Quote:


I've heard that before 

Old Salt wrote on May 18^th, 2013 at 2:13pm:


OS:
I agree with your Ugly Stick choice for one of the rods I take. A seven foot two piece that I use to cast or troll. I also take two Fenwicks. One with a baitcaster as a trolling rod and a medium light action to jig fish with. Considering a solo and if it comes to pass, will probably leave the Fenwick trolling rod behind.

J

You guys might get a kick out of this story.......(I might have already told it but I'm old and forget)

I admit it, I'm a sucker for loomis rods. I get that you are paying quite a chunk of change for "brand recognition" but the rods specialize for various applications but I digress..........

I own 3 8' offshore pelagic series rods.......they will set you back about $250/$300 if you could buy them anymore. Toss on a Shimano Trinidad reel and you have some $800 of outfit in your hands. Late one night while standing at the rail with 8 other guys we were enjoying the full moon and calm seas. Unfortunately no fish were chewing.......all was quiet. I caught a blue runner and decided to chunk it up for bait. My fighting gloves received a nice coating of slime and as I was  flinging a 6oz weight and 5' of leader I lost my grip on my outfit. Kerrrplooosh! First the bait landed soon followed by rod and reel. No one said a word until one fella said "would you look at that, it's floating"! Yup, loomis rods float.........I did get it back thanks to the foul mouthed cigar smoking cuban next to me who had, up to this point, made my life miserable. Of course he soon became my best friend 

Loomis rods do float and when I rolled my boat in Isle Royale I put two of them into the drink. Miraculously I never lost them as they bobbed along behind the boat as I towed it to shore (almost like obedient puppies, sorta weird ).

I could probably fish with just about anything and still enjoy it. But what I have noticed is a heightened pleasure while using quality stuff. Does it catch more fish? Maybe, maybe not........that is not the point I am making. Just going through the motions of fishing with fine gear is in itself an enjoyable experience. It is about the quality of the experience > (I like good sunglasses and high quality paddles for the same reason).

My suggestion is towards St Croix as a #1 choice for a very quality rod at a reasonable price. I own several and they aren't exactly cheap but you are getting real value.   

Might be kind of neat to build a rod. I already am most of the way there as i have a rod wrapping station and a motorized turning station for the epoxy process.

I got tired of having to drive 1.5 hours to a shop to get eyelets fixed (saltwater fish are rough on eyelets) and have learned to wrap my own. Even though I like working with my hands I never felt any real desire to build either a boat or a rod. Seems like it would be a real source of pride though to paddle your own boat.