[Bronzebommer]

I have just started fishing for Trout on the Don at Kintore and looking to buy a new rod. Does anyone have any suggestions?  I have about 250 quid to spend. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

[Jim Eddie]

Hi

My choice for Don trout would be a 9ft 5# , for the money you have to spend the worlds your lobster

Why not get along to Castle Forbes tomorrow , you should be able to try out a few rods there. I think the best advice that anyone can give is try before you buy. One mans meat etc ....

 

Jim

 

[clark]

i would recommend the newest orvis western 5#    i tried it out at haddo and it was brilliant.

calum

[Bronzebommer]

Hi

My choice for Don trout would be a 9ft 5# , for the money you have to spend the worlds your lobster

Why not get along to Castle Forbes tomorrow , you should be able to try out a few rods there. I think the best advice that anyone can give is try before you buy. One mans meat etc ....

 

Jim

Jim
I would love to pop along, but as I am currently offshore that may be a bit tricky! Thanks for the advice though.

Matt

[Ben Dixon]

for all but the upper Don a 9ft #5 would be fine, if I had only one rod it would be this.  It will do all the usual stuff and a 5 line will just about carry sink tips & small streamers when required.

Cheers

Ben

[Rob Brownfield]

Mat,
I will build you one ..Give me a shout with the options

[Bronzebommer]

Rob
Taking into the advice I have had so far I think it would be a 9' 5wt. What blanks are you using and how much would you want? Let me know what you think.

Matt

[Rob Brownfield]

Rob
Taking into the advice I have had so far I think it would be a 9' 5wt. What blanks are you using and how much would you want? Let me know what you think.

Matt

I normally build on Harrison blanks, several reasons, the cost, the quality, the availability, the fishability etc..but, I can get most of the Sage range from stock along with a limited supply of Hardy (swift and sirrus).

Prices would start around the £175 mark for a Harrison Lohric upto around £424 for a sage TCX (but i need to confirm the prices. Naturally if you want full titanium reel seats etc the cost would be more ..coz they are around £100 each!..ouch!

I have a few Harrisons sitting at home if you want a look..carp and pike fly rods though...nothing "light".

[Hamish Young]

Still to try one of these Harrison 'blank' rods, I've heard mixed reviews of the LOHRIC so it would be interesting to give one a gentle hurl Rob - hint 

I'd agree with the 9ft #5wt, it's what I use for much of my fishing on the Don for Trout.
As Jim points out, £250 opens the door to plenty of opportunities. I'm biased towards two American types in particular (Orvis Helios and Winston B11X) but they're both outside the budget but very very fine fishing rods 

Worth considering is the Bloke XL50 which isn't too shabby and often found on eBay at a good price. Although some don't like them, I would have a look at the Greys Streamflex which comes in well under budget at around £175.

By no means is that a definative list but I guess a lot depends on what you want - 2/3/4 pieces Action

Hamish 

[Rob Brownfield]

Hamish, there seems to be good Lohrics and bad lohrics...as in action, not quality that is. For example, I love the 10 weight and the 5 weight, not so sure about the 6 weight 9' 6" jobbie. Seems to have a strange action...for me anyway. I don't have a lohric just now, just the standard 9 weights but you are more than welcome to try..as long as you dont break it!..lol. Magnus gave the one he had (Lohric) on test a good write up, although the issue I have with Lohrics is that the finished rod is around the £350-£450 (sometimes more) mark when built by some of the English rod builders, yet the blank is around the £110-£120 mark. It is actually an exceptional blank for the money, (I think anyway ) but priced high, which is a shame. A home rod builder could build one for £150 easily.

As for Bloke XL50...I really do not get on with mine....which was bought direct from Mick. The finish is poor, the fittings are a PacBay $20 reel seat and $1.25 stripping guide with a handle that looks like a relief map of the moon! The action..hmmm..well..it reminds me of casting a cane rod, as in it seems to "lag behind" my arm. It may just be my imagination, but the older the XL50, the better it is. I had a shot of Iains 3 or 4 weight, can't remember now, and I liked it...I believe Iain has an 8' 6" and is not to impressed compared to his original, older rod. I find it very telling that Micks custom rods are built on Lohrics and not his own blank. (Just my opinion like).

