Do you purchase based off of performance or aesthetics?

[DomR]

My last few rod purchases have had an "aesthetic" factor. I prefer flamed and darkened to blonde cane. That said I cherry picked them from the length and line weight I was seeking to match the fishing situations I wanted them for. All my pencil rods are the old black or brown, my favorite being an unsanded Orvis, I'll almost certainly never need to buy another graphite.

Lines I'm a dull guy I don't like bright colors with the exception of 444 peach. No scientific reason or logic behind it except I don't like neon lines.

Backing - I can give a rats azz what color it is, I likely will never really see it once it gets put on the reel.

Reels - I haven't bought a new on of these in 20 years, almost all of my reels are even older than that. I'm a traditional click and pawl guy. Think medalist, battenkill, etc.

 

[BrookieChaser]

That's interesting. I have a Sig in frosted silver (aqua blue accents) and I find it to be quite attractive in terms of machining and finish. I'd say it's on par with Abel. You are perhaps a better judge of reels due to your work history. I will say that the sound of a Tibor is pretty much unrivaled.

I agree on the Tibor sound, I have a 2nd gen Gulfstream that sounds real good. The sound is for guide so he knows whether the angler is gaining line or the fish is taking line. That's why the different clicks on ingoing and outgoing.

I'm thinking of buying a different polished color reel stand, drag knob and drag knob screw just to make the reel look better. But I can't justify the $100 to do that. I bought the reel during the plandemic shortage and it was the only option. The quality of the reel, function and machining are all Tibor quality.
But for someone that prides themselves on surface finish (16uin or better on print, that cloudy surface means the cutter insert is wore out) or laying down paint with minimal orange peel, it looks unfinished. My polished Tibors look as good as they work.
It's a minor thing that millions of people would never care about, but like the original question of this post, it's an odd superficial thing that bothers me when looking at the reel.

 

[bigjohn358]

Since a couple of you mentioned backing color, I have an easy-to-follow system I use when choosing backing color you're all welcome to adopt:

Blue Backing: All fly lines (unless modified as follows)

Green Backing: All sinking lines (unless modified as follows)

Yellow Backing: All floating lines manufactured worldwide above the equatorial reference plane (unless modified as follows)

FL Orange Backing: All fly lines without factory welded loops

White Backing: All fly lines that measure 1 or more line sizes heavy than their published line rating (unless modified as follows)

Purple Backing: All DT lines that have already been turned around (unless modified as follows)

LT Blue Backing: All fly lines that are backed by less than the recommended length of backing as defined by the spool manufacturer (unless modified as follows)

Chartreuse Backing: All floating lines manufactured worldwide BELOW the equatorial reference plane (unless modified as follows)

Pink Backing: All fly lines on spools that are interchangeable across two or more reels (unless modified as follows)

Yellow/Black Backing: All fly lines consisting of more than one coating color along its length (unless modified as follows)

White/Black Backing: All other fly lines


All joking aside, I was surprised how many threads across a whole bunch of forums a quick Google search for "fly line backing color" turned up. Do people really put a lot of time into thinking out what color backing they use? Maybe I'm doing something wrong in setup or practice, but I never get into my backing and the lightening hole config on my spools don't even make it obvious what's on a given reel.

I'm a builder so I make all my stuff match. Why? Becasue I can. Its the art side of building. I search out the backing or have even dyed my own. I'll search out the fly lines and everything for the right color. I can make most any fly line perform to my liking. I have high end lines, low end lines, and everything in between. Most of these rods will never see the backing leave these reels so I use a lot of colored braid line. I even take my reels apart and custom paint (I work in auto body) parts to match. Thats the art side. Does it make it perform better? No but its just something fun to do and to have different from everyone else!

 

[gwold]

There's ugly, then there is the H3 travesty. ...

Personally, given the choice, I tend towards simple aesthetics and colors, but ultimately function and cost guide most of my purchases.

I keep reading that "travesty" stuff, but, really? Why? Far be it from me to criticize others' choices, but the energy people put into criticizing the H3 is really surprising.

 

[JeffP]

I'm a builder so I make all my stuff match. Why? Becasue I can. Its the art side of building. I search out the backing or have even dyed my own. I'll search out the fly lines and everything for the right color. I can make most any fly line perform to my liking. I have high end lines, low end lines, and everything in between. Most of these rods will never see the backing leave these reels so I use a lot of colored braid line. I even take my reels apart and custom paint (I work in auto body) parts to match. Thats the art side. Does it make it perform better? No but its just something fun to do and to have different from everyone else!

What blank is that 1st road with the blue and purple?? Very cool rod. The second one, I would never think that color scheme would work but it does. Is that cork with the second? I need to get back to building.

 

[caddisflyer]

I have a Winston that is a lovely deep gloss green . It blends perfectly with the Spruce trees. It also matched the color of my previous vehicle. I think I will have my new car painted to match my rod.

 

[Rolf]

The ONLY thing I don't like about Winston Green is if you are STUPID enough to carry a BRAND NEW 4pc Winston rod UNSTRUNG from your vehicle down to a stream and unbeknownst to you the tip section pulls off...

...it will literally disappear into the similarly colored brush and you will never find it again despite looking fruitlessly for several hours..

...don't ask me how I know...

