I'm buying a few "PURGLAS" rods I need some feedback from those of you who know them

Is there an Arra rod at 12 "?
1321 is 2 piece rated from 1-3 oz.. 11 footer..

That would probably fit in..

ErikT

Hey Awesome, that plane crash anywhere near you?

[This message has been edited by ErikT (edited 01-08-2003).]

I have a 350-2 being built as we speak!! I casted a 400-1 (13' rated to 3 oz) this spring and it was honestly the best casting rod i've ever had in my hands... (i've had one or 50 to try)

A few guys I know that are BIG distance casters (not on the tourny field but into the ocean ) have told me that they are the best fishing rods around..

The ONLY drawback to me is that they are a through taper rod and to give them the power they have and the light weight (translates to i think thin walls) the butt diameters are pretty thick....

can't wait to get mine.. should have a full report on it in about 2 weeks.

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I may be small... But I'm slow!!

John... These are top contenders for the title of best bang for the money. I am in a hurry now but I can tell you that they can really cast and because of their parabolic action they will not leave you as sore as when powercasting hours with faster action powerful rods. They are tapered from tip to butt and very different than the straight butts that you see in most UK rods like Zziplex or Conoflex.

I have personally tried at least five different rods of this manufacture and I liked them all.

Wait... I just found an e-mail that Pete Ingham sent to me a couple of months ago. Pete is one of the most competitive casters in the UKSF. They do not call him "Purglas" Pete for nothing and these are his record casts with these rods.

200grams 243yards 729ft
175grams 259yards 777ft
150grams 270yards 810ft
125grams 265yards 795ft
100grams 244yards 732ft
75grams 240yards 720ft
50grams 192yards 576ft

Not bad at all huh?

I casted last week with a Purglas 400-1 on Low Riders a Roberts Big Shot 4 oz and just going 85% of full power gave me at least 130 yards with this plastic lure using 50 lb PowerPro on a Daiwa X5500A. I could not hit it harder as the extreme speed on that particular wind situation made the plastic Big Shot tumble and loose distance but I am sure I can hit 200 yds rather easily with my longest casting metal lure and 30 lb Power Pro on this one. I could bet the rod on this one John.

Who are you speaking with from Purglas?

Sergio

TB... I did not see your message before posting. So you decided on the 350-2. That will be a very light and powerful rod I am sure. Please post the report on that 350 as I have tried in actual fishing conditions only 400's and will be very interesting to hear about the shorter rods.

Sergio

Will do Sergio... I went for the 350 instead of the 400 only for the weight factor....

blank arrived at the builder today... mine will be conventional with a 6500 cs mag elite abu....

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I may be small... But I'm slow!!

Awesome John... he's building mine too.. i'll be the guinea pig!

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I may be small... But I'm slow!!

AJ,

I know a few guys who have switched over to them for 8nbait fishing. I don't know model #'s but they were 13' and pretty light for a heaver. As stated the butt section seems a little fat. The people I know (all expereinced casters) who fish them absolutely love them. Alot easier to load then the breakaway 1509 and the heavier model threw 10 oz effortlessly. I never asked what they thought of the rod's fish fighting abilities though. I will probably have one built soon - just need to find time to throw one first.

do they have factory models available in the US too?

their web site indicates so but it does not say where you can find them (or to be more accurate, i did not find that info).

(i always ask the same questions - don't i ... :wee




[This message has been edited by slim (edited 01-08-2003).]

The model most of the guys are using for 8+bait heavers is the 400-4... it's 13' and they are cutting it down a bit... Think DrumDum has one...

Regarding factory built rods... there is a number for the distributor in the US on their website.. i think they are available but hard to come by... the one i casted in the spring was a factory built demo.. kinda simple in appearance but nice.

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I may be small... But I'm slow!!

AJ... The 4000 is on the light side for the lures I cast but it is a very nice rod for lighter lures and a great rod for smaller corvina or weakfish where long casts are necesary (like in our place). The action of the 4000 rod is very forgiving on these fish that have mouths that don't hold the lures very well. The 400-0 is a great lure rod for lures up to 3 oz and the 400-1 is good to cast practically most of the lures we use.

Peter Thain a friend of mine from the UK is one of the best tournament casters in the world and he mentioned to me the other day that if he could not use Zzipies for competition then he would use Purglas rods. This comment comes from somone that has casted in competition a weight very close to 3.5 oz a distance of 245 yards using a spinning reel.

I would recommend you to go up at least to the 400-0 and maybe even better the 400-1 in case you want to powercast the bigger lures.

I have to admit that these rods in order to keep the weight down are thinner walled than some of the other world class top five rod brands, but they will stand a lot of pounding if you keep the casted object withing the recommended limits.

As it has been mentioned the rod is tapered from tip to the end of the butt so as some has mentioned the butt is thicker than most rods of the same weight range. This is what gives these rods a very special parabolic action.

AJ and all others this is IMO very important... If the rod builder tries to fit a foregrip and a rear grip of the same thickness as usual you will end up with a grip of hypalon, EVA foam or whatever of this type of grip material too thick .

I personally do not like grip material on any other place but precisely where my hands will hold the rods to keep the weight to a minimum. I also do not see a reason to put grip material in the immediate area below the reel stem. Tell the rod builder what is the diameter that you would like (I supose these are spinning reels?) just in front of the reel and at the very end of the butt (I am also supposing that you are holding all your fingers in front of the reel stem as most powercasters do). You might find out that the only grip material that he can use on these rods to keep up with those specs is shrink tubing or cork tape. I have seen some of these rods with very thin diameter foam on front but all of the foam rear grips I have seen installed on the butt end of these rods end up making the butt end horrendously thick, at least for my hands or average size hands.

The best grip material for the thick butts of these rods by a wide margin IMO is a cross pattern shrink tube rubber grip material called the "X-Tube". This material is shrink tubing like the one used on some reels but has a soft velvet like feel surface in a cross pattern that is very much of my liking.

I have another friend in California that distributes Purglas rods in the USA. If you are interested e-mail me and I can give you his address. He also sells finished rods but I would never buy a finished rod in a blank of this class type of rods.

The 400 series and the 4000 are 4.00 meter long or 13' 2" long when used in the "long butt mode". The 400-4 that TB mentioned is the unlimited model that can cast more than 8 oz. plus bait.

I am sure forgetting something but I will gladly tell you whatever you need to know about the 4000, 400-0 and 400-1 rods that I have used and that I have casted close to a thousand times and I also know who you can contact for all the other models.

Take care!

Sergio



[This message has been edited by Sergio (edited 01-08-2003).]

When fishing with a breakaway 1509 a year ago, the person fishing next to me let me hold his purglas 400-4. It is much, much lighter than the Breakaway 1509. It does have a fatter butt but it should not be a problem for most users.

Best of luck.

Tom