story!

However, I have inherited all my late uncle's gear which includes not just his but my other late uncles as well. I'm still working my way through all of that and have donated some items to the museum at the Royalty Fishery. Quite a few items have also already been distributed to some of Mick's close mates and more will go in that direction.

I've kept several rods, including a "full set" of Normark Microlites, Titans, and Multi Tips, which has already more than doubled the number of both coarse and fly rods in my safekeeping but the voyage of discovery continues with more rods and poles in this lot:



I've also added one or two or three.......... more centrepins

At some point in the future I will have to have a proper disciplined look at what I end up with and possibly make some "tough decisions"

I christened one the rods yesterday. It was an unused 50+ year old Walker MKIV Avon hand built by my late Uncle Ron. One of two he built, I'm still looking for the other one. I paired it with Mick's Speedia triple check from the same era. It was my intention to try and christen the rod with a barbel or chub from the Avon but couldn't resist the carp waving their tails at me yesterday in the margins. So set the pair up and freelined paste/flake for in excess of a dozen carp to around 10lb/12lb.

I now know what "hooped over" means in terms of rod action. Excellent power, forgiveness and feel. Quite an afternoon journey of discovery and can't wait for the winter chubbing on the Stour

Can someone change these buttons at the bottom if the threads.
Or at least have them so you can change a dislike to a like plz

trotter2 said:

Can someone change these buttons at the bottom if the threads.
Or at least have them so you can change a dislike to a like plz

Click to expand...

I am hoping you are referring to the 'dislike' you gave my post above. I did not think there was anything in there to justify such a harsh response... Let me know if I am wrong and I will 'send the boy around' after all ...

Ralph.

No need to send the boys round
Think I need either a new phone or visit Specsavers.

I make no bones about it, I like trying new gear, especially rods. I like going to a new venue being able to fish it in the manner I'd like, knowing that I have the kit to make that possible. I don't like to be limited by not having the right kit. I like trying to find something that's better than I already have.

Things don't always work out. I may buy something only to find it's not better than I already have. It may end up being a redundant duplication. Equally, it may also end up making existing kit redundant. Depending on the value of the redundant item, how good I thought it was, or how much I may lose on it, it may end up being sold, given away, or just kept as a hot spare. If I genuinely don't use an item, or can't see any situation in the future where I might use it, I won't keep it.

I'm under no illusion that many would see huge duplication in the rods I own, I don't. Things have their niches. From length, strength and action, all are different enough to justify being kept until I find something better, or the niche is no longer required. Where there is genuine duplication, a rod only stays if the initial purchase price can't be recouped to the extent I think worthwhile, or the value is low enough to be given away. Only very occasionally do I keep something for little more than sentiment.

Fortunately, I fish an awful lot more than the average angler. I can fish more in a single week than many do in a year. I suspect that a couple of months will see me fishing more than some very dedicated anglers do in a year. Provided I don't get too obsessed by a particular style of fishing, or venue, I can easily use a large proportion of the rods I own. The biggest problem is that I do have a propensity to get wrapped up in a particular style, venue or even item of tackle. I know that I'll tire eventually and move on to something new. The ability to do so without having to buy new kit is a positive for me. I'm pleased to be in a position of not having to sell perfectly good kit because I've tired of certain type of fishing that I know I'll come back to sooner or later.

My carp and barbel gear is distinctly underused at the moment, but I'm very happy that it will be needed again at some point and that it's still available to me. The prospect of selling up and having to buy again, when those particular bugs bite again, fills me with dread.

Like most I have a large number of rods, definitely not a collection.
The sole reason the rod pile has grown and never diminished is the simple fact that I have bought them.
Don't get the idea any have increased in value, they have not. I could never justify over spending for a rod or reel just to catch a fish that couldn't care less which rod I use.

Recently I have resigned myself to the fact that at 65 I don't have too long left.
Just suppose I live until I'm 80, which may well be a stretch.That's only another 15yrs.
It's imperative I have to thin out my gear or leave it to my Wife or/and Daughter to do. One things for sure I will not sell anything, when it goes it will be the tip that takes it.
No great loss, it is all past it's best verging on clapped out.
One thing I have/haven't done with my tackle for over 55 years is I can't ever remember cleaning anything.

At the lowest denominator we only have two hands so we can only use one rod at a time . . . . . .

I also only have one neck, so while I can only wear one tie at a time I still own over a hundred others . . . . it is the same with fishing rods and reels . . . .

Regarding my "collection" well, I am free, single, well over 21 and retired, so I don't have to justify it to anyone other than myself . . . . and I am so weak . . . . LOL

It is the same with poles and whips . . . .

I have more rods than I need but... "I like em"...and because I bought most of them wisely if I do decide to part with them i'll either get my outlay back or get it back with a little extra .
Like Chris I enjoy using different ones (same goes for reels also) and being able to pick one out that I fancy using on that occasion.
In fact i've just picked out a 13ft acolyte plus and a okuma aventa pro and tackled them up for a planned trotting session shortly today .

Not to get too depressing about age and fast disappearing futures but....

An interesting experience currently is documenting what I've got for my own records and for insurance purposes.

Also, dealing with two sets of Wills and Probate and experiencing a couple of challenges, I'm enhancing that list with hopefully more information and "provenance" for my Executors and beneficiaries. That process also applies to adjustments being made to both our Wills to give far better definitions of our assets and wishes