But like many things, its all opinion and preference, not too many hard and fast rules.

Matt

Best advice is to get out there and see if you can have a cast or two with different rods. I have a Fulling Mill Gold Medal 5 weight which I think is a peach to use, and they retail at £99. I also have a Zero G that retailed around the £500+ mark that now I am used to, I love..but on handing both to a friend, he thought the Fulling Mill was the nicer rod to fish with. You can have a go with both if you like..see what you think...

(Oh, and don't mention lines...they can have a bearing on the rod too.heehee)

[Sandy Nelson]

Hi Matt

Its quite a subjective question as it depends what you like in a rod.
Personally if i were building another 9ft 5 wt for the river i would use a Winston B11x blank again
They are just so sweet. However if you can pick up a Sage SLT 9ft 5wt blank/kit (http://www.guidesnblanks.com/product.php?product_id=305  Just ask for  9ft blank instead of the 8ft 6" no change in price) for a decent price then it should be well in budget as it is now a discontinued product (but still fantastic)
Then you would get an awesome rod for the budget (you may pick up a factory one for the price in question if you look around)

I would also suggest you have a try of the Barrio 4wt or 3 wt I don't care if i make them, or had a big hand in creating them, they are really sweet and were designed for use on the Don.
And they are really good value

I have 4 weeks till i go overseas now, and if i get the time i will try to make some rods before i go, otherwise they will be available from Mike as kits.
I have made a full set of instructions (illustrated) to go with the kits and there should be epoxy kits too (all you will need is some araldite) Give building your own a go, it will save you a lot of cash and be very rewarding as quite a few people on the site will testify

As Rob say lines can have a dramatic effect on the way a rod works and how it feels to you, but if you have a favorite line then take it with you to try on the rods you are looking at. The Barrio rods were made to suit Barrio Lines, and it works

Greys are well worth a look, the X-flites are really nice for factory rods and good value, Guideline LPXE is probably the best off the shelf rod in the price range IMHO, Hardy Demon a close second, but everyone has preferences. I love the river

Sandy

[Sandy Nelson]

This is well worth the cash (they are basically Sage G5 Blanks and just as good)

http://www.sportfish.co.uk/product/redington-core-performance-freshwater-rods

Lovely piece of kit and at that price a fantastic purchase

Sandy

[Tam Greenock]

Concerning the Barrio Rod Kits, l have to back Sandy up here when he says it can be very rewarding, l built my first rod, a 9ft 3# over the winter and really enjoyed it. Everything you need is in the kit apart from the Araldite, and the instruction sheet is straight forward and if l can follow it then anyone can.

Give it a go, you wont be disappointed 

[Rob Brownfield]

I have to say that the Barrios are indeed lovely and highly recommended..but not a 5 weight

[Tam Greenock]

No its not a 5 weight, but one of Mikes 4 weights would be just as good, and if he gets it in kit form will have some fun building it as well.

Im sure a 4# will be fine for The Don.

[Iain Cameron]

re the Bloke XL-50
I had a 4-piece 9ft 4weight, light and supple and suited me very well. sadly, snapped it. sickened!!!!

Mick "Bloke" swapped it for P&P cost, but didn't have a 9ft in stock at the time, so sent me an 8'6" 4-wt. I don't get on with that, so went and bought another 9' 4-wt from Bloke. Nice, but a different blank from the first bloke i had (the first Bloke was the stunning red blank; this one is a deeper burgundy/brown, appears transparent).

good news is that Mick agreed today to swap the 8'6" rod for a 9' rod, so I'll now have two 9' 4-wts. hurrah! I'm very interested to see what the 2nd one looks like.

Oh, but back to your original thread -- go to ebay, look for bloke fly rod, there's a few 4-piece rods there, and I really like the 4-wt 9 footers, so they're worth a punt at around £125

iain,