The same can be said for a flamed or dark bamboo rod. Somewhere on the banks of the Saucon there still lies a broken tip to an FE Thomas rod. As you said, please don't ask me how I know this.

 

[bigjohn358]

What blank is that 1st road with the blue and purple?? Very cool rod. The second one, I would never think that color scheme would work but it does. Is that cork with the second? I need to get back to building.

That blank was a RodGeeks blank (based off of or part of St Croix). Its a 8'6" 3wt. They no longer make this color nor have many color options at all. Honestly I no longer recommend these blanks because for the price there are better options out there. They used to offer tons of colors and different combinations. Now they offer like 4 or 5 colors that just aren't all tha special. I have someone who can paint blanks for me now.

 

[JeffK]

I am mixed. First, I am cheap and get the lowest cost equipment with the performance I want, looks be damned. That hasn't always worked out - sometimes cheap rods aren't worth it and I ended up with 10 OK rods instead of one really good rod. But, I am not immune to looks either and generally am in the muted camp. I build rods and used to build them with color schemes of antique rods I liked such as yellow and jasper on dark brown or an ornate red and gold or black pattern with intermediates. I especially liked older color schemes on wet fly rods. Now I value my time more and do simple muted color wraps that roughly match my reels.

Backing is whatever is cheap (used to get discount braided line at the Cortland outlet on way to Salmon R.), more likely go chartreuse though. Had orange and white periods.

Some days I have gone reverse aesthetics when fishing with my bamboo friends with a blue Conolon glass rod with a green automatic fly reel.

Final story, I know a fly fishing couple where the woman always picks equipment that is pretty and the guy does extensive research and picks rods for best performance. He is always frustrated because his wife generally outcasts and outfshes him.

 

[Bamboozle]

The same can be said for a flamed or dark bamboo rod. Somewhere on the banks of the Saucon there still lies a broken tip to an FE Thomas rod. As you said, please don't ask me how I know this.

A vintage Thomas or a "new" Thomas...?

Either way probably WAY MORE painful but IMHO not as dumb as my, er I mean that person who lost the Winston rod section...

 

[krayfish2]

I remember when Sage and Ross had their pink items for breast cancer awareness. They were marketed at women but I wanted one really bad. There would be nothing more emasculating than some dude to show up with a pink rod, pink line, pink reel and shame you in casting and catching 😁

 

[Bamboozle]

I remember when Sage and Ross had their pink items for breast cancer awareness. They were marketed at women but I wanted one really bad. There would be nothing more emasculating than some dude to show up with a pink rod, pink line, pink reel and shame you in casting and catching 😁

Except if he beat you up after the fishing humiliation...

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Except if he beat you up after the fishing humiliation...

Always down for a good scrap.

 

[PennKev]

I keep reading that "travesty" stuff, but, really? Why? Far be it from me to criticize others' choices, but the energy people put into criticizing the H3 is really surprising.

Go look at a Helios, Helios 2, or go farther back to the T3. Then tell me the H3 isn't ugly for the sake of easy recognition. Don't get me wrong, the H3 is a fantastic rod. If I was going to drop $1000 bucks on a rod based on performance alone, there are few other rods in the conversation. Actually, only one other rod for me, the discontinued Scott Radian. Which is a heck of a lot better looking too.

Again, it's marketing genius on Orvis' part, but it only works when you hit performance out of the park.

 

[Rolf]

A vintage Thomas or a "new" Thomas...?

Either way probably WAY MORE painful but IMHO not as dumb as my, er I mean that person who lost the Winston rod section...

Vintage. Now this was painful and dumb. Payne clone and a Godfrey reel left on the roof and "deposited" along Rt. 17 outside of Roscoe.

 

[Bamboozle]

Vintage. Now this was painful and dumb. Payne clone and a Godfrey reel left on the roof and "deposited" along Rt. 17 outside of Roscoe.

Man that sucks!! What Thomas, a Browntone I assume...

And DOUBLE OUCH, a Godfrey... Please tell me it wasn't a Perfection although even if it was a Westminster I would have thrown up...

Even though I can be a moron at times, I learned the "roof lesson" the easy way and I never, ever put ANYTHING on the roof of my car...

So you win...

 

[Rolf]

Man that sucks!! What Thomas, a Browntone I assume...

And DOUBLE OUCH, a Godfrey... Please tell me it wasn't a Perfection although even if it was a Westminster I would have thrown up...

Even though I can be a moron at times, I learned the "roof lesson" the easy way and I never, ever put ANYTHING on the roof of my car...

So you win...

"Special" A 275. Yes, I have learned my lesson. Duh!!!

 

[krayfish2]

Except if he beat you up after the fishing humiliation...

Most fly fishermen are sissy boys 🤣. Not worried

 

[Bamboozle]

"Special" A 275. Yes, I have learned my lesson. Duh!!!

I'm cryin' for ya...

My very, very, very first bamboo rod was a Thomas so I have a particularly soft spot for F.E. Thomas rods...

 

[Bamboozle]

Most fly fishermen are sissy boys...

Yup, I've been exposed to more than a few on PAFF...

In the meantime I have it on good authority Jon Jones, Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury wouldn't get caught dead with a fly rod in their hands and prefer spinning tackle, using bait and eating native brook trout versus steak...