Gary,
Well I took the 7'3" Bum Rod out on Monday afternoon; temp 51, water temp 40.
Water was so low, almost could of got away with ankle high Mucks, that I almost went back to the truck but it would have been a lot of walking so I figured I would just see how this hot rod cast.
I lined the rod with a Phoenix DT 3wt and a 7' hand tied leader tapering to 5X and an #18 Griffiths Gnat. The rod loads with almost zero line out and looks like I could get 40 feet out if I needed too, which of course I do not, it's perfect from 10 to 30 feet, certainly all anyone needs on these creeks around here, so perfect for my favorite waters in the Alleghenies. It's not really a slow rod but a very smooth rod.
For the first hour all I saw was terrified brookie wakes from stumbling to lining those guys. I finally found a pot with some good depth and hooked and landed a 12" male (1st fish Shaku, no), the rod handling this dancing guy just right, a real beauty. About a half hour later another around 11" from another small pot, nice no dinkers although I would have liked to catch a couple of more.
The rod is very accurate too, light in hand, the grip is perfect for this type of rod, it will certainly get a lot of use around here. I believe this rod would easily handle a 16 incher although there pretty rare in this type of water, still I get into one a couple of times a year.
So give my accolades to Hidenobu Kotake San, both his rods are truly unique and also very practical fishing instruments and beautifully made too, spectacular. I think people over here don't know what they're missing out on.
I may go to the Blue Ridge conclave in late April and show them off, then again maybe not because then they will become harder to acquire. After Acquiring these rods in the last year what will I do with all the others.
One other thing too, I generally don't order new rods any longer because they take so long to complete, you group of builders complete them in a reasonable amount of time, which is a major plus for a guy like me.
Best Fishing,
R.W.