Your Dream Bream Rod???

[Cindy]

HI Guys and Gals,

I have a question for you.
If you were to create your dream bream rod, what length, action, line rating, handle, etc would it be? No brand names, please, just specs.
What price range would you want it to be? (Of course, be realistic!)
I realize due to individual tastes there will be a wide range of answers but I am interested in hearing your comments.
Cheers,
Cindy

[bubba]

Hi Cindy,
I guess my ideal Bream rod would need to be 2 of them . 1 for HB's and 1 for SP's.
I like the smaller rods for some reason. I guess due to the fact I like fishing in heavy cover.
Something 5'8-6'6 with a high modulous Graphite feel (sensitivity and lightness) without the fragile attributes of HM graphite. Im sick of HM Graph rods popping
A short butt and foregrip, in cork of course, with a contoured rear grip.
Guides and reel seat need to be good quality of course (no point going into brands etc)
The SP rod needs to be a fast-medium taper with plenty of backbone. 1-3kg is ideal line weight. The reason for the fast-medium taper is it needs to have a very whippy tip for delicate casting but the strength to pull fish from structure quickly if needed.
Guide position etc isnt that important in the over all scheme of things other than the stripper guide.
It needs to me in a place that will prevent as many fireline tangles as possible.

For my HB rod 2-5kg is perfect. Medium slow taper for a specific reason. Flats and snags are utilised with HB's so you need something that will cause a country mile or just allow delicate flicks.
I have a similar setup for my LBG lure stick (although it is a fair bit longer) Again similar cosmetic and grip design.

I guess Im not that fussy but it is a little hard to come up with an "ideal" without having it in your hands

Cost. Theres an interesting one. People will pay what THEY think it is worth. I guess 300-500 isnt out of the question providing the strenght issue is addressed

[CHUNQX]

I don't own too many expensive bream rods because of affordability but I do have a few which I wouldn't part with. Since I fish mainly landbased I find 7ft to be ideal for casting to wherever and with my current Loomis 7ft I can alomost get to the other side of the river i fish in. You might be wondering why I want to cast to the other end. Well, its because I don't have a boat and so I try to imitate a boat fishing situation by casting to the bank and retrieving away from the bank. Next, it has to be 2 piece for ease of transport (3 is even better). The butt should be short for single handed action and when casting onehanded it doesn't catch your sleeve. The tip for SPs should be soft for casting light jigheads but the high modulus graphite should more than compensate for the whippy tip action to be able to register any hint of a bite. 2 months ago I wouldn't have thought that the graphite thing matters all that much until I got my Loomis and suddenly my hookup rate improved dramatically and that was because I could feel (sometimes sense) that something wasn't quite right and when I lifted the rod, it resulted in a hookup and surprised me no end.
Reasonably good guides (alconites minimum)
Also its got to be light so that you don't feel the strain in your arms after a few hours casting.
Last and probably the determning factor on whether I buy the rod or not is its cost. I know that if you're really keen on a rod, you'd do what it takes, save on lunch money, work extra hours etc to get it but being married and a morgage to pay does put a HUGE restraint on one's financial ability so if all that comes under $400 I would buy it.
To sum it up:
7ft or 7'6" for landbased, 5'6" to 6" for tight spaces
High modulus graphite
short butt
2-3 piece
good guides
soft tip
under$400 pref around $350

[Cindy]

Thanks for the comments, guys. Good points written.

Anymore out there?

If I had my way of materials used to make the blanks. I would use different modulus graphite to different sections of the rod.
Ie, low modulus for the 1/4 to 1/3 of the tip, then to mdium modulus say IM6 for the mid section and high modulus for the butt section.

I know there are rods that are made like this already, just a suggestion.

Have U guys looked into new reel seats designs similar to the daiwas and kristlers ??(oh they're the ones that makes multi modulus section rods)

[yogi]

For me, I would like a fast/ultra fast tapered 1-3kg 6' to 6'6" high modulus graphite rod for soft plastics.
For the reel seat, preferably a design that hides the screw thread on the reel seat(if there's a specific name for it, don't know what it is. ) so that I can comfortably hold it the whole day.
Grip would have to be cork for the nice feel and light weight.
Guides? Preferably colourfully ones like gold frames and blue inserts to make them stand out from the rest. (middle range guides will do).
Some sort of custom weaving on the butt end of the rod to give it some individuality would be perfect. Something like the photo. Price from $300-500 I guess.
Cheers

Yogi

[swoffa]

Not mentioning brand names is difficult for me because my ultimate rod has already been produced...

I can't describe the action I look for as it varies so much depending on what and where I'm fishing, basically I like the same finish on about 7 different blank styles so that I have different actions and lengths.

