Casting 12WT Rods - Gary's page!

[sms]

Once up (after reeling in), there is 4kg hanging on the end of the line.
https://youtu.be/WjbD6pEQ7Ms

[Paul Arden]

YouTube not happening Will try to watch tomorrow. That's one thing that's hard here.

[Mangrove Cuckoo]

Great video!

Simple and very illustrative.

I'm assuming the digital scale is reading pounds. The load doesn't change but how it feels increases by 150% as the rod angle increases to 90 degrees.

Andy Mill hangs a pulley under a work bench shelf, places a 5 gallon bucket under the shelf, then threads the fly line/ leader through the pulley and ties the leader to the bucket.. He then fills the bucket with sand to whichever weight he want to train at, backs away, and lifts the bucket with the line and rod. That way he can calibrate his feel to the weight. I think he aims for about 80% of the class tippet strength to compensate for loss due to knots.

Until you have actually lifted a specific weight you have no idea what it feels like. It is much more informative than having someone else hold a digital scale while you pull since you can do this for however long you want and not have to buy beers for anyone other than yourself!

[sms]

No, it's no pounds. I'm metric and those a thus in kg. So in pounds they would be over double. There was a 4kg (8.8lb) watering can at the end of the line. Personally I don't care for IGFA - use normally straight 40 or 50lb leaders. And how much I pull, I set the max with the drag. With bigger tuna I need the big pull on the fish not to kill it and not to tire myself out too much. Hanging onto a rod and holding the upper part of the handle with 200N for 20 minutes is s bit painful. But if that would be 10 minutes, no problem. And the other case will be when I will be fishing false albacore where there are sharks around and I need to force the fish in. With a normal 10wt rod I cannot put 350N+ lifting force on the fish with any reasonable rod angle since the fish is sounding.

[WJC]

Jim, what an interesting library you have

That top rod is the oldest 12 still in service (Sage RPLX) that I have, and is missing the original fighting butt ball that snapped off during a fish fight and almost made me a soprano. There was a huge difference between that rod and my first 12 – a glass Fenwick. Far, far greater than between that rod and the ones today – in the heavy weights.

Like SMS, one of my bitches about rods is that the fighting butts on heavy rods are too short (just like drag knobs are too small on big reels) way shorter even than IGFA alllowances of 6" from center of reel foot. So I made that new one from black Delrin scrap that is much longer than the original. I bought that rod in the late 80’s from Randy Towe, who made the monster rod at the bottom. That rod was one of 3 he made for a bluefin fly record attempt that was given to me by another buddy about 10 years ago. It’s an 8’ rod that’s just under 5 ½’ from tip to top of the foregrip.

Below is a spinning spool knob bruise on my buddy Big Al's belly from a couple years ago that I forced him to pose for. A buddy of mine from Colorado got one of those this year, and his son went home minus a thumbnail.

Since I started measuring the force at the fly I've stopped believing in the rod lever as a fish fighting mechanism. For me it's more about reducing pressure and protecting the tippet.Where the longer lever is an advantage is when applying force from a different angle, particularly with Tarpon where the idea is to roll them, or to clear the line from waves/obstructions.

Yeah, there are big differences between tuna and tarpon in technique, equipment and ride. You noticed in Sakari's video how cramped he was when he was up towards the bow where the caprail was up above his crotch. But as soon as he moved back toward the stern where the caprail was just barely above his knees, he had the room and flexibility to straighten out the pull angle to improve his leverage and start gaining line even with the stiff rod.

With most skiffs, the caprail is not much higher than ones big toe - unless the toe owner is an old fart and stays in the cockpit. But even then it is usually below ones knees.

Like you say, you can mess with the fish with angle changes combined with increased pressure and often distract tarpon when they are going to gulp air and get a supercharge. If you let them do it enough, they will fight to the death.

Knowing what I now believe about fighting Snakehead will see me fight salty fish completely differently. I'm just going to hold permit to see what they will do. It will be brutal!

Well if they aren't big enough to pop you off right away, I'll bet they'll give you a few violent head shakes, then turn around and come toward you.

I’d really like to meet you too PauI. I think you should come over here from the middle of June to the middle of July to test out your 12 wts on animals. Your only expenses would be air fare , food and booze.

Cheers,
Jim

[sms]

Jim,

The best drag knob in my opinion is on Mako. One precise and repeatable turn of knob that you can do with one finger if you want to.

[Paul Arden]

Sounds great Jim. We'll definitely do it

Thanks, Paul

[WJC]

The best drag knob in my opinion is on Mako. One precise and repeatable turn of knob that you can do with one finger if you want to.

Sakari, I have wanted one of those since I first heard of them, back when they were the best reel buy on the market in the big sizes. By the time my finances and our economy had improved, the prices had jumped up to match the quality of the reel and the waiting list remained as long as always. But Nautilus has enlarged the CCF X2 knob, and hopefully other manufacturers will follow.

Sounds great Jim. We'll definitely do it

Great news, Paul!
Cheers,

[sms]

I bought one stealth Mako 9600B (that time 9600B was actually called 9600 and only the spey model was with S). Eventually after all the hassle I ended up with one black 9600B, one stealth 9600B and one black 9600S spool. I have the greatest respect for Jack as he handled the issues in a true gentleman style and made me a really happy customer even thou a lot of things did not go like they were intended in - on the first try that is. A great reel maker and a great person, may he rest in peace.

Just bought a Sage 8000 series reel - to the best of my knowledge Jack gave some input to that reel's drag design too. The drag knob is easy to turn and there is pretty good range in it.

You may want to check out Ross' new reel Evolution R Salt. It is not cheap by any means, but the drag adjustment is basically like on Mako.