Yuku free message boards

I have refrained from posting because everyone knows I'm going to say "Paul Young Driggs taper," so what good does that do you? But, as banjo mentioned, I did stop in to see him last weekend, and I lawn cast half the contents of Pandora's Box, and learned an awful lot, most of which can be summed up in the statement that banjo owns a ton of unbelievable bamboo. That E.W. Edwards Autograph Deluxe Perfection is a shocker. You pick up this dark, delicate little rod and you think, "Well this is going to be a quaint historical experience," and you make a bit of a backcast, bring the rod forward and the rod gives a little parabolic - well, you can't call it a "kick," it's more like a smooth shifting of gears - and all of a sudden line is pouring off the tip of the rod, but it's all happening so smoothly. There's no sense of parabolic power here, but somehow the tip of the line has reached the bush on the far side of the lawn, and you realize that a rod built over seventy years ago has just made obsolete all your ideas about seven-foot rods. You examine the tip of this rod, knowing before you even take a look at it that the tip is going to taper down very fine in the last few inches. Sneaky Mr. Edwards.

And then banjo hands you the 7'9" Payne Parabolic and when you backcast and then bring the rod forward you DO feel the tip very clearly "kick" into gear in a more pronounced manner, but with a slight delay compared to a Driggs. If you are used to a Driggs then for a millisecond you think, "Where's the parabolic..?" and then BAM! there it is and the tip of the line has again reached the bush. And banjo is laughing because you are standing there, staring at the stick in your hand. And then since you know what the Payne can do for distance, you try flicking the line around the lawn, targeting dry leaves at various distances, and the rod is accurate at all those distances.

And THEN banjo starts dragging out Dickersons and Thomases and, instead of making your head spin, he shows you the interrelationships of design, contrasting and comparing the work of various makers, so that you actually start casting your OWN rods better, the ones you have fished for years and thought you knew so well.

So if you ever find a little Edwards Autograph Deluxe Perfection, then I think you are sitting pretty in the seven-foot rod category. But a Driggs is pretty good too.