The things that are important to me are:
Very short butt, 4" tops.
Quality cork grips.
Smooth grip, none of that "ergonimic" crap.
Alconites or better, never had a problem with alconites.
Over-sized low-profile guides.
Simple bindings without to much epoxy.
Adjustable butt weights for different reels.
Light finished product
Good warranty!!! I tend to treat my gear pretty bad.

One important factor for me is what input I can have into the design and construction. I like to be able to tell the builder that it'll be used for "X "or be matched with a certain reel, and have it built accordingly.

I wouldn't want too much fancy binding work as it will upset the balance. Also I'm not into the tacky coloured guides as they cheapen the whole product.

Price isn't important as long as I feel I'm getting what I pay for.

[dantheman]

I just got a new Team Daiwa Battler as a jewie spinning rod, its light has an awsome real seat grip section, is tough for stopping strong fish, has awsome guides , i couldnt be happier, is their any one else out their who uses these rods?

cheers Dan

[Madeye]

Somthing that is equally as good for hard bodies and soft plastics.

I would rather lose a bit of quality and have an all round rod than having to buy 2 purebreeds (if thats the word)

Here ill explain it another way
Id rather this

Hard body effectivness: 7
Sort plastic effectivness: 7

than this:
Soft plastic effectivness: 10
Hard body Effectivness: 4

The other reason is im sure we all cant afford to have 2 expensive but could afford one.

Well if u could make me one of these for around $200-$300 id buy it in a flash

[cyberfish]

Hey Dan, what model team daiwa battler did you get? cheers, Andrew.

[bparker]

Don't own a boat so all of my spinning is land based..primarily with SPs.

My ideal rod would be 7ft in length.

2 piece is mandatory....I always take a rod with me when I go away, I would love for someone to produce a decent 3,4 or 5 piece travel Bream rod. Excellent quality multi piece fly rods have been produced for years by companies like Sage and Loomis. You'd think producing a travel Bream stick wouldn't be too hard.

Blank should be fast-v.fast with good tip action and rated to 2-4kg. I have a preference for rods that have a narrow profile...especially in the butt. Some rods get too bulky down there.

Grip should be for single handed use..2" foregrip, 4" rear-grip. High grade cork of course.

Not too fussed by the reel seat except that some manufacturers need to trim down the threaded part before attaching them to the rod. Most modern reels of 1000 - 1500 size have small feet. Once the reel seat hood is tightened there is 1"1/2 - 2" of thread protruding. Can get a bit uncomfortable.

Haven't tried one yet, but I look the look of those skeleton reel seats.

I'm not a proficient enough angler to tell the difference between the various guide materials but they need to be light and single footed.

Binding should be kept to a minimum to keep rod weight down.

Blank should have a matt finish to reduce rod flash (in some of the smaller clearer streams the bream are very spooky)

A hook keeper would also be nice.

[Cindy]

Thanks Guys for the comments. This is what we want to hear: what you'd like to see.

On the skeleton reel seats: we have some in the works and will be using them shortly. We will be using cork inserts. Also, we have some spin seats with wood inserts on their way (Aug for those). We are offering quite a variety for reel seats on our CPLus.

Our blanks are matte finish.

We offer a 7ft Bream rod in 2 pc but we are thinking of getting Batson's to make us a 3 pc 7ft Flats Ranger for travellers. Actually next month our new series "Traveller" (yeah Traveller, we named it after you!) begins. First rod to be released will be a 7ft spin 3-6kg in 3 pc. Next we'll try for the 3 pc Flats rod as we think this a great allround estuary rod and it will be 2-5kg most likely.

Reel seats: our Forecast (Batson's) are shorter than the Fuji. This has been a bonus for many. There are alot of different reels out there, and the foot length does present problems for some.

We basically offer an all Batson package with our rods as even our cork is from them and it is top quality.

On bindings, we keep ours to a minimal. In fact, all that we do is meant to keep the rod's wt as light as possible but still maintain top quality (no compromises). Our custom guides using our own Slik Cast system, incorporates the many design parameters which must be considered in producing the best rod possible.

Hook Keeper on our rods are an optional extra. Of late, we've had quite a few requests.

In short: one of the features of our company is the quest for continuous improvement in all that we do: in both service and product.
Cheers,
Cindy

[bparker]

Cindy.

That 3 Flats rod sounds the one I'm looking for..would love to hear how it is progressing.

[Cindy]

The 3 pc Flats 2-5kg? I can't give a time frame yet, as it is something we have been debating a while. It would be nice to know how many anglers out there would be interested in such a rod. We find many don't want multiple piece rods but there are a small percentage who do. I'd like to hear a vote for or against from the folks here on BM?
Cheers,
Cindy

[dantheman]

cyber. i got the python its my jewies spinning rod