I asked for a rod to demo.
FedEx brought it today.
Tonight I open it up.
Pentalux is in the house!!!
I've yet to cast his version and am excited to do so.
I'll report what I find here.
adam
p.s. Rob, doncha just love it when people evaluate your work??? Especially big mouth people with web sites?
*snickering*
pentalux is in the house
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SnooKen
- The Great Mosquito King
- Posts: 1528
- Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2007 5:24 pm
- Location: Mosquito County, Florida
The rod is going to speak for itself. You're stuck with the tough job of translating intangibles from Caneish to English. Bet you are going to have fun, brother. 8)
The rods you guys are making today would cause Hiram, Edwards and the Paynes as well as Fred Devine to crap their pants then giggle like boys peeking into the girls' locker room as they strung them up and laid out the first casts.
Rob, I am a fisherman first.
The rod you sent me is a fishing rod.
I'm not looking for a labeled sock or buffalo hide tube, looking for a good fishing rod.
I am very impressed out of the tube, jointing it, taking a look at it closely with a maker's eye. I can see that it has been fished.
I like the handle shape, the petite flat spot, the everything about the rod so far...
Now I want to put a rod and line on it and fish it.
adam
The rod you sent me is a fishing rod.
I'm not looking for a labeled sock or buffalo hide tube, looking for a good fishing rod.
I am very impressed out of the tube, jointing it, taking a look at it closely with a maker's eye. I can see that it has been fished.
I like the handle shape, the petite flat spot, the everything about the rod so far...
Now I want to put a rod and line on it and fish it.
adam
Ken, that's what I sent to Rob.
There will be nothing tough about this rod other than sending it back.
It is petite, different, not in an odd way. The big flat is not big and flat, it gives the rod strength but not in a overwhelming fashion. It seems utilitarian, the beauty is within the idea of spending a day with the rod, or a lifetime with it.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the rod is beautiful, but in a fishing sense.
I can't wait to line and put a bend in it.
There will be nothing tough about this rod other than sending it back.
It is petite, different, not in an odd way. The big flat is not big and flat, it gives the rod strength but not in a overwhelming fashion. It seems utilitarian, the beauty is within the idea of spending a day with the rod, or a lifetime with it.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the rod is beautiful, but in a fishing sense.
I can't wait to line and put a bend in it.
Adam - Sorry for the late follow-up here been busy as heck keeping up with things... I know you were unable to fish the rod as I really look forward to you doing with the next one but would really appreciate any comments as to the rod you lawn cast - posted or private. Thanks again for taking the time to check out the design.
Best Regards, Rob
Best Regards, Rob
Rob, I'm sorry I have not added to this thread, I'll do it now, my apologies.
I did receive a 5-weight from Rob and it was a very unique rod!
My initial impression is that it appeared to be much more petite than it really was, that's one thing I look for in a rod. That reads a little goofy and I want to quantify it. The rod looks lighter in line weight than it is and definitely lighter in weight than it looks... Light in hand and a bit odd with the guides on the seemingly big flat. The rod Rob sent was a demo and it had a good fishing patina on it. It appears that these rods will wear well and again, that is another thing I would be looking for when investing in a fishing tool.
I have a Scientific Anglers Mastery "Distance" line on a modern Hardy Marksman reel, the set up is new so the line had nearly new qualities. With the lightweight reel, the rod balanced very well. The cork grip had a flat on it, again petite, not like a South Bend grip flat mark, just a little flat spot to linearly reference the rod. Important to this design as I feel the rod is built to work with the spine, it's construction around that aspect.
More on that soon.
I'm writing this in pure evaluation mode Rob, so you will have to excuse my frank description, Like William Tell, I'm going to split the apple under pressure and I'm going to tell the truth as I understand it.
I didn't receive a presentation rod, I was sent a demo and that's what I wanted. A rod that I could fish without worrying about marring the finish or soiling the grip. I had the rod for a couple of weeks and Rob needed it back. In Arizona, you got to get in the car and drive for a couple of hours to fish for sizable trout, and for a five weight, I didn't want to launch dinks behind me, I wanted to take it to the river and fish for appropriate size fish.
Anyway.
I strung up the rod and started casting and quickly ran out of grass. I did a few 70' casts right off the bat no problem. I then shortened the casts in tight and moved out a bit. The first thing that I realized was this construction type rod seems to dampen the tip bounce. Waves equal wind resistance which shortens casts. This dampening equates to a smooth cast with few waves at all. I could also easily open the loop or tighten it up but this is not hard to do with any type of rod. This would be a great rod configuration to go for a FFF instructor certification as the challenge in that requires you to be able to control your casts and demonstrate the techniques to do so. The flat in the handle really helps with orienting the rod in casting although I purposefully cast out of line with very little wave induced to the line. In short, I feel like the rod is designed around the spine. It felt like I was casting a quad but much more smooth and "non-linier" in that when I took it off to the side (casting with a slight turn of my wrist) the rod still performed.
In short, the rod seems petite, light and spits line like spiderman.
I broke the rod down and stuck it in the tube for a fishing later but was unable to take the rod out as Rob needed it back.
