dcabarle
Administrator
I've gotta ask... Are all bamboo rod makers the same?
I sent my rod back to Tim Zietak because the ferrules were loose and the tips kinda went cockeyed. Apparently, the tip problem is due to incorrectly heating the rod. Whatever the correct answer is, there were problems with the rod and it needed to be fixed.
I had a few Bamboo rod makers who don't know of, Tim Zietak, just tell me that by looking at the rod (full intermediate wraps), he would never admit to any wrong doing on his behalf and he would in fact probably place the blame on me for 1 or more of many reasons including but not limited to, not switching tips after each outting, handling fish improperly, storage of the rod, ..etc. Just for the record, I've only used the rod 5 times. Out of those 5 times, I've caught 10-12" stockies that fought like wet noodles. The rod was never improperly handled or stored improperly, and the tips were switched after each outting. Here's another thing, I noticed the set in both tips after the second outting and pointed them out to my father who agreed that the rod should be sent back to Tim! I'm only sorry that I waited so long before sending the rod back, but not because I was in a rush to use it, but I would have thought it would have given Tim a few less excuses as to the reasons behind the issues.
Bill Sell (Shannon's) told me that he has rods 20 years old and they never took a set. I've also had others tell me the same thing Bill told me.
I've had a few rod makers as well as bamboo rod dealers tell me what was wrong with the rod. When I told Tim that a few 'bamboo rod dealers' told me what was wrong with the rod Tim replied with, "Well they're just dealers, they don't actually build the rods." Does this mean I have to work as car builder to know how to build a car? No.
I sent the rod back to Tim on March 29th, 2005. A week later I called Tim to make sure he received the rod. After telling me he did receive the rod, he proceeded to explain to me that my casting style is what made the tips go cockeyed and proceded to lecture me about my casting style then said, "You cast lefty, right?" After his expert knowledge of my casting, he improperly guessed my casting hand. His first excuse for the rod taking sets in both tips was now null and void... Onto the second excuse... (and by the way, before I continue on, I'll just say that the cork isn't even dirty yet) You're fighting fish incorrectly with the rod. When I told him that I only used the rod on little stockies and that the road was always on as little of an angle as possible and always rotated while a fish was on (I would point the tip of the rod at the fish each time I caught one), he said that it must be the way I was storing the rod. Anyhow, excuse after excuse, just as many predicted. Tim told me that the tips on any bamboo rod could take a set after just 1 outting.
Maybe this is the problem with American rod makers in general, including Graphite rod makers... No pride goes into their work (that is if the work is even done here in the USA). They push these things out so quick just to make a buck. When something goes wrong it's "Send us $40 bux and you'll get it back when you get it back." That's not to say that when you do get it back, you'll get it back the right way. If you recall, a few months ago I reported about 3 rods that I sent back to a very well known rod company and waited in the area of 6-8 months (I don't recall the exact time frame) only to see that they did such a horrible job on rebuilding ALL 3 RODS that we sent them back again and then once again for the same problems. Hey look, I'm all for people trying to make a living the best way they can, but how about putting a little more effort in the PRIDE department?
So what prompted me to write this? I was talking with my father the other day and Tim sold him a Payne 98' taper 4wt 7' rod. Can anyone tell me what's wrong with that picture? My dad purchased the rod because it was advertised by Tim as a 4wt. My dad noticed the rod wasn't loading up properly so he put a 5wt line on it and the rod was perfect. The problem here was that my dad did not want a 7' 5wt rod to fish the Claremont section of the SBR. He called tim to let him know about it and tim agreed that it was actually a 5wt rod but it that it was identicle to the 4wt. What a crock of you know what. Tim admitted to screwing my father.
He also sold my dad a 5wt 102h - Payne 8' with a clicking ferrule. My dad thinks this is actually a 6wt rod can anyone confirm? Not to mention the other items Tim has screwed my dad on. I'm not sure why he kept doing business with the guy but he did and now he's paying for it.
I haven't received my rod back from Tim Zietak however, I emailed him on the 14th. He replied with, "It should be done by the end of the week. I want to make sure the varnish on the wraps is dried completely." It's taken about 2 1/2 months so far. He said 4-6weeks so I guess we're right on schedule if we're using the rod makers clock. Also, Tim told me what he was going to do to my rod.. He was going to heat it up or something like that as well as replace the ferrules. The funny thing is that when I told Tim that the dealers told me it was a problem with the heat or something like that, Tim said that they are just dealers and not builders so how could they possibly know anything about what goes into building a rod?
When purchasing a bamboo rod, I thought I did all of my homework. I didn't see any negative info on Tim or his practices, as a matter of fact, everything on all sites was positive information and people really liked him. I'm afraid to say that in my opinion, Tim has turned over a new leaf. He advertises rods as one thing and they are something totally different.
On a brighter note, I'm still satisfied with how my Zietak rod casts. The taper on the rod is great and I still do enjoy casting the rod. I can't wait to get it back.
All I can offer any of you looking into purchasing any type of rod, especially from a private rod maker, do your homework on the Rod maker.
Anyhow, not to totally bash Tim on his rods, the rod always cast as if it were brand new and I really like the rod, it's the customer service that is so typical of some rod company's these days, I can do without.
