alignment dots, eye sore??

[adkmountainken]

just curious why ALL 3 piece or more rods do not have alignment dots, do people consider them an eye sore and take away the beauty of a fine rod? i myself love them as i fish from a conoe and i am always setting up in low light conditions.

[David Parker]

IMO, line up dots are a personal choice for many folks. For the big manufacturing rod companies it's likely an added cost which they don't wish to have. Some anglers like them, while others hate them.......not sure why?
I prefer to place them on all of the custom rods I build (unless a customer wishes not to have them), for they can be done in many variations other than painted dots on a rod blank. On a custom built rod, I feel they add an extra touch of individuality.
Mine are usually done in the form of a pair of feather inlays using Jungle Cock eye feathers indicating the dots. When properly finished, they are not only functional in quick rod blank alignment, but can be quite an eye catching attraction to a beautiful fishing rod.
Once again though, it's a personal choice much the same as having a hook keeper on a rod.

[adkmountainken]

David, could you post a couple pic's of your work? would love to see it!

[David Parker]

I would love to do so, but so far have been unable to post ANY PICTURES OF ANYTHING on this site. I've been a member for a long time and can't figure out why I cannot post any pics other than my avatar??????

[bgreer]

I could take-or-leave alignment dots. I will put them on a rod I an building, if the owner wants them.

I think that I've been partially put off by them because: 1) I've seen some poorly aligned dots that were far enough off to be obvious. 2) It doesn't take too long to put a multi-piece rod together. Even if a rod has alignment dots that I've used to put the thing together, I am still going to check the alignment myself.

I have seen some very nice inlays for alignment "dots", like David spoke of. They're not really dots at that point, but rather, nice custom artwork.

Brian

[sagefisher]

Personally, I do not pay any attention to alignment dots, can't even think if any of my rods have them, as I use the alignment of the guides to 'guide' me in getting the rod put together.

Larry ---sagefisher---

[okflyfisher]

I use them. Usually i am so excited when i am rigging up in the early dawn light i need all the help i can get.

To answer Admountainken i think 3 piece rods in general were more common before the 4 piece generation of rods and alignment dots were not in vogue

[jszymczyk]

If I did not have dots on my rod blanks, I would have no idea what to do. Using guides to line up the pieces is for serfs. Or spin-fishermen.

[Ed_D]

<rolling eyes>

[adkmountainken]

David email me pictures to kmowrey001@nycap.rr.com and I will post them for you.