How Do You Rate a Rod??

[Future Fanatic]

I don't actually say anything. Once we sit down in the interview, I mention that I noticed they had a hard time following me (assuming they didn't keep up) and this makes me wonder if they would be able to handle the fast pace of the sales floor. Depending on the candidates answer, I then make a decision. If they chose not to divulge the reason they had a difficulty, then call me remiss for not hiring them. Alternately, I would have most likely had or will have a position they would potentially be suited for. I'm not sure I quite understand what is funny about this? Also, I couldn't help notice that you changed your avatar already. You wouldn't be a heckler now would you?

Changed my avatar already? I've changed it numerous times. Not too recently though. Heckler? No. It just sometimes seems that way. But, I couldn't help notice that you have no avatar. You wouldn't be challenged by technology, would you?

To the matter at hand...
Since you've outlined your walk til you drop technique of hiring, I think we are all satisfied. But for those who still have doubts, sworn affidavits (notarized of course) given by your last 5 hires, describing having taken said walk, and being questioned (if applicable)as to the nature of their failure.... wait.... they wouldn't have been hired. Ahhh, just forget it.

 

[CatskillKid]

Changed my avatar already? I've changed it numerous times. Not too recently though. Heckler? No. It just sometimes seems that way. But, I couldn't help notice that you have no avatar. You wouldn't be challenged by technology, would you?

To the matter at hand...
Since you've outlined your walk til you drop technique of hiring, I think we are all satisfied. But for those who still have doubts, sworn affidavits (notarized of course) given by your last 5 hires, describing having taken said walk, and being questioned (if applicable)as to the nature of their failure.... wait.... they wouldn't have been hired. Ahhh, just forget it.

No, not challenged by technology really and nothing against an avatar either, just don't want one. Glad to hear you're satisfied with my hiring practices though. I've been a frustrated customer in larger stores when the one guy working waits on one person for a half hour and can't even manage to say hi or multi-task. That being said, I've seen so many people who aren't able to handle a fast pace either mentally snap or get run into the ground trying to keep pace that I truly don't want to set someone up to fail. I'm very willing to compensate for any and all disabilities and providing the person demonstrates an ability to perform their duties, then hiring them is a go. Since I'm a notary (need to be in order to sell boats an other items), if I wanted to I could satisfy any and all doubts for all those posters that want to watch me go through all that effort because someone in an internet chat site wants to pull my strings. Obviously, I'd have absolutely zero interest in capitulating to such demands. It actually does seem that you are a heckler with a case of the ___ and or an axe to grind though. How 'bout letting us know how you evaluate a rod or tell us what you think of our tests. To do latter, you'd have to read the entire post and stay on track of course. But all we'd need is an opinion on how you evaluate a rod on a personal level and the beauty of that is, it requires no in depth reading and doesn't even have to be notarized! See how easy I make it?

 

[coolkyle]

So, so many words. I'm just too lazy to read all this.

 

[Trouser Trout]

I think catskillkid should change his screen name to, "verbose"......

 

[CatskillKid]

I think catskillkid should change his screen name to, "verbose"......

I actually had to look that word up man! Good one! Clearly you prefer unornamented, denuded, antiseptic, inconspicuous, minimalistic, unvarnished verbage as opposed to my gastrous, flamboyant, bedinized, baroque, rococo, bedecked, swanky and luridly appareled posts.

 

[Simms]

I actually had to look that word up man! Good one! Clearly you prefer unornamented, denuded, antiseptic, inconspicuous, minimalistic, unvarnished verbage as opposed to my gastrous, flamboyant, bedinized, baroque, rococo, bedecked, swanky and luridly appareled posts.

Excellent, you can copy and paste from dictionary.com !

 

[Trouser Trout]

I actually had to look that word up man! Good one! Clearly you prefer unornamented, denuded, antiseptic, inconspicuous, minimalistic, unvarnished verbage as opposed to my gastrous, flamboyant, bedinized, baroque, rococo, bedecked, swanky and luridly appareled posts.

Not really...... Your posts aren't so bad...just a little lengthy, tedious, cumbersome and yes annoying a times

 

[Catskill]

I've been a frustrated customer in larger stores when the one guy working waits on one person for a half hour and can't even manage to say hi or multi-task.

