Do you purchase based off of performance or aesthetics?

As far as graphite rods go I think almost all of them have beautiful aesthetics. Exclusion is the Orvis H3 line with the ugly white logo on the butt section. I think Redington put out a rod with a composite rubber golf club type grip which was really ugly.

Some obnoxious reel colors out there now but also some really cool ones.

So performance first but if it looks ugly I ain‘t buying.
 
I prefer machined reels over cast even though they cost a bit more. Honestly, they are cooler looking but most of the reason is the durability in terms of dings, etc. Esp because before i started boat fishing some i was always wading, laying rods and reels on rocks streamside, etc.

You only have to pay about 25% more for machined, I'm talking a Redington Rise not some Abel reel or something. I dont see the advantage for my needs past a sealed disc drag and machined parts
 
Over past 20 years, my rods range from $20 Eagle Claw/WalMart 5# up to
$250 G LOOMIS (on sale)

Similar range of reels.

I am pretty entrenched
in the Value & Asethetic Camp.

Not afraid to admit i am a slut for those Carbon Fiber Reel Seats
( my $20 Eagle Claw...still one of my faves)
 
Over the years I have been very fortunate to own some very pretty custom rods that were I guess worth every penny that were too nice to fish. I would say that the rods I actually fish are based on performance as I am pretty exacting in my tool for the job selection these days
 
Yeah, come to think of it I have a rod I got on sale for almost free that made it into the top 10 George Andersons "5wt shoot out" some bit ago. Still in it's tube unfinished.
 
My " ugly"
IMG 20221102 122659151
686 glass still weapon of choice
 
So, I'm looking to buy a new reel during the holiday sales to be used most often on a rod with an olive green blank. Would an olive-green reel be too much olive?

Just about every reel I own is black. I wouldn't mind switching things up with this reel, but maybe an olive rod/olive reel is too much of a good thing. For whatever reason, I'm not a huge fan of silver/clear reels.

I am not basing the reel purchase on the color. It just so happens that a few of the reels I am considering come in an olive-green color.
 
Dear Board,

I buy things on whether I want them or not. At this point, I really don't need another piece of fly fishing equipment.

But if something catches my eye, and I figure I could use it, all bets are off.

Honestly though, I buy things that are attractive to me. Performance is subjective, and only the performer can judge that. I've cast and loved rods that others have said are you crazy? I've also used rods and said, it's not for me. I was also asked if I was crazy?

Swing whatever you chose, just do it well, and courteously.

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
 
Skook said:
So, I'm looking to buy a new reel during the holiday sales to be used most often on a rod with an olive green blank. Would an olive-green reel be too much olive?

Just about every reel I own is black. I wouldn't mind switching things up with this reel, but maybe an olive rod/olive reel is too much of a good thing. For whatever reason, I'm not a huge fan of silver/clear reels.

I am not basing the reel purchase on the color. It just so happens that a few of the reels I am considering come in an olive-green color.
Click to expand...
I'd probably get a different colored reel than olive. The combo could be too much olive but that also depends on your preferences. For instance a red reel on a SAGE Method would simply be too much red and it would hurt my eyes. Red is a brighter color than olive though. Another thing to consider would be the shades of each olive colored piece of gear. If I'm trying to color match with a similar color it needs to be close, otherwise I won't be able to stand the setup. Earlier this year I ordered an olive colored reel that was a darker shade of olive and wasn't going to match the rod I initially wanted it to go on. Reel was too small anyways but I was able to pair it up with another rod. I like a reel that both matches and contrasts a rod, say a light blue reel with black accents on a black rod. Black rods are about the only rod I will do a matching black reel as they will for sure sync up color-wise.

You may want to consider a Lamson in the whiskey color they offer. I think that would pair well with an olive blank as they are both earth tones. The whiskey color is really nice and I like Lamson reels as they feel great and are light weight reels with large arbors that pick up line fast. I typically go for the higher end stuff being a gear snob and all but I like Lamson and fish my Guru on several rods. Just a great lightweight reel with good line pickup.
 
As for gear in general, my initial interest in an item falls into two categories. One, it appeals to me cosmetically and I have a built combo I want to create in my mind. The other is application based. If I acquire a rod based off of cosmetic reasons, take it out and lawn cast it and decide I don't really care how it casts, I will still keep it if I have a reel I like on it. This rod will then be a safe queen (half of my rods are safe queens). This mentality is dangerous because you acquire more gear without letting any go, which turns into a stockpile. To take it a step further I may hang onto a rod because I have a silly game where I try and match my fishing partner's rod with the equivalent rod wt and length (this also justifies new purchases!).

