Your Worst High End Gear Experience?

Anybody have any really bad experiences with high-end gear? I am in the middle of dealing with another Bauer reel and for the life of me cannot imagine the lack of thought used for such a high end reel. I picked this on eup cheap at an estate sale. It had never been lined and all of the other reels there were RHW... My preference. It is an MZ4 and it has several really irritating "features" that scream "Cheap."

There is one 4x8 card folded in half on which they give you everything for their entire line of reel models, but not close to enough for any one of them. As an experienced technical writer it would embarrass me to turn in work of this quality... The fact it is the best they have after years of production is amazing.

Now the really annoying parts... despite the lack of clear directions, in part caused by the obscene clutter of trying to explain several models at once, it is not that complicated to figure out how to do the swap. But now I have no drag whatsoever. I suspect there should be a warning to not turn the shaft while swapping the four ridiculous sleeves and rubber cushions (little tiny things and when was dropped it made me very unhappy) but I did so because it is not easy to get at the little bitty parts with the surrounding rubber seal ring and such... I know it is a discontinued model, and it is obvious why.

I guess I will take it back apart and try to figure out what is wrong... SOmewhere between the Ross Vexsis and this reel there ought to be an easier way... Oh that must be why I like Lamson so much!
art

My biggest issue is with cork quality. The last several 'high-end' rod purchases have had lousy cork. Middle of the road rods 10 yrs ago had better cork than the "premium" rods of today. Nothing worse than hard cork with NO springiness and tons of filler that gets sticky the first time it gets damp...yuck!

aa

Well, working the rubbers out and going back to as good a guess as I can get this sucker has me beat. Having fished these a number of times I love the feol of the drag on these... But the route is beyond ridiculous...

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Originally Posted by appalachian angler

My biggest issue is with cork quality. The last several 'high-end' rod purchases have had lousy cork. Middle of the road rods 10 yrs ago had better cork than the "premium" rods of today. Nothing worse than hard cork with NO springiness and tons of filler that gets sticky the first time it gets damp...yuck!

aa

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That is right there! Had a friend show me an ultra-high end rod yesterday wondering if it should be sent back because of the lousy cork.

And, as an alternative, buy the "cheap" stuff and sleep well ( as do I)

Mark

Never been able to afford "High End" gear. Lucky me. If my stuff fails, it was cheap to begin with.

A long time ago a friend told me to buy junk and if it needed replacing you needed better stuff... I have had too many incredible adventures with fly gear being destroyed by big fish and I have gotten better stuff as a result. I have blown out brand new Hardys on the very first fish... big solid Hardys... so I am past fishing junk for big fish... and a Bauer is not junk.

I have had a few instances where I had a hard time not laughing as my friends with the "High End" gear couldn't fish while I was catching quite a few on my cheap gear. I can't afford the "High End" stuff so I do my best to get a good value. I remember a Guide in Alaska laughing his head off as my son was catching fish on the $50 reel I had bought him, while some others in the group had their $500 reels pulled apart trying to fix them in the field.

As a guide (in AK) I have seen some "special" stuff marched out for use... In general it got trashed... But sometimes it is true that good stuff is found for less. I have seen lots of logic-defying stuff last longer than anyone would have guessed. Not many $50 reels are going to look good after a serious week of salmon fishing though.

Up here we call it child abuse! ;)

In my mind there is a big difference in your need to fish high end equipment and most of the rest of us. You are taking other people's money to take them fishing. If I invite someone fishing it is to introduce them to fly fishing or using a float tube for the enjoyment of it. A few years ago I took a business client fishing, bought him lunch first and was sure he had some reliable lures and my best spinning rod and reel. But if a reel jammed on a big fish it might tick me off but it wouldn't cost me reputation or a guiding fee. I'm going fishing for the enjoyment and it more fun and cheaper than a head doctor.

[QUOTE=Uncle Jesse;4471 I'm going fishing for the enjoyment and it more fun and cheaper than a head doctor.[/QUOTE]

Jesse,

Ya got that right!

aa

I purchased a multi-piece March Brown rod a few years ago and took it as THE rod for a trip to a salt marsh. The tip on one broke while lining the rod. Never got it wet and brought no other rod to fish with. Sent the rod back and it was replaced. Stupidly did the same thing, brought out the replacement as THE rod and, on the first cast the tip broke. No fishing that day either. They replaced again and sent an additional lower end rod as an apology. No problems with rod #3.