I had this happen to me today at Costco. I was the only one in line while the dolt behind the counter proceeded to talk to another Costco employee (who appeared to be on break) about his fantasy football league. The nerve of him. He wouldn't even look at me until he was finished. Have you ever run into the minimum wage boy who while on the telephone talking to a customer won't even acknowledge you? He knows your there but just won't give you the satisfaction of acknowledging you're standing before him. He stays "focused" on the phone call while completely ignoring you. He feels justified with his lack of action to you because he's helping someone else.

That being said, I've seen so many people who aren't able to handle a fast pace either mentally snap or get run into the ground trying to keep pace that I truly don't want to set someone up to fail. I'm very willing to compensate for any and all disabilities and providing the person demonstrates an ability to perform their duties, then hiring them is a go. Since I'm a notary (need to be in order to sell boats an other items), if I wanted to I could satisfy any and all doubts for all those posters that want to watch me go through all that effort because someone in an internet chat site wants to pull my strings. Obviously, I'd have absolutely zero interest in capitulating to such demands. It actually does seem that you are a heckler with a case of the ___ and or an axe to grind though. How 'bout letting us know how you evaluate a rod or tell us what you think of our tests. To do latter, you'd have to read the entire post and stay on track of course. But all we'd need is an opinion on how you evaluate a rod on a personal level and the beauty of that is, it requires no in depth reading and doesn't even have to be notarized! See how easy I make it?

What if the other person outpaces you? Do you speed up? If you speed up, what if he starts to jog ahead of you? Do you jog too?

 

[dcabarle]

I'd have to say this is one of the most interesting threads we've had in a while.

Judging a rod... I pick it up and give it the wiggle test. If it wiggles too much, it's too soft. If it doesn't wiggle enough than it's too either too fast or a broom stick. I like it to wiggle just right.

I know this test works because I own a few T&T rods, a Winston Rod, an Orvis rod, Loomis GLX, and a Sage. I also own a bamboo rod. This one was tricky because you typically can't return these once they're made. It kinda passed the wiggle test so I'm generally happy but haven't used this rod in a few years.

On a more serious note, I find that casting a rod must be fun and meet my definition of fun, not some magazines definition of fun.

I could never understand what people see in Albright and Scott rods. Scotts are very light but they're missing something. They've always fealt flat to me. I found the Scotts to be very smooth casting rods but as I've said, missing something. I feel the Albright rods had absolutely zero fun factor. In past tests they felt like broom sticks. You're right on about the St. Croix rods. They are fun rods but they are a bit on the heavy side. Why choose a a St. Croix over the much lighter Scott? Well first, St. Croix is a much better feeling rod. I have more fun casting what I consider a better feeling rod over the lighter rod. (I don't own either).

I was given an old Fenwick rod (2 piece) held together over the years with rubber bands. It's a glass rod and probably 30 years old. This rod is a dream rod. Too bad it's a much slower rod and doesn't fit my application. I'd choose this Fenwick hand me down over a lot of other rods anyday.

As a photographer (of sorts) I'm often asked which lens one should buy. They want a good all around lens. I ask them what they want to do with the lens. Most replies have something to do with family pictures. Look... you don't need to spend thousands on a DSLR + multiple lenses. Just go purchase a Point and shoot for your family album pics. They're great little cameras and there's not much to learn. Not only that but you can pick up a decent point and shoot camera for under $400 bux and they are quite flexible for quite a few applications. Many of them even function under water and double over as video cameras! They fit in your vest pocket and you don't have to worry about them getting wet.

Can you compare a Winston to a Sage? Sure... I'd take the Sage any day in the wind but for the fun factor?... It's a toss up because the rods feel completely different. Night and day. If I had to choose between the two rods, It would probably be the Sage. It's a smoother rod and it's lighter. The action is terrific so this is not a factor. The Winston is probably a little more fun to cast but the advantages of the Sage outweigh the the fun factor of the Winston. I love my Winston but Sage has the edge. I personally think sage makes the best rods I've been able to cast.

This leads me into another topic. I've seen some people cast and wonder what process they used to judge which rod to buy. When I see someone with a $700+ rod casting like they just learned the sport yesterday, it boggles my mind. I suppose they listened to the sales person in the store, saw some youtube video of an expert level caster and figured that brandy new Sage will make them cast just like the pro, or took someones advice in an online forum... "I've been fishing for 40yrs, this is the greatest rod on the planet".... Does fishing for 40yrs make you an expert caster? I see 80yr old drivers who still can't drive a car.

