Let’s get the winners of the last week contests out of the way
The winner of BigFish Prey Swimmer who guessed first that Larry’s favorite picture was on page 151 is matty1516@gmail.com
you need to get us your mailing address within 5 days and Larry will mail you the lure
The winner of Wolverine Split Rings is jnasokushner@yahoo.com
You also need to drop us a line at info@surfcastersjournal.com with your mailing address
Today’s post is going to be “Why is Z cranky ?”
Hmm, let’s take a close look. Z mentions that he broke a rod but doesn’t say which. So some asswipe assume its xyz. Then he calls all his friends and say” OMG, Z is badmouthing XYZ after he broke one. I read it on the net!”
You with me so far? Except Z doesn’t own XYZ. He never did. But he still gets 3 phone calls yesterday morning from people in the industry asking how he broke XYZ rod? His boss catches him on the phone for which he gets in trouble at work. Then his delivery shows up late which makes him miss his train, and get a parking ticket because his meter expired.
Really ? All this because someone thought I broke a rod I do not own?
LMAO…I got to laugh
I did break my St Croix Legend under the light with Silver Fox last week. And St Croix sent replacement already and Lou will rebuild it. I am not living without that rod any longer than I have to. It snapped on the my fish number #20 that morning. They weren’t big so we took pleasure in counting them.
The fish I landed before I broke the rod fell between the cracks and unfortunately got tangled up with a line that someone discarded. I could not get the fish out..my line snapped and with it went the fish and lure, lost forever
That was the fish #19. Fish number #20 got washed by a wave into the same hole. I desperately tried to avoid having the same thing happen again. I tried to hoist the fish, a little too hard while the wave was still rushing and it snapped. Operator error. Still to this day one of the damned finest rods I ever owned. Can’t wait to be rebuilt. After this, I borrowed my buddy GSB for a night. Now mind you, I had 6 of these. I sold five and kept my favorite one built with concept guides…just in case. I managed about two hours with GSB before I went back to the truck and grabbed a Gloomis. After fishing with only Legend and Loomis this year, I can honestly say there is no turning back. You can’t. My beloved GSB , the rod I felt it was an extension of my hand, the rod that has been with me trough thick and thin, the rod that I and everyone alive recommends, the one that landed all those fish over the year for me…that rod feels heavy all of a sudden. Tiring and sloppy. I would still say that if you only going to buy one rod in your life with which you can do-it-all GSB has to be high on your list
Gloomis 10 6 IMX. OMG….if it wasn’t for a $500 plus MSRP I would buy another 3. Holy crap what a sweet rod! Those of you that have this rod have big grin on your face. Yeah man…I get it
CTS…haven’t had a pleasure to fish with it yet but will soon. I only used it once to make three casts at the OBI during the demonstration they had. Those might be the longest three casts I ever made in my life. Let me put it to you this way, this was my impression of the CTS. You don’t get suited up but instead you drive to the beach. You get out, grab your CTS and plug and make a cast. You spike a rod, change into your wetsuit, attach Korkers, grab your rod…and plug is still in the air. Exaggeration? Absolutely but I can’t wait to start fishing with it. Lou just finished one up for me. I have heard nothing but great things about these rods.
Forget the one piece, two piece crap for a moment. It’s not about that, it’s about the performance. It’s like saying that rubber waders are better than breathable. Tell me something, how big was your grin first time you tried to lift a pair of breathable waders? How about when you put them on? Heavenly? You got it, so you know what I am saying. The rubber waders are still the most durable damn waders they ever made…just sayin’
Since I am talking about the stuff we all use, let me chime in on reels
Lots of people asking questions about new bail less Penn Torque. I had it for about a two months now and I feel somewhat qualified to offer an opinion. here is my feelings on it so far….looks like a reel that will be around for a long time. Feels solid, sand intrusion is not a problem. Flushes faster than any reel I ever used. I have a Torque 5 which is their smallest model. Number 7 that is next in line is kind of big for my taste. The # 5 has a spool diameter of VS 150 but it “feels” bigger. Don’t ask me why. I horsed twenty fish under the light on last week with no problems. Granted, they weren’t big but I had no issues. I am damned impressed with casting and I will tell you why…
I managed to hold my own amongst those that are fishing with GSB and VS 300. I didn’t think much of it. I am a lousy caster but I have my moments where my plug actually sails straight instead of crossing the line of the guy next to me. It happens, just not that often.
