8th October, 2014
MONTHLY
VOLUME 3.
Welcome and thanks for joining us in our third
lures from around the globe. For the local
edition of JTSM. As always, we appreciate the
sportfishos this has ensured the availability of high
feedback and I’m happy to report that our rant
quality “tournament winning” lures to be widely
towards the QLD Tourism body in issue #2
available throughout good local tackle stores. Yet
managed to find its way back to the relevant
little is known by the majority in relation to what
department. So keep reading, keep “liking” on
type of action or taper they should look for in a rod
social media and keep sharing with mates, and be
to best suit their angling needs.
sure to let us know your thoughts on the topics surrounding our sport. An overwhelming number
Standing behind the counter of such stores over the
of readers have requested that we discuss the
past decade in both Australia and the UK, I have
technology surrounding graphite rods and which
observed that the knowledge of keen Sportfishos
style will best suit their Sportfishing needs. So I
has evolved no end. The desire for a product 10
shall dedicate the majority of this month’s article to
years ago that “did the job” isn’t good enough
the history, development and science behind your
anymore and the perceived need for cutting edge
favourite graphite rod as well as the usual report on
equipment a must. The average angler has become
all things fishy, including a guest appearance from
well educated in the fields of reels, line, lures,
“Reidy” (Jack) discussing surprising results in the
techniques and terminal developments, however
Northern Fishing Sectors.
there still lies a grey area in knowledge surrounding modern sportfishing rods. Cult followings through
With the constant evolvements in new sportfishing
Internet forums and the power of advertising
techniques,
more
jargon used by profiteering manufacturers has
inquisitive towards the different styles and tapers
somehow convinced lure fishing enthusiasts to
of rods. Much press and advertising dollars have
purchase their latest and greatest rods. The
been spent developing and marketing fancy plastic
majority of the aforementioned continue to
baits and hard bodied lures on our shores
manufacture lavish colour schemes, fancy names
throughout the past decade. Whilst it pains me to
and made up graphite modulus figures, convincing
say it, the Bream and Bass competition scene
anglers their products are something more than
continues to drive not only tournament egos but
mass produced Chinese made rods.
enthusiasts
are
becoming
the constant demand for the latest and greatest
cont’d
Any true Sporfishing enthusiast at some stage over
here yesterday?' ‘Yep, and I'll be here tomorrow.’ The
the past 30 odd years will be familiar with the
employee told me that I should go to the other gate
name G.Loomis. Gary Loomis was one of the early
where a majority of the engineers went through. I
pioneers in graphite composition and paved the
went to that gate and found a gentleman by the name
way for all manufacturers to follow. But he was not
of Harry Mathison. He was one of four composite
the first. This title will always remain with the good
engineers in the world at that time and he agreed to
folks at Fenwick in the USA. The first graphite
talk with me about graphite.”
fishing rods were introduced by Fenwick in 1973 at the AFTMA trade show in Chicago in an
“If graphite is designed and built with respect to the
endeavour to create a tool that was lighter, stiffer
material and its properties, it is strong. Because I had
and more sensitive. Like the first generation of
enlisted experts in the field of composites and
most manufacturing in that era there was room for
structures,
improvement. Fenwick became the market leader
manufacturer to make a reliable graphite rod.”
with
their
new
material
but
Lamiglas
became
the
first
rod
unfortunately
durability was a
After spending some
major problem.
years in the further
Gary
Loomis,
an employee of
development
of
graphite
at
rods
Lamiglass,
Gary
the Lamiglass fishing company at the time,
Loomis left the company and ventured into a joint
recognised the benefits of the new material and
business with Taiwan Tackle and began Loomis
convinced the owners of Lamiglass that it was a
Franklin Rod Manufacturers. In the new company’s
worthwhile venture and the way forward in rod
infancy Gary bowed out, took some time to collect
technology. The design and infrastructure was put
his thoughts and determine the future of blank
in place by Gary Loomis, with the consultation of
manufacturing.
Harry Mathison, at Boeing in 1974 and is still the recipe used today in the construction of graphite
“The beginning of G.Loomis is quite a remarkable
rods. Loomis recounts the pioneering days in
story, one day I went home and told my wife I needed
graphite rod development in an extract taken from
her to sit down because I wanted to talk with her. I
a recent interview below.
told her I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life but it would require that we sell everything we
“I went to the Seattle library to see what I could find
had accumulated over our lifetime and take the
about the material and only found one article. It was
knowledge I’d acquired over the years and start a new
pretty vague, but mentioned that it was being worked
rod company.”
on at Boeing (the airplane company formerly based out of Seattle). So I went to the Boeing employee gate
“We sold everything we had to come up with the
and asked every individual coming in and going out
money to start G.Loomis,” he said. “For the next six
if they knew about or knew of someone who knew
months, I completely redesigned the tools of the
about graphite.”
blank-making industry and had one more piece of
“As I stood at the gate that day, an employee who had
equipment to finish before I could get the company
seen me the day before saw me and said, 'weren't you
started on production”. cont’d
Gary Loomis, the man behind the original G.Loomis rods.
