Hey "sport",

Something about age and gullibility, isn't there?

As Struther Martin said in "Cool Hand Luke"...."what we have here is a failure to communicate..." It's an industry-standards, industry-driven sport just like golf and all the other sports. If you don't have this new-fangled rod you won't catch diddly because you won't be able to cast that 106' to where the fish are!!!!!

And, even though we are doing fine catching and only need to learn and practice some better casting techniques, we go out and buy a new $655 rod so we can cast farther.

We listen to the "industry" and the "experts" because they know more than we do. What ever happened to curiosity, experimentation and discovery?

Now, as a caveat, I fell into the same BS eight years ago and have spent thousands, many thousands, on fly rods and reels. To satisfy a curiosity, and shut-up my fishing buddy about this fly fishing, I bought a Scientific Angler's kit at Dick's while shopping for more power worms.
Well, I caught the bug, got better and was told I needed a better rod and reel: so, it went to St. Croix, then Orvis, then Sage and finally, Winston.

Over that time period I read, studied, watched, experimented and learned. Now, what's gone forever? All the above.

What did I learn? The industry, perpetuated by the experts, are building rods that are "castable"; the farther the better.....what should they be building; rods that are "FISHABLE".

http://www.byrdultrafly.com/fishlev.htm

http://p097.ezboard.com/Achieving-Glass ... =153.topic

Is it going to change? Hell no! Not as long as we keep buying what we're told to!

Jim