|
Hey, Mike, been awhile. Brad, I think, does have a Floyd Roman swimmer that either Don Willis or Bill Chapin gave him to play around with. He tried, but you really need better tools than he has at present to make swimmers consistent. The balance and cuts have to be right on the money. Poppers just have to cast and splash to catch fish---swimmers have to actually swim.
Anything showing yet up your way? Figure you're still a couple of weeks away along the backside.
Mike T is looking for a 9" butt extension for the All Star 1208. He thinks if he could take 3" from the tip so a size 10 fits, and add a 9" extension, he'd be able to make a dynamite heavy plugging rod at 10-1/2'. I don't mind the rod as is for throwing plugs, but a lot of guys want the extra length. It fights a fish pretty well. I've bent one side-by-side with a 1208 Sabre that I was holding for a guy down here, after picking it up from Mike. As Dave mentioned, it bends deeper into the mid-section, and is stiffer in the tip than the Sabre. The All Star comes with a size 9 tip, the Sabre an 8 according to specs, but it actually is like a 'tweener between a 7 and an 8. The extra $30 or $40 for the All Star might be worth spending.
I was a little surprised that the 1266/2 All Star has a fairly fast taper. We're still putting it thru its paces, but so far, so good. The thing fires a small darter better than anything else I've tried.
Personally, if there's ever a time when 40s are busting on mackerel or whiting in the Ditch again, I'll be throwing at them with my old cut-down 2F S-glass. Mike F will probably dust off his Harnell, too ;-) Both illustrate that stiff rods don't necessarily have to be fast-taper in design.
|