I've cast around a hundred different bamboo fly rods now and this one is easily in the top ten percent that I've had my hands on. I would place it in a category besides a Macca rod as it is very light and there is something a little different going on with this rod besides the taper. The 5 facets are doing something to the cast that I don't really quiet understand, I want more time with it to try to understand...
I wish I had more time with this rod. That's another thing I look for in a bamboo fly rod, wanting the rod to fish with. It may very well change the way I look at bamboo rod construction.
Make no mistake, I am very impressed with Rob's construction, he is on to something and I appreciate the opportunity to try one of his rods.
Rob: You know I make six sided bamboo rods of a couple of different types of construction. I make these rods for myself and for a friend if he or she really wants one. Given that, I hope to one day own one. As a fisherman, I would really enjoy using a pentalux on my own fishing adventures although it would be in queue with my own rods. It isn't a "collection" thing, nothing like that, it would be a fishing thing.
I really would enjoy fishing a pentalux.
I mean that.
I did receive a 5-weight from Rob and it was a very unique rod!
My initial impression is that it appeared to be much more petite than it really was, that's one thing I look for in a rod. That reads a little goofy and I want to quantify it. The rod looks lighter in line weight than it is and definitely lighter in weight than it looks... Light in hand and a bit odd with the guides on the seemingly big flat. The rod Rob sent was a demo and it had a good fishing patina on it. It appears that these rods will wear well and again, that is another thing I would be looking for when investing in a fishing tool.
I have a Scientific Anglers Mastery "Distance" line on a modern Hardy Marksman reel, the set up is new so the line had nearly new qualities. With the lightweight reel, the rod balanced very well. The cork grip had a flat on it, again petite, not like a South Bend grip flat mark, just a little flat spot to linearly reference the rod. Important to this design as I feel the rod is built to work with the spine, it's construction around that aspect.
More on that soon.
I'm writing this in pure evaluation mode Rob, so you will have to excuse my frank description, Like William Tell, I'm going to split the apple under pressure and I'm going to tell the truth as I understand it.
I didn't receive a presentation rod, I was sent a demo and that's what I wanted. A rod that I could fish without worrying about marring the finish or soiling the grip. I had the rod for a couple of weeks and Rob needed it back. In Arizona, you got to get in the car and drive for a couple of hours to fish for sizable trout, and for a five weight, I didn't want to launch dinks behind me, I wanted to take it to the river and fish for appropriate size fish.
Anyway.
I strung up the rod and started casting and quickly ran out of grass. I did a few 70' casts right off the bat no problem. I then shortened the casts in tight and moved out a bit. The first thing that I realized was this construction type rod seems to dampen the tip bounce. Waves equal wind resistance which shortens casts. This dampening equates to a smooth cast with few waves at all. I could also easily open the loop or tighten it up but this is not hard to do with any type of rod. This would be a great rod configuration to go for a FFF instructor certification as the challenge in that requires you to be able to control your casts and demonstrate the techniques to do so. The flat in the handle really helps with orienting the rod in casting although I purposefully cast out of line with very little wave induced to the line. In short, I feel like the rod is designed around the spine. It felt like I was casting a quad but much more smooth and "non-linier" in that when I took it off to the side (casting with a slight turn of my wrist) the rod still performed.
In short, the rod seems petite, light and spits line like spiderman.
I broke the rod down and stuck it in the tube for a fishing later but was unable to take the rod out as Rob needed it back.
I've cast around a hundred different bamboo fly rods now and this one is easily in the top ten percent that I've had my hands on. I would place it in a category besides a Macca rod as it is very light and there is something a little different going on with this rod besides the taper. The 5 facets are doing something to the cast that I don't really quiet understand, I want more time with it to try to understand...
I wish I had more time with this rod. That's another thing I look for in a bamboo fly rod, wanting the rod to fish with. It may very well change the way I look at bamboo rod construction.
Make no mistake, I am very impressed with Rob's construction, he is on to something and I appreciate the opportunity to try one of his rods.
Rob: You know I make six sided bamboo rods of a couple of different types of construction. I make these rods for myself and for a friend if he or she really wants one. Given that, I hope to one day own one. As a fisherman, I would really enjoy using a pentalux on my own fishing adventures although it would be in queue with my own rods. It isn't a "collection" thing, nothing like that, it would be a fishing thing.
I really would enjoy fishing a pentalux.
I mean that.
-
SnooKen
- The Great Mosquito King
- Posts: 1528
- Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2007 5:24 pm
- Location: Mosquito County, Florida
Great report. Confirms my expectations of what Rob is achieving with his design. Interesting about the tip bounce damping, didn't expect that and I like your comparison to a quad(kind of did expect that quality).
Now, did it whistle like a Uslan penta?
That little detail of a tiny flat on the grip shows a high degree of attention to functional details. I like that.
Shame you didn't get to fish the rod. Aren't there Mexican carp in those flood control canals in your neighborhood?
Now, did it whistle like a Uslan penta?
That little detail of a tiny flat on the grip shows a high degree of attention to functional details. I like that.
Shame you didn't get to fish the rod. Aren't there Mexican carp in those flood control canals in your neighborhood?
The rods you guys are making today would cause Hiram, Edwards and the Paynes as well as Fred Devine to crap their pants then giggle like boys peeking into the girls' locker room as they strung them up and laid out the first casts.