different strokes for different folks?

[David Gauntlett]

I don't think it's nearly as cut and dried as you think. Lines, like you I detest Sensor, I think it's utter rubbish. Lot's of folks seem to love the stuff. Who is right? Who is wrong? Is it simply because I've loaded it incorrectly? Because I play fish in a different way to others? Use it in different environments to others? Have I had a bad batch (or three)? I neither know nor care, I think it's rubbish and no amount of folks telling me it's great are going to change that.

Hooks are the same. Some folks play fish much more gently than others. They can get away with much finer guage hooks. Someone more heavy handed would be liable to open finer hooks up. Does that make those fine hooks useless or just useless for certain individuals? You talk of hookpoints turning, I've had that exact experience of a very popular brand which I avoid at all costs. However, I tend to fish rivers and lakes with very stony beds. Had I been fishing more silty/muddy waters would I have ever noticed? Is that why some use gear I'd never dream of? I suspect so.

In my experience it's actually fairly unusual for a product that's so appalling, as to achieve universal condemnation, to even come to market. There's a fair bet that it'll suit someone, somewhere right down to the ground. Likewise, I've yet to encounter many products so good as to achieve universal acclaim. Even if the only reason it fails to be universal is an excessive price tag or lack of availability.

Again I agree with most of your points Chris. However, a friend I fished with many moons ago was a walking test bed for gear. He was a lovely guy....but him being a very big man with huge strength, coupled with a tendency to be a little on the heavy handed side....meant that his kit went through 'to destruction' type tests on an almost daily basis . Another facet of his make up was a morbid fear of spending money, which meant said gear was at the budget end of the budget end....not a great combination Sufficient to say that more than one carp rod ended up in many more pieces than the manufacture ever allowed for in the original design sketches....during it's first day of use

The point is these rods were all from one manufacturer (Early models of far eastern blanks) and failed on the cast. One could say it was all down to the angler, and there is undeniably an aspect of that lurking in there. However....once he took my advice and spent a little more and bought a proven blank....he never managed to breake another rod.

Strangely, as you say....there were probably still some out there who loved those rods.....no doubt blissfully unaware of what happened to them if a real man got hold of them

On another occasion, we were on the look-out for our first bivvies, and he managed to convince me that the 'Special offer', two for the price of one style bargains heaped in the corner of our local emporium would be just the job. I forget exactly how long they lasted, but certainly the number of nights could be counted on your fingers, with no need to start on your toes.....

Extreme example I know, but it demonstrates my point....there definitely is (or certainly was) some genuinely cr*p gear out there!

I also think that there are undoubtedly some anglers who are able to experience huge levels of satisfaction and delight by using cheap bits of kit that, in their view 'still do the job just as well', despite costing next to nothing. The fact that some of these items require 'special treatment' to perform at all....seems to them an irrelevancy

And why not, bless 'em Point being....you are unlikely to get reliable recommendations from folk with those....interesting?...habits.

Cheers, Dave.

 

[David Gauntlett]

if we were all the same what a boring world it would be... different strokes for different folks.. and what ever bit of kit you have you will defend because you think it right, because it is right for you...then you go into sales man mode trying to explain why it is best thing like sliced bread...

Spot on Hadley. It may not REALLY be the dogs danglies...in fact it may be cr*p....but at least it's YOUR cr*p....so woe betide anyone who criticises it

Cheers, Dave.

 

[John Walker]

Dave G. with the big game line there were/are different types, in my mind the toughest and most abrasive proof was/is the xt type,
in answer to the rest of your ponderings ect maybe its because a lot of barbel guys have been let down by their gear ect after waiting patiently to get stuck in to particular fish spending much time and lots of head banging frustration then BINGO the one fish wanted comes along only for the gear to fail! personally i would rather listen to my mates experiences and not chance stuff thats failed a few people, incidently the shimano technium line is really good if a tad more expensive than some others

 

[David Gauntlett]

Dave G. with the big game line there were/are different types, in my mind the toughest and most abrasive proof was/is the xt type,
in answer to the rest of your ponderings ect maybe its because a lot of barbel guys have been let down by thir gear ect after waiting patiently to get stuck in to particular fish spending much time and lots of head banging frustration then BINGO the one fish wanted comes along only for the gear to fail! personally i would rather listen to my mates experiences and not chance stuff thats failed a few people, incidently the shimano technium line is really good if a tad more expensive than some others

Agreed John. Some other oldish lines that still cut the mustard are Gold labels 'Pro Gold', Fox 'Soft Steel' (the original, not the camo) and Gardners 'GR60'. For a very tough line from that era that was very good for snag fishing and WAS as cheap as chips, Nash 'Bullet' took some beating. Sadly, as soon as Kevin discovered it was selling well, the price went right up...surprise, surprise In retaliation for which I will mention that part of the reason for it's apparent huge strength was the fact that it is/was probably the most ridiculously under rated line (in terms of stated to actual breaking strain) that I knew of

Cheers, Dave.

 

[Shaun Morris]

''Different Strokes for different folks'' must surely include the '' budget'' you are on, as well as the river you are fishing. I recently bought over a mile of big game clear for not very much, followed a link put up on this site, thank you whoever you were. Have seen line priced up at over £40 quid for 100 metres. Must be amazing, low diameter, really strong, no memory, etc, but not for me at that price.

I use an inexpensive rod and reel. I fish a small river. I never have to cast far, so I need a good winching machine (cheap okuma) attached to a proper rod (Shakespeare power avon).

However I will not compromise on hooks or hook lengths. I can buy at the top end of the market on the stuff I think really matters, without going broke.