Much of the fun for me while fly fishing is casting. I stand in the boat and just cast for the thrill of casting. This is sometimes more exciting to me than the fishing. Hey... when the day is dull and there are no heads, practice casting. Some say you don't need to cast more than 40 ft and they laugh at the guy who's dumping a full fly line. If I hook a fish at 90 ft away then LDR the fish, who cares! I fooled the fish at that distance, bringing him to the net is a bonus. I might have 10 fish working in front of me and 1 fish 75 feet away. You bet I'm going for the challenging fish.

It's nice to catch trout but it's also fun to cast. I love taking that long cast than putting the binoculars to my eyes to follow the fly!

Ohh well, just a thought. I can cast a cheap rod just as well as a good rod and I can tell you all of the differences regarding the feeling of the rods. I don't understand how someone will say a 5 wt Scott has more flavor than a 5wt TFO. It's a light rod but I'll take the TFO ANY DAY. My loomis GLX was $250.bux and is not the most attractive rod on the planet. It's even got a crooked tip but this is one of the best rods I've owned over the years. It comes with me whenever I go fishing. It will cast a size 24 or a big wooly bugger.

 

[CatskillKid]

I had this happen to me today at Costco. I was the only one in line while the dolt behind the counter proceeded to talk to another Costco employee (who appeared to be on break) about his fantasy football league. The nerve of him. He wouldn't even look at me until he was finished. Have you ever run into the minimum wage boy who while on the telephone talking to a customer won't even acknowledge you? He knows your there but just won't give you the satisfaction of acknowledging you're standing before him. He stays "focused" on the phone call while completely ignoring you. He feels justified with his lack of action to you because he's helping someone else

It's the job of retailers to produce a warm, friendly place where customers are greeted and at the very least, serviced politely. The problem is that the wages don't make it easy to hire, train and retain good help. That's just the way it is, truly it's nothing new. In fact, Retail hasn't really changed at all over the years, it's still retail.

What if the other person outpaces you? Do you speed up? If you speed up, what if he starts to jog ahead of you? Do you jog too?<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

Funny! No, I don't play any games with folks. I just walk into the office and sit down at my desk. When they finally catch up we talk and I discuss the position, the requirements, their experience in retail, their sporting experience and their reasons for wanting a job. Surprisingly, a stunningly high number of people are shocked to find out that the job actually involves stocking shelves, picking a messy store up after a busy day, waiting on customers, being friendly and actively meetig and greeting anyone within eyes view and doing it all for the slightly better wages than you would earn at any other Retialer. That is to say, they seem surprised that you have to do all these things to work in retail. Many believe that magic elves to all the work. I have to point out to them that they would be the one doing such tasks if they were hired and I owe it to our customers to make sure I put someone of quality in front of them and this whole process involves a great deal of time and energy. In the end, it is really worth it though.

I try to think of my favorite retail store that I like and imagine how, when I walk into it, I would like to be treated. Besides finding any and all brands and specific items I'd expect to find, seeing few if any out of stocks and finding a good many bargains--I'd like to be treated friendly and made to feel as if I'm welcome.

---------- Post added at 12:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:23 AM ----------

I'd have to say this is one of the most interesting threads we've had in a while.

Judging a rod... I pick it up and give it the wiggle test. If it wiggles too much, it's too soft. If it doesn't wiggle enough than it's too either too fast or a broom stick. I like it to wiggle just right.

I know this test works because I own a few T&T rods, a Winston Rod, an Orvis rod, Loomis GLX, and a Sage. I also own a bamboo rod. This one was tricky because you typically can't return these once they're made. It kinda passed the wiggle test so I'm generally happy but haven't used this rod in a few years.

On a more serious note, I find that casting a rod must be fun and meet my definition of fun, not some magazines definition of fun.

I could never understand what people see in Albright and Scott rods. Scotts are very light but they're missing something. They've always fealt flat to me. I found the Scotts to be very smooth casting rods but as I've said, missing something. I feel the Albright rods had absolutely zero fun factor. In past tests they felt like broom sticks. You're right on about the St. Croix rods. They are fun rods but they are a bit on the heavy side. Why choose a a St. Croix over the much lighter Scott? Well first, St. Croix is a much better feeling rod. I have more fun casting what I consider a better feeling rod over the lighter rod. (I don't own either).

