Re: New rod for Christmas
Like in most other things in life, you can get to 80% rather easily and affordably, the next 10% costs a great deal more and you do get some good upgrades, by 95% the cost is skyrocketing and the differences may not be that noticeable. You will never get to 100% but past 95% the cost is crazy and the upgrades may not be as good as you might think.
It all boils down to your skill set.
Harry Homeowner doesn?t see a reduced weight framing hammer in the same light as a framing carpenter. A fisherman with marginal casting skills does see the value of an aftermarket bearing upgrade in the same light as a distance casting competitor.
I used to cast competitively. Guys come in the shop all the time asking for a rod to increase their casting distance. The first thing I do is take them out back and ask them to make a few casts. Most have very basic casting skills. They would be better served spending money on casting lessons. It makes no sense to pay for ?performance? if your skills don?t allow you to use the equipment to its maximum potential.
I always get a kick out of the LL Bean want to be fisherman. They sport highly polished name brand equipment showing no wear and tear at all. The lack of skill is pretty evident right off the bat. Like the Orvis boy that showed up one afternoon at Cape Point wearing his best Orvis costume, sporting his brand new $400 Loomis surf casting rod. His casting technique, which included a 10 yard dash to the water line. Entertaining to say the least??:laugh:
The guys to look out for are the ones carrying nondescript rods with ?obscure? reels attached. They walk up; say hi, make a 400? ?warm-up? cast, and then ask if you?ve caught anything.
Then there are the crazies that use #10-17 rods and 200-300 series spinning tackle to target fish in the #30- #40 range. It goes w/o saying, aluminum gears and plastic frames don?t last long.
