Quote Originally Posted by oldster View Post
I have to agree with Lotech, but maybe I'm uninformed, having never cast a $700 dollar plus rod. Every year rod makers bombard us with lighter, faster, more snsitive, etc. How much of this is hype? Has anyone done a blind test with any of these rods? How much farther can an average caster reach with with one of these wonder rods and how much will it improve his enjoyment of fishing.
I would like some opinions. Mine is "not much" Spend that extra money on learning to cast and learnng to get a drag free drift will, in my humble opinion, give you a much better return on your money.
Oldster, the idea of me casting with my eyes closed to do a "blind test" is too horrible o contemplate. I'm quite bad enough casting with both eyes open. But I understand what you mean. I attended the second MIFI and Castwell let me cast several high-end rods. The Gatti was the best of the batch and the "rightness" of the feel was unlike anything I have ever cast, before or since, with one exception. The Gatti felt more like an extension of me than I had ever experienced. It was better than the (cheap) cane rods I had tried. It was extremely pleasant. I still use cheap rods. I am not God's most gifted and coordinated creature. If I broke a Gatti, and I almost certainly would, I would strongly inclined to cry shamelessly. Ergo, I buy cheap rods which only require a bit of whimpering if broken.

But even as the Gatti was had and shoulders above all other rods, at a subsequent MIFI I cast the ultimate rod. Castwell let me cast a Kusse Quad. It was alive. It was as far above the Gatti and the Gatti was above the pack. It was the most marvelous feeling I have ever experienced casting a fly rod. At the prices they ran, it ought to. It cost a great deal. If I was made of money and coordinated enough that I wouldn't live on fear of damaging such a treasure, it is what I would want. It was astounding. I really cannot adequately describe that rod.

Still, I am quite contented with my modest rods. They in no way mute the siren song of the streams calling out to me for my time and attention. And I expect that, even with a magical Kusse Quad, I would still festoon the trees with my flies.

Regards,
Ed