But Sunday morning a friend wanted to see the reel and then he brought in his VS 150. I thought my Torque was more on level with a VS 200. I guess that’s why I was impressed. The drag is smooth. Love the fact that adjustment is very gradual and that it has a clicker so I can tell just how much am I tightening. The gears feels like a fine tuned machine , the line lays on the reel perfectly. The classic Penn handle is something I could probably do without. I meant the knob. I guess after all these years with a round VS knob I would prefer something like that. At least metal instead of Classic Penn Style. Anyway, that is it for now. The reel was spooled with Tuff Line XP and used on a custom St Croix Legends and Gloomis IMX 10’6” rods. Both of those models seem like a custom fit for the reel.
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One of the most informative rants ever. LOL Started off as a bitch session then ended with valubale opinions on new products. Love this blog.
Sean H.
↓hey, you are not suppose to read it that quick!
↓It took me hours to write that @#%&^(
lol
I must have logged on as you posted it Z. I really need to check out the CTS rods.
Sean H.
↓Hey, I am looking forward to see what can they do too
↓i love my cts its a great rod
↓CTS rods are great..my vapor trail is awesome. Casts very nicely built the concept way.
↓The reel is solid, since you sent mine back in august I havn”t even touched my VS 250. Simply love it, glad I waited.
↓I have the Torque 5 bailed version and have been fishing it for this season since the spring… unfortunately it just recently developed a problem of leaking oil/grease from the reel knob. Still functions fine but now I get quite dirty fishing. Not quite sure what the problem is but I am not quite ready to take it in for service. Prior to this instance I was very happy with the reel.
↓Thanks Z. Im racking my brain tryin to decide between Torque 5 and VS 200. Every bit of info really helps.
↓Great read, again, people jumping to conclusions. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing…
↓Very informative. Thanks Z!
↓Thanks Z I’m sold.
↓I bought a Torque 7 because the 5 seemed a little small and there weren’t many reviews on either yet. I’ve been fishing with it since spring. My drag know does not have that ratcheting click anymore when I adjust it. I’m hoping to warranty it but I don’t have any paperwork. I’m also debating whether or not to put thread lock on the handle. My concern is that one bump the wrong way it will lossen up and spin off all the way and be gone. Aside from these concerns it works great.
↓i built two cts rods for myself using the concept layout. s8 sereies and pj1008 jetty stick. the jetty stick is a great rod can handle big fishi no problem. the s8 great for the beach. but honestly in my opinion i still rather fish with my gsb 1201m and gsb 132 1m over ct. i fished both really hard trying to decide. i like cts for some reason. but i finally came down to it and decided i like the softness of the gsb. they are versatile rods. it was really pissing me off cause i wanted something new. lol. but in any event i made them so i am going to fish them. just switch on and off. but gsb is my number 1 choice
↓Thanks for the info Z!
↓Ahh loomis can’t say I didn’t write them multiple time asking for an IMX surf rod I fell in love with it the minute I gave one a shake at the suffern show in the spring unfortunetly id have to sell every surf rod I own to get one so I have to stick with what I’ve got hope to see some conventional versions of the rod next season. Penn torque my next purchase for an all purpose bailed salt reel I think they fit the penn mold pretty well. I do here some stateing they are boat reels well so are slammers but they are fished hard the entire striper coast from the surf so why not a slammer on roids such as the trq that’s built to keep out the elements.
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