Lesson learned: always bring a backup of critical gear.

On the Bauer Reel: several years ago someone from there contacted us about being a Sponsor. JC was working at a local fly shop which carried them and he really went over it..he found several things he didn't like, including a spring not made from stainless but some cheaper metal which was rusting in the reel (brand new). He said it was a disaster and we explained the problems to them when we turned them down. Eventually it was sold to a company in WA state which was going to up grade it substantially with the help of Jack, (darn can't remember his last name, but the owner/creator of Charlton Reels) I think under the Solitude name. If you know what has happened on that one I'd love to know. I know they had real problems because they didn't get any blue prints or schematics when they bought Bauer....

Your story is one reason I have gone to using mostly click pawl reels. Simple. Effective. Durable. I have click pawl reels that are over 75 years old and are still landing fish.

For trout reels there is nothing I like more than click pawl Hardys... and I have a ridiculous number of them, perhaps 35... But there is absolutely no substitute for quality drags on salmon and saltwater gear. Just the sheer number of times big fish will eat a knuckle on a spinning reel-handle. A friend from CameraLand in NY was fishing silver salmon with me and the cork drag washer on a big Hardy failed suddenly... Doug's knuckle took off the reel handle as it was spinning... A better drag would have prevented that... as would an understanding of how to palm a reel!

There are lots of reels that will work and last for salmon without real drags, but the other issue is plain old fatigue. If you are landing your 25th salmon of the morning you may be getting tired and may not pay attention. That and the fact you raise the odds of a bad moment when you fight that many fish in such a short period.

Ladyfisher
I will let you know what I find out when I call this morning.
thanks
art

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Originally Posted by hap

A long time ago a friend told me to buy junk and if it needed replacing you needed better stuff... I have had too many incredible adventures with fly gear being destroyed by big fish and I have gotten better stuff as a result. I have blown out brand new Hardys on the very first fish... big solid Hardys... so I am past fishing junk for big fish... and a Bauer is not junk.

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Sounds like that one is. ;)

So, after speaking with Bauer they need to replace parts to fix a brand new reel. They did not realize the machining specs were off and the clutch does not engage in RHW mode.

They chuckled at the suggestion to fire their technical writer... it was John Bauer, and he continues to run the place. I do not know if that has any relation to ownership or not, but he probably has most of the specs in his head.

They assure me it will be flawless on return.
art

My worst high-end gear experience was back just before I got into fly-fishing. At the local auction house there was a huge auction of firearms with a small amount of fishing gear included. I found a rod and reel in what appeared to be perfect condition, so I decided to bid on it, but when it hit $45 I dropped out since I was completely unfamiliar with brands and values...its was a Sage rod with a Sage reel. I'm not sure what it was worth, but someone went home happy with $45 well spent. It wasn't me. :oops:

It still haunts me. The horror.

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Originally Posted by hap

For trout reels there is nothing I like more than click pawl Hardys... and I have a ridiculous number of them, perhaps 35... But there is absolutely no substitute for quality drags on salmon and saltwater gear. Just the sheer number of times big fish will eat a knuckle on a spinning reel-handle. A friend from CameraLand in NY was fishing silver salmon with me and the cork drag washer on a big Hardy failed suddenly... Doug's knuckle took off the reel handle as it was spinning... A better drag would have prevented that... as would an understanding of how to palm a reel!

There are lots of reels that will work and last for salmon without real drags, but the other issue is plain old fatigue. If you are landing your 25th salmon of the morning you may be getting tired and may not pay attention. That and the fact you raise the odds of a bad moment when you fight that many fish in such a short period.

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I fish for steelhead and salmon almost exclusively, except for my beloved searun cutthroat. I have never had a problem with click pawl reels. Never. I have had to replace gears in a Bougle' after using it a season for kings but so what.