I sent my rod back to Tim Zietak because the ferrules were loose and the tips kinda went cockeyed. Apparently, the tip problem is due to incorrectly heating the rod. Whatever the correct answer is, there were problems with the rod and it needed to be fixed.
I had a few Bamboo rod makers who don't know of, Tim Zietak, just tell me that by looking at the rod (full intermediate wraps), he would never admit to any wrong doing on his behalf and he would in fact probably place the blame on me for 1 or more of many reasons including but not limited to, not switching tips after each outting, handling fish improperly, storage of the rod, ..etc. Just for the record, I've only used the rod 5 times. Out of those 5 times, I've caught 10-12" stockies that fought like wet noodles. The rod was never improperly handled or stored improperly, and the tips were switched after each outting. Here's another thing, I noticed the set in both tips after the second outting and pointed them out to my father who agreed that the rod should be sent back to Tim! I'm only sorry that I waited so long before sending the rod back, but not because I was in a rush to use it, but I would have thought it would have given Tim a few less excuses as to the reasons behind the issues.
Bill Sell (Shannon's) told me that he has rods 20 years old and they never took a set. I've also had others tell me the same thing Bill told me.
I've had a few rod makers as well as bamboo rod dealers tell me what was wrong with the rod. When I told Tim that a few 'bamboo rod dealers' told me what was wrong with the rod Tim replied with, "Well they're just dealers, they don't actually build the rods." Does this mean I have to work as car builder to know how to build a car? No.
I sent the rod back to Tim on March 29th, 2005. A week later I called Tim to make sure he received the rod. After telling me he did receive the rod, he proceeded to explain to me that my casting style is what made the tips go cockeyed and proceded to lecture me about my casting style then said, "You cast lefty, right?" After his expert knowledge of my casting, he improperly guessed my casting hand. His first excuse for the rod taking sets in both tips was now null and void... Onto the second excuse... (and by the way, before I continue on, I'll just say that the cork isn't even dirty yet) You're fighting fish incorrectly with the rod. When I told him that I only used the rod on little stockies and that the road was always on as little of an angle as possible and always rotated while a fish was on (I would point the tip of the rod at the fish each time I caught one), he said that it must be the way I was storing the rod. Anyhow, excuse after excuse, just as many predicted. Tim told me that the tips on any bamboo rod could take a set after just 1 outting.
Maybe this is the problem with American rod makers in general, including Graphite rod makers... No pride goes into their work (that is if the work is even done here in the USA). They push these things out so quick just to make a buck. When something goes wrong it's "Send us $40 bux and you'll get it back when you get it back." That's not to say that when you do get it back, you'll get it back the right way. If you recall, a few months ago I reported about 3 rods that I sent back to a very well known rod company and waited in the area of 6-8 months (I don't recall the exact time frame) only to see that they did such a horrible job on rebuilding ALL 3 RODS that we sent them back again and then once again for the same problems. Hey look, I'm all for people trying to make a living the best way they can, but how about putting a little more effort in the PRIDE department?
So what prompted me to write this? I was talking with my father the other day and Tim sold him a Payne 98' taper 4wt 7' rod. Can anyone tell me what's wrong with that picture? My dad purchased the rod because it was advertised by Tim as a 4wt. My dad noticed the rod wasn't loading up properly so he put a 5wt line on it and the rod was perfect. The problem here was that my dad did not want a 7' 5wt rod to fish the Claremont section of the SBR. He called tim to let him know about it and tim agreed that it was actually a 5wt rod but it that it was identicle to the 4wt. What a crock of you know what. Tim admitted to screwing my father.
He also sold my dad a 5wt 102h - Payne 8' with a clicking ferrule. My dad thinks this is actually a 6wt rod can anyone confirm? Not to mention the other items Tim has screwed my dad on. I'm not sure why he kept doing business with the guy but he did and now he's paying for it.
I haven't received my rod back from Tim Zietak however, I emailed him on the 14th. He replied with, "It should be done by the end of the week. I want to make sure the varnish on the wraps is dried completely." It's taken about 2 1/2 months so far. He said 4-6weeks so I guess we're right on schedule if we're using the rod makers clock. Also, Tim told me what he was going to do to my rod.. He was going to heat it up or something like that as well as replace the ferrules. The funny thing is that when I told Tim that the dealers told me it was a problem with the heat or something like that, Tim said that they are just dealers and not builders so how could they possibly know anything about what goes into building a rod?
When purchasing a bamboo rod, I thought I did all of my homework. I didn't see any negative info on Tim or his practices, as a matter of fact, everything on all sites was positive information and people really liked him. I'm afraid to say that in my opinion, Tim has turned over a new leaf. He advertises rods as one thing and they are something totally different.
On a brighter note, I'm still satisfied with how my Zietak rod casts. The taper on the rod is great and I still do enjoy casting the rod. I can't wait to get it back.
All I can offer any of you looking into purchasing any type of rod, especially from a private rod maker, do your homework on the Rod maker.
Anyhow, not to totally bash Tim on his rods, the rod always cast as if it were brand new and I really like the rod, it's the customer service that is so typical of some rod company's these days, I can do without.
just kidding... Anyhow, when my line is clean, I think my casting style is pretty damned good.
