Fly Fishing Equipment

On Fri, 03 Oct 2003 18:43:10 -0600, Willi wrote:



daytripper wrote:

I have a few rods my dad built for me plus a few of his that were built using
Powell blanks. Mine were 9/5-2, 9/7-2, and 9/9-2. They're a little heavier and
their action isn't as precise as my factory Winstons, but they're close, and
from a price/performance view they're far superior to Winstons...

I got the blank on sale. I had never cast a Powell but the price was
right and I bought it as a pig in a poke. I thought the action was VERY
similar to a Winston. I think it was a Light Line series. It was a
pleasure to fish with but "broke down" when too much of a load was put
on it.

About ten years ago, I met a guy streamside that was bragging up his
beautiful new Winston and I bet him that he couldn't tell him Winston
from my butt ugly homemade rod casting blindfolded. We tried it. He'd
make a cast, I take the rod from him and give him either the other rod
or the same rod for another cast. He made about twenty five casts.
Didn't have a clue. I told him how wrong he had been. Even when casting
the same rod two or three times in a row, he identified it as a
different rod each time. When he took the blindfold off he was sure he
was right. He got ****ed because I had "cheated" by giving him the same
rod sometimes twice in a row and once three times.

I think most anglers would have a very hard time with such a test if the
rods were similar.


Not hard to figure - the guy was a tyro. The giveaway was anyone bragging up a
rod when they should be fishing. Definitely a poser ;-)

Anyway, I don't disagree with your take, but having owned and fished both for
a couple dozen years, I wouldn't be afraid of taking that test...

/daytripper