Shaq Diesel, Vin Diesel, Deeeeez.....

As mentioned in a recent post, I tend to be the one that is always "tinkering" with all types of rod/line combinations...what can i say? it feels like mental therapy (not sure what this says about me since this topic is what drives many people batshit crazy) to me after a long day at work, and yes, my wife as my witness, it has been known to keep me up past my bedtime on a school night. so when Mike called me up a couple weeks ago and said that he had some Red Truck Diesel rods for me to try, I had to take them out for the next couple fishing trips and attempt to "dial them in". Ive heard a little about these sticks but really had no frame of reference, so i thought id share a little of what i thought witchyall. upon first impression, the diesel has a few features that catch my eye. shape of the grip, much like a pair of fitted jeans on a nice figure, was the first thing i noticed (but im a sucker for a nicely shaped grip, moreso than shiny adornments on the blank). also, the unsanded blank reminded me of one of my favorite trout rods of all time, the scott 8'8'' 4wt G series. after fishing it on the past couple outings, i can say that we get along just fine, but it wasnt without a bit of adjustment. the rods i tend to favor have "light" feeling tips, backed by progressively (think smooth constant taper like a pyramid) flexing mid and butt sections, and a fast recovery. the diesel, however, had more of a "stout" tip, and then followed by a similar taper, also with a fast recovery. i found a couple things that this design proved beneficial in, one being the ease that it pulled heavy tips out of the water, and also how easily you could access the "beef" of the rod since the (stout) tip translates the load to the mid section well, due to less flex absorbed by a lighter tip. upon feeling this, some might go so far to say that it feels a bit "regressed" (a rod that flexes lower in the blank than up top), but after having fished rods like a Meiser MKS, which i did feel was a regressive taper, i believe this to still fall under the progressive category. remember, regressive has nothing to do with the diameter of the blank, but more the amount of deflection it has.

the only adjustment i had to make in regards to casting to accomodate for this slight difference was to start my power application on the delivery slightly earlier (think pulling the rod from behind you before you can even see it), followed by a much higher stop. also, it reacted well to slightly more overhang of the shooting head out of the tip top. this, i felt had more to do with the choice of grains/line i was throwing on it. i tend to err on the lighter end of a "grain window", so as to give the rod a chance to breathe and not reduce it to an overloaded "lob stick". all in all, i think this rod absolutely excels when throwing skagit heads and sink tips, and when given a longer dry line like an SRO Vector 45', it also excels due to a quick recovery of the blank. great feel in the hands, tracks well, and for $350, is one of the best deals on the market.

other rods the 7136-4 Diesel reminds me of are the 7133-3 CF Burkheimer, and the Beulah Platinum 7132-4.

lines i liked best on it for skagit and scandi were the 510 Airflo Compact Skagit and 480 Compact Scandi. the SRO Vector 6/7 and Rio Powerspey 6/7 will make great lines for bigger water.

would i own one? absolutely.

fish on fellow Jedi's.

Brian

Confucious say: get those big bunny flies out and fish 'em, its the year of the wabbit, theyre destined to work............in bed.