The Board

I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask this?
I have a multitude of rods from 4-12wts. I have 2 5’s, 2 6’s a 7, 3 8’s, 2 9’s, 2 10s an 11 and 2 12’s.
I’m trying to unload some of my duplicates only to replace with one of Paul’s rods to start. If I like the rod I’m quite certain I’ll have the 6, 8 and,10 in short order. My question is which one to start with. I’m thinking the 6 so I can practice and fish with it but my goto rod for the Mangroves is one of my 8s and always a 6. Whether they’re my builds or factory, no matter. I just grab two and go. Honestly I think the 8 is the right call being most of my flies I tie are on #1-1/0, 2/0 light wire. Paul and I went around on this, deciding on an 8.
I’m just curious what you guys would do? Mind you although I’ve been chucking feathers for longer than I’d like to admit, I’m new to Sexyloops and Paul’s lessons which we started a couple weeks ago.
Any feedback would be appreciated.

Vinny,

I have a HT6, and I do like to play with it. I seldom fish with it though.

I now wish I had gotten the HT8 instead, but I'd still like to try the HT8. However like you, I have more of them (8s) than I will ever need. Maybe when you get your's I come up and play with it?

I will advise that you definitely have whichever one you plan to fish with,wrapped with snake guides. The single foot light wire guides on my HT6 have been its Achille's heel. Rod tubes in a flats boat are really tough on them.

Gary,
I have some experience with single foot, unless back wrapped they can/will pop off when clearing a knot as well as bending easily when caught. Ask how I know.
You’re welcome to come over anytime as I fish alone 99 percent of the time. I’ll pole you around the BC.

I have (built) 2 HT6's, a HT 7, 8, 10, and 4. I fish them all in saltwater. The 6,7,8 a lot, the 4 and 10 less so.

I'd suggest you start with the HT 6 with a fighting butt. It truly is a special rod. I use one of mine as my primary wading bonefish rod (bahamas) in all but the worst winds. It is by far the most versatile and nicest casting rod I've ever owned.

There are differences among the other rods. For what it is worth, my sense is that the biggest jump in power seems to be between the 6 and the 7. I think the 7 is the fastest of the bunch, the 10 closest in feel to the 6, and the 8 somewhere in between the 6/10 and the 7. How the way I chose to build my rods or my level of casting skill influences this I'm unsure, so don't take it as gospel. One of these days I'll CCS them all.

All single foot guides are not equal. The lightest are the REC's but they catch knots and wear quickly (particularly if you use the rod to practice over grass). You can build a rod just as light with Fuji torzite TKTTG single foot guides (the T2 dark antireflective finish is the way to go) but you will have to give up some I.D. relative to the REC singles. I've built an HT6 both ways but strongly recommend using size 6 torzites. Yes they bend (you can bend them back) and no they don't clear line snarls so you'll break some fish off (so what?). On the other hand, they don't wear out, they shoot line great, are very smooth under fast running loads, and there is no significant weight penalty when you use the 6's. The RECs on my first HT6 build wore out within a year of regular casting practice. Now both my HT6's use small torzites.

Thank you for that.

I’ve got a HT4, two HT6s, an 8 and a 10. All are saltwater builds and all are great.

Get a rod in a weight you use often and enjoy it. It won’t be your last, so stop fretting as if it will be.

Cheers, Graeme

Graeme
Your absolutely right!! It won’t be my last.

Tight lines
Vinny

George C wrote: ↑Sat Aug 19, 2023 11:36 pm You can build a rod just as light with Fuji torzite TKTTG single foot guides (the T2 dark antireflective finish is the way to go) but you will have to give up some I.D. relative to the REC singles.

Give up some I.D. ?

Do you have any pictures of a the build?

Rickard wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 5:39 am
Give up some I.D. ?

Do you have any pictures of a the build?

Inside diameter.
For a REC RSNX 5? Single foot wire the I.D is 6.24 mm
For a TKTTG 6 titanium Torzite the I.D. is 4.75 mm

The pictures show a weight comparison for the top two sections of a wire build vs ceramic build both on HT 6 blanks. The wire build did have one more guide.

Hi George

Do you have the weight difference between just the tips?

Cheers
Lasse