Further North

Is that really a consideration when buying a fishing rod? ...particularly a high end, high performance rod?

The thing...with any kind of technology...is you cannot possibly buy new and expect to have "the best" for more than a couple months, tops. ...the other thing...it doesn't matter. Not one, tiny bit.

I agree...after that, go play with demo units in the store, buy the one that has an interface you like. There is no functional difference between the brands...some do this better, some do that better...but at the end of the day it comes down to what makes the most sense to guy running the thing for it to be successful... I'm a Humminbird guy, I have good friends who are highly successful using Lowrance and Garmin...buy what you like, there is no "best".

Not being snarky, genuinely curious; I have two questions: How would we, above surface, evaluate prop noise? What difference would prop noise make?

Is it just me, or is every other rod on that 24 rod rack missing a reel?

Or dip the rod in the water. That's what I did moments after this: PS: Fly line works fine in the cold...little stiff, but it works. Man...I get that, because cold tends to be relative...but some of our best fishing up here is after air temps drop below 50°... *********************************** On a semi-related topic...we have a rope out back for the dogs...twice this year, we had wet weather (mid 30s, raining) then had the temperature take a dive to near zero over the course of three or four hours...and both times the core of the rope broke...leaving the outer nylon weave unbroken. Never seen that before...

About 50/50. For me it mostly depends on where I am in the boat. No, never. With the GPS enabled electric steer models, you quickly adapt to s "set it and forget it" style. You don't have to know where the head is pointed all the time...because it's where you left it...but this is also true of Ultrex. Self stowing and deploying is nice. Better as we get older. Being able to trim the motor up for shallow water is, IMO, unbeatble and not possible on the Ultrex. Adding an external transducer is a PITA on the Ultera...and I had my Terrovas set up that way for years. Decided to try the Ulterra without an external transducer...am on my 2nd year...don't miss it at all. YMMV. Yup, and they work fine. Still a PITA to install, but once on are painless.

My rods stay out in an unheated, detached, boat specific garage all year. No issues. My cars stay in a heated, attached garage all year where the temperature never drops below 50°. No problems there, either. ...and it sure is nice when it's -20° outside...

Wind chill has no effect on fishing line...or any other inanimate object object... The only impact that wind can have on inanimate objects is to speed up the lowering of initial temperature to the same temperature as ambient temperatures outdoors. I'm not saying 10° isn't cold...it's been below -20° here already this winter...just attempting to keep the science accurate...

Great reels. Way under rated.

Sounds like it'd work fine for 20" - 30" pike...the only caution I'd have s that with an upper limit of 1 oz. lures it's a little light for some of the things I throw at pike...especially when I'm looking for their slightly bigger sisters... Pike are my favorite fish, and I target them most days I'm on the water, at least for a while. I frequently use a Doctor Spoon that's about 1 1/8 oz...it'd work for that, but it looks like it'd be PITA to throw.

For gear fishing...no real preference, other than reels being a great example of "You get what you pay for". Fly reels, easy choice: Lamson.

I use Lake Forks Co-Polymer line as leader in several line weights on several different rods. Cant speak to it for any use other than that...but it works great as leaders!

That's guy. Made me wince every time...I recall him getting in some kind of trouble...

So...weirdness...I reacted to "Legend X" because it is the name of a line of (IMO) exceptional fly rods by St. Croix...they are apparently discontinued, and it anyone one is looking for a world class, made in the USA rod at offshore pricing, they still have them in 7, 9 and 10 wt. at $250. So anyway...I searched the St. Croix site, and nothing came up for Legend X other than the fly rods...but a Google search turns casting and spinning rods at TW... But here's where I get confused...it looks like the Legend X casting and spinning rods have cork grips, rather than the Xtreme Skin handles I love so much on my Legend X Fly rod and Legend Xtreme Spinning rod... Color me confused...

Well said...there's a reason I have five or six 8 wt. rods: One is for "finesse" topwater (think Ol. Mr. Wiggly), one is for big pike muskie flies (see below)...and the rest are spread out in between. I am anxious to get my hands on the Axiom II...I want to see how it compares to the first generation Axiom that I use for those bigger streamers. It's not going to be an H3...but I have a good impression of one from a guy who has been fly fishing for 50 years...he contrasted it to the H3 favorably, particularly for 1/3 the $$$. Made me laugh...but I want the Shamwow guy....

Rod technology... I saw interesting developments in two places last year with fly rods. St. Croix came up with a new two piece rod (Sole) that is supposed to improve power, lift and sensitivity. Orvis has some interesting technology in the new H3 that makes the rods lighter, and that is supposed to keep the round shape better (all hollow rods go oval when cast) that is supposed to reduce deflection and improve accuracy. Have not tried either. Temple Forks is claiming similar to the Orvis with their new Axiom II. Lamson dug up an old idea and refined it - the are mounting their reels much more in line with the shaft of the rod to lessen the effect of the weight of the rod and line hanging below the rod (Might not seem like much, but imagine a 500 grain weight swinging 4" below your hand...and then imagine the same weight in your palm...).

Carrying the battery to power it would suck...

Good advice.

Rick, you've got a great perspective and there's a fair number of folks out there that would benefit from sitting back, taking a deep breath and and absorbing the Zen of the whole thing...what works best for each of us...works best for each of us. If we were all the same, life would be so dull we'd all want to choke ourselves out by noon of our first day... ...a the same time, there's a bunch of folks who are convinced there's a best this and best that...or who get hung up in the idea that they are better than someone else who has something that cost less... or had better reviews..or whatever... ...at the same time, there's a buncha folks who have determined that they are somehow better than everyone else because the muddle through with things that cost less, didn't get great reviews...but they "make it work" regardless... Both those groups of folks operate on the assumption that they can raise them selves up by putting others down, rather than realizing that the best way is to raise everyone up at the same time and celebrating our differences and learning cool stuff rather than our conformance to one way of living and doing stuff... ...anyway, great post, thanks!

@A-Jay Really cool, thanks. ...more than a little evidence that we tend to get wrapped 'round the axle of the past and not be open minded about new things that show up on our doorstep, bearing gifts...

Ditto on my fly rods. Most are 4 piece, a couple are 3 piece, two are two piece. The they all work fine. I have several gear rods that are two piece, Mostly as a recognition that it's nearly impossible to protect rods much over 7 or 8 feet during transportation. They all work fine too. Here's a hidden benefit to multi-piece rods from the folks at St. Croix: it is much easier and more effective to engineer specific properties into parts of a rod when that rod is multi-piece. ...imagine a rod with two different tip actions... This already exists in fly rods...Has for years.

I have that same reel on an St. Croix Avid X that I use similarly. You should enjoy it a lot.

I would posit that at some point, "super thin" becomes a problem rather than a "feature". As noted above, I avoid thin braids because that stuff cuts my fingers...but makes good floss... Diameter impacts casting distance...but at what point does that cease to matter? Accuracy is negatively impacted by distance...a variation of 1/16" of rod tip position = 1" at 16 yards...basic shotgun shooter's math for center of pattern there...I would challenge that anyone can average better than 2", over 10 tries, given wind, pitching decks, etc...so call that 2 * 16 = 32"...run that out to 50 yards (3.125x 16) and we're at about 100" (8ft. 4") off. That'll put me well past the other side of the dock I'm casting at, dunno about you....and reality is waaaay worse than that. Just for reference. Gotta love math...

Any of the top brands will work and last quite a while. I run Minn Kota myself that has been in three boats in the last several years. Does a great job, no problems.