Some gear just has such an appeal to me, like Abel and Tibor non-ported reels, an Ari T Hart reel with it's unique spade looking frame, the sound of a C.F.O. and a Tibor, 90s/early 2000s SAGE rods with the egg-shell white tubes, the ultra-slender SAGE blank to a snub-nosed half wells grip, and Winston's green and lovely swoopy cursive markings with each piece of the blank being serialized. it's hard to explain the appeal of said gear to people who don't own it, but I will say rods and reels are most definitely not made equal! I also like pieces of gear that were at some point cutting edge because it's neat to see how rod/reel building has progressed over the years and why certain rod and reel designers did things a certain way.
 
All of my reels are black, dark grey, all silver or silver & black because with the exception of one brand, that's the colors that are available.

All of my rods are dark green, black, deep maroon, dark yellow, brown or tan because with the exception of one brand, that's the colors that are available.

If I had to pick reels like I pick neckties, I'd quit fishing and play tennis so I could at least have the pleasure of matching my shorts to my top or racquet strings... :rolleyes:
 
The only fishing equipment that I have ever picked in which color was considered has been lures, although I would draw the line if it came down to the choice being a pink rod.
 
Once I found that I couldn't get mauve reels I just said the heck with it and just buy whatever is on sale.
 
Bamboozle said:
All of my reels are black, dark grey, all silver or silver & black because with the exception of one brand, that's the colors that are available.

All of my rods are dark green, black, deep maroon, dark yellow, brown or tan because with the exception of one brand, that's the colors that are available.

If I had to pick reels like I pick neckties, I'd quit fishing and play tennis so I could at least have the pleasure of matching my shorts to my top or racquet strings... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Dear Bamboozle,

I know a kid from Facebook that is local to me. His day job is auto body work and painting.

He's taken a couple of reels, stripped them bare, and painted them in wild multi-colored paint schemes. I'm thinking of giving him a Pflueger 1495 that had been left in a wet spot and got water damaged, with blistered and peeling paint. The reel functions 100%, but it looks like the proverbial crap covered fence.

I think a kaleidoscope color scheme would look nice on it?

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
 
From the point of view of a fiberglass fly rod builder, selection of blanks to build on is purely on the basis of performance. The finished rod aesthetics are then up to me. Before purchasing any blank I spend a lot of forum time seeking information about blanks I think will fit a specific need - power, action, swing weight, length, line weight the blank likes, etc.. Color and whether the blank is sanded or not are always secondary considerations.

Regardless of the amount of research I do, the possibility exists that an expensive blank will turn out to be a poor performer once built into a finished rod. In these cases I have to decide whether the rod is of value to me as a fishing instrument, or whether the components are of more value to me - even if it means destroying the blank to recover them. Tough to swallow sometimes.

Jeff
 
@PENZZZ, have you ever built any rods on Epic blanks? I love my Fast Glass I (three piece) 4wt 7'6", such a superb roll-casting machine. That 4wt does it all and is just such a joy to fish. I'd like to get a 3wt 7'0" too after casting one at the jam this year and really digging it. One exists on marketplace right now for a fair price but I am holding off as I'm in a bit of a pickle right now job-wise. The falsehood of me being some kind of rich boy is starting to rub off, and my true state of existence is in danger of being exposed.
 
Over time, for some reason, I've come to perceive that the Epic blanks have a somewhat fast action. My experience with short and somewhat fast action fiberglass blanks is that they often need a 4wt line (I use DT lines) to load at the distances I fish 3-4 weight rods most. One place to gain additional knowledge about fiberglass rods and how fishermen like them is over on fiberglassflyrodders.com. You can learn more about where Epic has been sourcing their blanks over the years and possible differences based upon supplier. I'm not knocking Epic in any way, they seem to have a good reputation - I simply haven't tried one. Hope this helps.

Jeff
 
Yes, the Epic's do seem to have a faster action on them, I'm definitely not one of the "wet noodle" glass guys (no disrespect to someone who is), I prefer the faster action. Maybe because I am more of a graphite rod user in general so the step down to the faster Epic is less dramatic of a step than going with a slower action glass rod. I also presume because you are slinging DT lines off of your rods that are most likely doing dry fly and dry/dropper work, whereas I am tossing an indi rig on mine so I need a more aggressive line to move the rig around.
 
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