Expensive rods

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
.. .

Can you catch fish with a broom handle and some old bread box string?
ABSO-FRIGGING-LUTELY. Can you catch more fish with a slightly better rod
than a broom handle with some string tied on the end? Most anglers would
say yes.

I'll take your word for it. Except for one Fenwick HMG, I've used $40 rods
with no complaints. Maybe I'm wallowing in ignorance and don't know how much
better I'd do with more expensive equipment.

Personally I think a lot of folks move up to more expensive rods blindly
because they think it will make THEM a better fisherman, where as I think
they should not be trying to upgrade until they KNOW what they are wanting
out of that more expensive rod.

It's not just rods, it's also reels, lures, line and whatever. I've read
enough forums and seen enough manufacturer and retailer advertising to know
that many frustrated anglers think they can spend their way to better
success. The businesses know this too and exploit it to the max.

It took me a while to learn that. I am just now beginning to learn how
much I don't know about fishing, and I'm finally starting to buy rods with
very specific needs and feel in mind.

5 years ago I could fish for anythign with almost any bait it would handle
on a 7' medium fast spinning rod, and I still thinks its one of those most
braodly universal rods on the market there is, but now I understand what a
spinner bait rod should do, and I am finally getting a handle on flipping
rods. Drop shotting is still a bit of a mystery to me so I still swuitch
back and forth between my med/light extra fast dropshot rod and my
universal rod for that, but I'm learning.

You may be a better angler than the guy you fished with, but that doesn't
mean you could not be even better if you had the hands and the touch to
take advanatge of having the best possible technique specific rods for you
for each way that you fish.

I have no criticism of how anyone wants to fish, but not everyone wants to
be or can be into technique specificity to the extent that you describe. I
have no way of knowing, but sometimes I wonder if the specificity is
overrated. Certainly the differences in rods for certain techniques have to
be very small.

I do what you used to do, use medium power fast action spinning for general
purposes and I'm happy, even though I concede there's a possibility I could
do better. Ignorance is bliss!!