Quote:
Originally Posted by Saltheart
now I can tell you that after tossing eels into the darkness for better than 3 decades, there is no way ever under any circumstances that I would build the 10 foot stealth as an all around plugging and eeling rod using LC guides. .
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Please. Although I share your opinion on the importance of picking a blank based on how you and it fish together (rather than on internet hype or casting distance) I find the quote above a bit condescending.
The guide system I am using on the 1201L and tried on the Stealth builds a very, very good FISHING rod. Casts great, is lighter than anything else out there, and fights fish nicely. Those are my priorities. If you rate weed clearance, knot passage, large reel compatibility, and guide cost higher than I do, then clearly it is not the layout for you. To each their own. No need to imply that the other's priorities are wrong.
Likewise, your implication that the guide layout in some manner hugely compromised the test is specious. You, of all people, know that a blank with 9 guides will load evenly during a cast, and that once that blank unloads the line flow is reel height, spool size, guide type/size/placement, and line type dependent.....BUT NOT BLANK dependent.
The S1 is a very nice blank, so is the GSB1201L. There isn't a dramatic difference between them that I can see, but if you wrap one spinning with a K guide layout and want to compare side by side I'd be thrilled because I'd rather be wrong and learn than wrong and clueless (even though the latter is my norm). That is my only reason for wanting to compare the two 11' Century's and the big GSB as well. Not to decide which is "better" for everyone else, but to learn how they are different so I can make an informed decision which I think is best for me. I suspect we agree on that approach.