I was given an old Fenwick rod (2 piece) held together over the years with rubber bands. It's a glass rod and probably 30 years old. This rod is a dream rod. Too bad it's a much slower rod and doesn't fit my application. I'd choose this Fenwick hand me down over a lot of other rods anyday.

As a photographer (of sorts) I'm often asked which lens one should buy. They want a good all around lens. I ask them what they want to do with the lens. Most replies have something to do with family pictures. Look... you don't need to spend thousands on a DSLR + multiple lenses. Just go purchase a Point and shoot for your family album pics. They're great little cameras and there's not much to learn. Not only that but you can pick up a decent point and shoot camera for under $400 bux and they are quite flexible for quite a few applications. Many of them even function under water and double over as video cameras! They fit in your vest pocket and you don't have to worry about them getting wet.

Can you compare a Winston to a Sage? Sure... I'd take the Sage any day in the wind but for the fun factor?... It's a toss up because the rods feel completely different. Night and day. If I had to choose between the two rods, It would probably be the Sage. It's a smoother rod and it's lighter. The action is terrific so this is not a factor. The Winston is probably a little more fun to cast but the advantages of the Sage outweigh the the fun factor of the Winston. I love my Winston but Sage has the edge. I personally think sage makes the best rods I've been able to cast.

This leads me into another topic. I've seen some people cast and wonder what process they used to judge which rod to buy. When I see someone with a $700+ rod casting like they just learned the sport yesterday, it boggles my mind. I suppose they listened to the sales person in the store, saw some youtube video of an expert level caster and figured that brandy new Sage will make them cast just like the pro, or took someones advice in an online forum... "I've been fishing for 40yrs, this is the greatest rod on the planet".... Does fishing for 40yrs make you an expert caster? I see 80yr old drivers who still can't drive a car.

Much of the fun for me while fly fishing is casting. I stand in the boat and just cast for the thrill of casting. This is sometimes more exciting to me than the fishing. Hey... when the day is dull and there are no heads, practice casting. Some say you don't need to cast more than 40 ft and they laugh at the guy who's dumping a full fly line. If I hook a fish at 90 ft away then LDR the fish, who cares! I fooled the fish at that distance, bringing him to the net is a bonus. I might have 10 fish working in front of me and 1 fish 75 feet away. You bet I'm going for the challenging fish.

It's nice to catch trout but it's also fun to cast. I love taking that long cast than putting the binoculars to my eyes to follow the fly!

Ohh well, just a thought. I can cast a cheap rod just as well as a good rod and I can tell you all of the differences regarding the feeling of the rods. I don't understand how someone will say a 5 wt Scott has more flavor than a 5wt TFO. It's a light rod but I'll take the TFO ANY DAY. My loomis GLX was $250.bux and is not the most attractive rod on the planet. It's even got a crooked tip but this is one of the best rods I've owned over the years. It comes with me whenever I go fishing. It will cast a size 24 or a big wooly bugger.<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

Finally! Someone sane. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy feeling like a human in Planet of the Apes, but it was starting to get a little wierd. Sounds like you're a decent caster and the reason I say that is usually a good caster can play with a rod on the rack and have a fair idea of what it should be able to do. Obviously, it doesn't always work out, but swing weight is certainly all about how a rod feels in the hand.

It was fun to read your opinions on rods, which ones you like and so forth. Thanks for illuminating your views, you did a great job. This is the kind of insight I was hoping to get.

---------- Post added at 12:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:33 AM ----------

Not really...... Your posts aren't so bad...just a little lengthy, tedious, cumbersome and yes annoying a times

Well Alllright! I think that's a glittering compliment coming from you. Show me how it's done, make a concise, well stated, non annoying post so I can see how this is supposed to be done. I'll actually join in without plageurizing anyone. Well. I'll try really hard. I mean, I can't promise.

---------- Post added at 12:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:38 AM ----------

Excellent, you can copy and paste from dictionary.com !

I can't believe it. I have to admit it. You made me laugh. That's a first bro! Maybe I'll have you over for some Christmas Ham, a glass of Scotch and a nice stogie.