Lack of funds threatened to force the closure of the
company in 1997. That’s how G.Loomis began – on a
business before it even reached the production
dream and a handshake."
stage until Dennis Shiebe from Cabela’s contracted Gary to build 280 blanks a day for 8 months. He
If you have a few moments click on the link below
explained the situation and the Cabela’s boss at the
where multiple time world fly casting champion
time inquired as to how much it would take to
Steve Rajeff takes us on a 5 minute tour of how a
complete equipment manufacture and be ready to
graphite fishing rod is constructed in the G.Loomis
start production.
factory.
“I figured it’d cost me $50,000 to get the equipment made, buy the materials and get staffed up for production. That much money back in the 80s was a tremendous amount of money and I figured they’d never give me that kind of money. So I called Dennis back, told him the bottom line and he asked, “if you had $50K in your bank, you’d be able to fill this order?’ I said yes. His next reply was, ‘what’s your bank account number? Three days later I had the money in our account – I never signed for anything. It was all on a handshake. I paid back the first half of the money that year and the second half the next. I continued making blanks for them when I sold the
Click to watch
TACKLE PROFILE
number, using that scale, the stiffer, lighter and more sensitive that particular blank will be. The same conclusion is so using the ton modulus system, the higher
Rod Action The term “action” typically refers to how quickly a rod returns to the straight position after being bent. This is possibly the most confused term in all rod speak by
the ton modulus rating, the lighter, stiffer, more sensitive and better casting the rod blank will be. This is what a sheet of carbon fibre looks like prior to wrapping and cutting for the manufacture of a fishing rod.
novices and professionals alike, as it is thought to refer to the bending curve. The action of a rod is usually indicated using the terms slow, medium, fast or extra fast and can even be described as a mixture, like medium-fast. This action can be influenced by its taper, length and even the materials used in the construction of the blank. From this explanation we could derive that a blank made of fibreglass would be slower than one made of graphite, simply because it continues to wobble more after being bent. Another word used to describe a rods action could also be “recovery”, that is how quickly it recovers to the straight position after being bent.
Modulus Basically “modulus” refers to the stiffness of the graphite used in construction. It does not refer to how many graphite fibres are used, nor does it refer to the amount of material used to wrap a blank. One of the largest manufacturers of graphite for fishing is the Hexcel Corporation, and whilst many won’t be familiar with this company name, you may be with their trade names. IM6
Rod Taper The “taper” of a rod describes the flex on the tip when pressure is applied in a perpendicular mannerto the rods butt. To check a rods taper only a small amount of load needs to be applied to the tip, whilst holding the butt section rigid, for example holding the butt of the rod whilst gently bending the tip on the ceiling. Traditionally variations of taper were described in five main categories, slow, moderate, mod/fast, fast and extra fast. Refer to the image below as an indicator for the rods taper.
and IM7 are probably two of the most used graphite cloths in carbon rod technology throughout the past 15 years. The trade names IM6 and IM7, produced by the Hexcel company, are not an indication of quality or some kind of industry standard. They are simply two varieties of materials produced by this particular manufacturer. Therefore it would be unfair to try and conclude that rods produced using these types of cloth are better than others using proprietary cloth by another manufacturer. However one could conclude that the higher the IM
cont’d
Tackle Tips Every model of reputable modern graphite fishing rod is manufactured with a particular use in mind. Selecting the taper of a rod is critical to getting the best out of your expensive lures and plastics. For example, if you’re intending on soft plastic fishing, choose a rod that is “fast” or “x-fast” in taper with a quick recovery. This will allow you to cast relatively light weights a long distance and recover quickly after hopping your plastic. Conversely, I would recommend a “slow to moderate” tapered rod for fishing with crankbait style lures. The rod will load deeper when casting and its more forgiving progressive bend under load will both work the diving crankbait better and aid in protecting light gauge hooks.
JTACKLE TV - EPISODE 6: LURE FISHING TECHNIQUES FOR SNAPPER Each month, Neil Griffiths brings you a wealth of knowledge via JTACKLE TV. Following on from episode 5’s discussion about bait fishing techniques for snapper, Episode 6 takes you through a variety of ways for targeting snapper on lures. From the latest thing in micro jigging to the tried and true soft plastic presentations, there’s something for all in this video. To keep updated on all JTACKLE TV- follow us on youtube or keep an eye out on facebook. We hope you enjoy.
WATCH EPISODE 6
An inquisitive Billfish becomes entangled in a submersible inspecting an oil platform off the coast of Brazil. It was subdued by the machines mechanical arm, not Billy’s lucky day!!
