[Hamish Young]

OK - so we have favourite rod.... but what about the other end of the spectrum

What's the worst rod you've owned and/or used

To be honest I don't think I've ever had any rods that were truly awful - you get used to/adapt to a rod - but with one exception in my case. The rod that I have least enjoyed and owned was a seriously expensive 12ft Marcus Warwick CC McLaren "Sea Trout" special  I bought it on my 18th birthday (yikes - that was awhile ago now) along with a beautiful 10ft #4 wt which sadly demised after I shut it in the boot of my car one dark night round at Soundmixers  (remember him  ) after a great days fishing. But I could never get to grips with the CC McLaren, nor could anyone else for that matter 
Didn't do anything I wanted it to and it was hopeless for the Loch Style fishing for which it was designed  Sold it after it had sat for almost a decade unused - good riddance IMHO.... bought a Greys GPRL 'custom' via Magnus with the proceeds

Anyone else have a tale of woe 

[goosander]

A very intresting question>
A number of years ago i spent a lot of time saving up for a Bruce and Walker hexagraph rod for the seatrout, Faulkus eleven ft. Very top heavy even with a heavy reel and a very very dead action, which i perservered with for several outings. From then it has hung at the front of my rod rack to remind me to never buy a rod by name again.

[Peter McCallum]

A fibreglass B&W border for a 4-6. Truly has a piece of plastic never been so well designed to simulate pasta!!

Peter

[Sandy Nelson]

I've thought about this one for days, its hard

The least favorite rod i can think off was a Hardy ultralight 9ft 5wt, that i spent months saving for and had wanted for years having played in the shops with it several times, leering, touching, fantasizing.
I eventually had enough and traded in an orvis trident 9ft 6wt and my then beloved shakepeare president 8ft 4wt, for my 'ultimate' rod.

Still felt awesome in the shop, but what a dissappointment on the water

I was gutted, i kept it for a few trips, never bonded at all and sold it on to finance the purchase of my first 3wt blank, a sage 389LL (which i loved till i tried an XP) the rest is history

The upshot was never buy a rod you haven't cast with properly, a lesson well learned and the reason I'm a pest when someone has rod i haven't tried But anglers are great people and we all share good knowledge

Sandy

[duncanm]

Mine would be a Hardy Sirrus 10ft 7wt - for some reason I just never got on with it, I have a 9ft 6 wt sirrus and also a 15 footer for the Salmon and really enjoy both of them but I never ever got on with the 10 foot rod....

Goes to add to what Sandy says - cast first - even though I ha dthe 2 other rods first the 10 foot one is a huge dissapointment

[Dave Gordon]

Hate to say it, and i really wanted to like this rod but my incredible exploding Hardy Angel 15ft rod was my least favourite. It cast a massive line when I was on form but if i got the timing wrong it was hard work and i had to concentrate when using it.
My first exploded
My second blistered
My third and last had a loose ferrule and loose cork so i returned it and got a swift, which if a fine rod.
I was so dissapointed, i considered it for some time before buying and initially i loved it. But the breakages ment i had to take and carry a spare.

I was surprised by a Sharpes rod last week though. Had a demo 15ft plus 3 to try and was stunned. Light, reasonable price and a real caster, full salmon line and the backing being cast up the rod! Handle shorter than i am used to but very nice never the less.

Plan to have a small rod pool in the new shop, I have a couple of sharpes and a Bruce and walker at the moment, hope to get a scott or two soon. Will keep you posted.

D

[Hamish Young]

I was always a fan of the 15ft Sharpes Aquarex (see posts under wanted  ) so good to hear that their newer stuff isn't too shabby either  Will have to give one a wee go sometime......