Am I making sense, or talking gonads.

Shaun

 

[John Walker]

Shaun, the difference between expensive but good gear and inexpensive gear
isnt always apparent mate, bit like crossing the busy road in dark glasses,
darks ok but make sure the visiblity factors good
all anglers buy what they can afford mate, i am 65 now and beleive me some of the rods and stuff i have bought in haste left a lot to desire in using, some was ok some wasnt, since using harrisons rods i shelved my others,
some of my rods n reels are over 25 years old and still used mate, good value long term but as said at 65 my kids aint expensive now (unless the get into my office where i keep most of my rods n reels) enjoy your fishing its the enjoyment of being out fishing no matter what gear you use

 

[Simon Lush]

''Different Strokes for different folks'' must surely include the '' budget'' you are on, as well as the river you are fishing. I recently bought over a mile of big game clear for not very much, followed a link put up on this site, thank you whoever you were. Have seen line priced up at over £40 quid for 100 metres. Must be amazing, low diameter, really strong, no memory, etc, but not for me at that price.

I use an inexpensive rod and reel. I fish a small river. I never have to cast far, so I need a good winching machine (cheap okuma) attached to a proper rod (Shakespeare power avon).

However I will not compromise on hooks or hook lengths. I can buy at the top end of the market on the stuff I think really matters, without going broke.

Am I making sense, or talking gonads.

Shaun

Sense

 

[Keith Speer]

Dave; is it not those differences that make this all interesting?

Take two anglers, myself and for arguments sake Ian Grant.

We are both of a similar age, our hobby (all consuming passion to catch big Barbel) is similar, we fish similar sized waters and we both catch the odd lump.

Yet our tackle and angling methods could not be more different, I suspect if you were to check our tackle, there would not be more than a handful of items that are in any way similar.
Ian has a vast knowledge of bait, its recipes, its preparation, chemical make up, protein content and application, whereas my knowledge on bait is minimal to say the least.

What I do suspect is very similar is our knowledge of watercraft, and that is something you cannot learn from a book or from a conversation, sitting on a wet bank is the only way to accumulate that knowledge, being there for hours and hours watching and waiting is not time wasted, rather it is knowledge gained, I suspect we have both learned much more from our blanks than from the odd golden day when everything goes well.

I have never sat down and had a long conversation with Ian, but if I did, I suspect I should learn a very great deal, and I would hope that Ian would find a value in such a conversation too!

I would imagine that many an angler has waded through this site and learned something and the fact is, you are bound to learn a lot more from someone who does it a bit differently than someone who does it the same as you.

Surely it is those differences that make this site so interesting!

 

[Tom Herbert]

I use the line i do because it works for me, rarely lets me down and is consistent in construction.

I used to be a Maxima user but after having four or five bad spools i switched over to the popular Big Game but when i started using smaller reels i was never totally happy with the way it sat on the spool so i started to look at what else was around. I tried GR60 but it never felt so i abandoned it after a while, Krystonite i felt was a shocking line and only used it twice before stripping down my spools.

I am not a fan of the flouro-carbon lines, i cannot seem to tie a safe knot with them, but then i only know two knots, the no-knot and the '********, i didn't tie that properly' knot!

I do feel, like bait, that sometimes the construction methods change and ergo the end product changes, sometimes for the better but sometimes for the worse. I used to fish 99% of the time with a popular boilie when fishing for carp in the early 90's, it was a great bait but somewhere along the line the bait make up was changed from a slightly rubbery boilie to a dry and crumbly bait. I tried different shops to see if it was just a rogue batch but sadly it was not!

As a teen growing up one of the pearls of wisdom imparted to me by my father was "son, never argue about music, religion or politics, every man has his own and you will be at a loss to convince him otherwise".................. perhaps he should have added fishing to that little pearl!

Good luck trying to find the answer to your question Dave.

 

[Phill Mcguire]

them are true words tom

 

[David Gauntlett]

I agree entirely with what you say Keith, people like what they like and have their own personal take on most things. We are indeed individuals, with our own list of requirements and demands on the tackle we buy....and a damned good job too....it is, as you say, what makes angling what it is. Even if it leads to some folk having very....interesting....ways of doing things. Like using gossamer lines, hooks that my eyes can't even see....and a piece of twig with some red paint on the top...to catch maHOOsive barbel

However, my point is that some people purchase an item of tackle, and after a period of use declare them to be superb, having suffered no failures or problems of any sort. Another angler will buy the same bit of kit and claim all sorts of issues, sometimes to the point of binning them as unusable. That level of difference in opinions on the same item I find extraordinary, and I feel certain that it can't always be explained by personal styles and use differences...or even the 'dodgy batch' syndrome

I would accept....even expect, a difference of opinion (or reaction to) the way an item of tackle achieves what it is designed to do. That is explained by personal preferences in, say, the various actions of different rods...that sort of thing. But that is a question of style preference, not quality....not the enormous gulf between anglers findings I am questioning at all.

Returning to your points about the vastly different means of achieving the same end employed by Ian and yourself....however different those methods may be, I would lay odds that if the pair of you swapped tackle for a day, there would not be a single item of the other man's kit that either of you would condem as useless (other than the expected banter ) You would both instinctively know that while it may not be your cup of tea, at least it was decent kit.

And before you say....I don't doubt for a second that the pair of you are actually pretty dab hands at whatever method or type of tackle you choose to use on the day....so the last paragraph is (some would say as ever) completely meaningless in reality....but you know what I mean

All the best Keith,

Dave.

 

[David Gauntlett]

them are true words tom

What he said Tom

Cheers, Dave.