My worst experience so far happened last month. I had a customer send me a brand new Sage Xi3 and a Struble U-21 reel seat with matching fighting butt to install on the brand new never been lined up, cast, or fished $750 Sage rod. The reel seat is solid titanium and with the fighting butt retails for over $160 all by itself. I swap everything out and send it back. He can't mount a reel on the rod. Any reel. Now, I use a reel mounted in the seat to align things when I glue the seat on a rod. The reel I used was an old one but mounted up without undue problems. I have him send the rod back with the reel he is trying to mount. Sure enough. It won't go. I tried 3 or 4 reels and the only one I could mount was the one I had used to line things up. I removed the new seat and called Struble. Before shipping it back, I did a ton of measurements of reel feet, and this seat along with a couple of other seats I had on hand. The U-21 was nowhere close as far as room in the hood or slide. To top it off, the body was short, too. I sent the whole works back to Struble.

As it turns out, the CNC machine had been setup wrong. They sent me a new seat and butt which I assembled and mounted his reel and any other reel I could get my hands on to be sure it was going to work before mounting the seat. Struble had machined a new seat for me that was top notch.

While everything worked out and I was taken care of to my satisfaction, it shouldn't have happened with a high end seat like that. Will I buy Struble seats again? Absolutely. This was handled with true concern and professionalism. Poop happens but given the chance most companies will fix it.

I love all my sage rods, they are lovely to use, but the Cork is frankly rubbish, the Z-axis has more filler than cork! I still would not swap them for anything else, the actions are good for my casting and they are just a pleasure to use.
All the best.
Mike

I'm with Lotech on this one. I don't think I have any 'high-end' gear. Mine are all Scientific Anglers, Shakespeare, Phleuger, and 1 old Martin set-up. I have even have a wind up Martin 'automatic' fly reel, and actually fish with it sometimes.

And the really awful part is that I'm not really ashamed....hey, they catch fish. What can I say?

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Originally Posted by Lotech

Never been able to afford "High End" gear. Lucky me. If my stuff fails, it was cheap to begin with.

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I have never fished for big or fast fish so I don't know about the rate of failure in any reels. With that being said, I'm sorry if I opened a can of worms (box of flies) by trying to compare cheap stuff with high end gear.

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Originally Posted by Lotech

I have never fished for big or fast fish so I don't know about the rate of failure in any reels. With that being said, I'm sorry if I opened a can of worms (box of flies) by trying to compare cheap stuff with high end gear.

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You certainly did not hurt my feelers...

I didn't think he had hurt anyone's feelers. :)

Not at all. I am sure the high-end is a dream to fish with, and it gives us something to aspire to. It could be that someday, I will treat myself to a nice Sage Rod, when I think I have earned it. Of course, I am sure that I can't cast good enough to get the most out of that level of gear, but as I said, it is something to aspire to. In the meantime, I still get to fly fish. There is equipment available in everyone's price range.

What I would really like to know is the incidence of failure for high-end gear compared to the incidence of failure of more modest equipment, such as Scientific Anglers, Martin, Shakespeare, etc.... Is the high-end stuff really worth the extra money for anything other than the satisfaction of owning it (which I am sure is considerable in it's own right)? That would be a cool study. Do you reckon I could get a grant for that? (LOL)

I guess I am curious because I have never had any fly gear fail (except for breaking an old bamboo rod at the Tennessee Gathering 2 years ago, but that would've been considered abuse.....falling on your rod does not constitute a failure of the rod....). I still have my old South Bend Fly Combo that I bought when I was a teenager, and I still fish with it, after 40 years. It was my first fly rod. Every broken piece of fly gear I have ever had was due to abuse (ceiling fans, run over with the car, etc...).

I see bunches of broken rods. I would imagine that things are skewed a bit due to idiot proof warranties on most of the high end gear, but it is still amazing the number of higher end rods I see for repair. I hear what was done to the rod and how it was broken. I see a few tip sections broken from big fish but the vast majority are abuse. I tend to discount the big fish stories because, well... it is a fisherman bringing me the rod. :)

All in all, I think the lower priced rods hold up just as well as the high end ones. The $40 reel that Bass Pro Shop sells is a good little reel if not as pretty as some of the higher end ones. I have a friend that sells some very nice looking CNC machined reels out of China that are almost bullet proof and have a great nylon disk drag at under a c-note! Quality does not have to be expensive.