OFFSHORE FISHY REPORT What an array September delivered, a mix of glassy calm mornings, thunder storms, dreaded NorWesters, rain and strong Southerlies with a few fish thrown in for good measure. Steady reports from offshore Moreton and Stradbroke Islands have indicated good numbers of schooling Squiry/Snapper throughout the month. Whilst keen snapper specialists are not setting records in the size department, plenty of good schooling fish are falling to the floated soft plastic. The influx of anglers using the new slow pitch style jigs and bay rubber jigs are having success from the 50m lines and beyond. The effectiveness and ease with which these types of lures can make it to the sea floor in the deeper water allows for presentations to be “in the zone” for a lot longer.
Exciting reports from the heavy tackle Billfish fleet this month indicated superb captures of Yellowfin Tuna right along the South East corridor. Some of these beauties are exceeding the 40kg mark and it is believed there may be a couple of records pending. Light tackle boats also reported a run of good size Spanish Mackeral and Dolphinfish throughout September, along with the positive news from Cape Bowling Green, we may just have a good season on the way. October should see numbers of reef fish continue to improve with the presence of Grassy Emperor and Spangled Emperor being felt around the shallower reef systems. King Fish and Amberjack are continuing to improve in both numbers and size with the deeper wrecks and reef systems holding the better AJ’s.
INSHORE AND ESTUARY REPORT This years’ Flathead Classic is underway as this Emag is being finalised so we look forward to passing on the news in our next edition. Early signs from the first two days indicate excellent number, with some beautiful quality females being captured and released. Flathead are fishing well through all our SEQ estuary systems with the larger fish coming from Pumicestone Passage and the greater Jumpinpin area. Customers are reporting School Mackeral throughout the deeper areas in Moreton Bay
so try trolling a deep diving lure or spinning the shipping channel markers up the inside of Moreton Island. Cobia are now on the move and whilst no monsters have been captured as yet, good table size fish are being caught on plastics, jigs and even flies. Their numbers and size should only continue to improve throughout the month of October. With our local bay snapper fishery a little quiet over the past few weeks Sportfisho’s have covered the miles and come across some excellent Longtail Tuna. Both Moreton Bay and Hervey Bay have recorded captures of Longtails exceeding the 125cm mark throughout September, possibly a great sign for what’s to come.
NORTHERN SECTORS PRODUCING SURPRISING RESULTS - BY JACK REID As we see the effects of a change in weather patterns and seasons the fishing has been following along nicely with some excellent fish being caught in the northern areas, in particular Hinchinbrook and its surrounds. Steady and improving numbers of Barramundi are turning up with a few better sized fish into the triple digits caught on deep fished soft plastics and trolling. Unusual or Just Good Timing? This could be said for some of the fish being caught up there recently, with some trophy fish being landed in areas where you would usually be left thinking. Fishing is one of those things where you can never really get it right, and there will be times when the fish just prove you wrong. You expect them to be
there and they aren’t, the timing is wrong but they bite better than before. I think that is why it is just so addictive. Species turning up in spots that you have never seen them before, it all happens. A few exotic fish, for example on a recent trip I was fishing in a creek system where you would normally be tangling with smaller Fingermark and the occasional Barra and being very surprised to see 110cm of healthy Cobia laying on the brag mat. It makes me wonder what was he doing there and why? Lost maybe? Unlucky for him that day regardless. The Tripletail is one species that is sporadic in its catches to say the very least, you’ve got more chance of seeing snow in Weipa than you do of catching them on a regular basis. Although catching a couple on consecutive trips can make you think you are really doing something right, especially when they were the size of the one pictured overleaf. Some fish just turn up in unusual spots, but we aren’t complaining! Well I guess they all have fins and can swim wherever they like!
4LB COMPETITION WRAP UP The annual 4lb competition was on again in late August at the Hinchinbrook channel and was graced with some top weather. A field of 73 anglers had a ball catching some nice fish and making sure the beer served at the pub was still ok. Held over two days fishing at Cardwell, the northern end of the system gave the anglers plenty of options. A few titles worth a mention were; largest Barra - 90cm taken by Andrew Gleeson, best catch- 110cm Cobia taken by Miles Tam, best individual angler – Michael Raisbeck and the top three teams were 1.Wally Wilton 2.Lindsay
Pemberton/Andrew Gleeson 3.Karim de Ridder/Jake Mitchell/Craig Griffiths. It was a top weekend with a broad range of species landed from all teams. Until next time,
Jack Reid
FINAL NOTE Well folks that’s JTSM for another month. Hopefully I have managed to share a little history and insight into the manufacturing of graphite rods. So let’s give China a break, do your research and invest in a quality hand rolled graphite rod, maintain it well and it will in turn look after you for many years to come. As always, for any questions or topics you would like to hear discussed don’t hesitate to drop into the store or email us at jtsm@jonestackle.com.au. Happy fishing and enjoy the outdoors in October. Editor of JTSM
JONES’S
TACKLE P: (07) 3350 2054 F: (07) 3350 2091
692 GYMPIE RD, CHERMSIDE 4032 www.jonestackle.com.au
jtackle@bigpond.com