TronixPro rods?

[Topwater]

Some folk seem to change rods like socks in a constant conveyor belt of the emperors new clothes. Conti rods particularly seem to be subject to frequent discussions on change/upgrade. Is it because these high tech wands wear out after a few seasons hard use or are overly delicate?

 

[Tomthewelshie]

Some folk seem to change rods like socks in a constant conveyor belt of the emperors new clothes. Conti rods particularly seem to be subject to frequent discussions on change/upgrade. Is it because these high tech wands wear out after a few seasons hard use or are overly delicate?

I think a lot of it is that there isn’t any real user information out there for conti rods. You end up buying blind/ based on the manufacturers specs which doesn’t mean a great deal when it comes to actual fishing conditions etc.

 

[chesilpete]

I like my sticks..... heres a vote for the Italians!.
But expensive Italians.
Could you choke up 400 plus quid for a chinky wobble stick if there was a union jack next to it at the same price.
Why dont they put made in China on the blank?.

 

[chesilpete]

I like a Portuguese rod too! and have some Japanese sex toy chuckers! So not a rod racist....just buy the best I can find in each category.
I have some chinese manufactured reels sold by Penn.
They have made in China proudly there on each reel why not put it on the rods?

 

[Trampster]

Some folk seem to change rods like socks in a constant conveyor belt of the emperors new clothes. Conti rods particularly seem to be subject to frequent discussions on change/upgrade. Is it because these high tech wands wear out after a few seasons hard use or are overly delicate?

Not me anyway. Bought a Grauvell Vertix Conti rod in 2018 and love it. No plans to change it.
A mate (on here) caught the tip of his similar rod in the shingle, snapped it 5" down, and donated it to me. I fixed it with some Carbon Fibre Tube and that's now got a 2nd life too.
I do suppose it's how much you use them.

 

[Beach]

I brought a couple of 12ft 2-5oz TF Gear rods for around £100 for both just before the company went over to fresh water gear. Good rods for fishing off the Sussex coast.

 

[Mike]

I like a Portuguese rod too! and have some Japanese sex toy chuckers! So not a rod racist....just buy the best I can find in each category.
I have some chinese manufactured reels sold by Penn.
They have made in China proudly there on each reel why not put it on the rods?

Quite a few “Made in Japan” rods are made in China and stamped Made in Japan. Been there, walked the factory floor, seen it.

The “Made In” thing is a bit of a fallacy tbh, unless it’s made in Europe where there are all sorts of checks and balances on provenance. Even then you can ship over a blank from China, whip on the rings and the reel seat in the U.K. and say it’s Made in Britain and nobody is really the wiser.

Chinese technology is probably in front of us now, the Koreans even further in front. People have this idea that a Chinese rod factory is in some back water with rats running around and a few toothless guys working a mandrel. That might have been the case 25 years ago, but people forget China is now the second biggest economy in the world. They’ve invested a lot. They’ve essentially listened to the western advice that has been plentiful in recent years and improved on it. Most of their factories are high tech and highly automated, a lot of them built by the West. China is only really cheaper because of its buying power and its abundant workforce.

When I first went there seven years ago I went with the mindset that I’d be seeing Soviet era motorbikes and chicken cages on the back. It couldn’t have been further from the truth.

 

[Where’s Wally]

Quite a few “Made in Japan” rods are made in China and stamped Made in Japan. Been there, walked the factory floor, seen it.

The “Made In” thing is a bit of a fallacy tbh, unless it’s made in Europe where there are all sorts of checks and balances on provenance. Even then you can ship over a blank from China, whip on the rings and the reel seat in the U.K. and say it’s Made in Britain and nobody is really the wiser.

Chinese technology is probably in front of us now, the Koreans even further in front. People have this idea that a Chinese rod factory is in some back water with rats running around and a few toothless guys working a mandrel. That might have been the case 25 years ago, but people forget China is now the second biggest economy in the world. They’ve invested a lot. They’ve essentially listened to the western advice that has been plentiful in recent years and improved on it. Most of their factories are high tech and highly automated, a lot of them built by the West. China is only really cheaper because of its buying power and its abundant workforce.

When I first went there seven years ago I went with the mindset that I’d be seeing Soviet era motorbikes and chicken cages on the back. It couldn’t have been further from the truth.

I lived there 20 years ago and my endearing memory was the concrete pumps working 24 hours a day. Yes, there was poverty, but I was impressed by how they acted as a colony of ants do and are reaping the rewards now.
Our once famous ‘industry’ has sadly dwindled and only a shadow of its former self. My son is living there now and will probably attend university there, so many more opportunities for him

 

[Mike]

I lived there 20 years ago and my endearing memory was the concrete pumps working 24 hours a day. Yes, there was poverty, but I was impressed by how they acted as a colony of ants do and are reaping the rewards now.
Our once famous ‘industry’ has sadly dwindled and only a shadow of its former self. My son is living there now and will probably attend university there, so many more opportunities for him

That must be incredible for him!

The rail network amazes me. In just over 13 years, they've laid almost 26,000 miles of high-speed network that can run trains at over 200mph. We've essentially failed at laying 330 miles of high-speed track, in the same timeframe...which, as the inventor and birthplace of the railway, is somewhat embarrassing.

 

[chesilpete]

Quite a few “Made in Japan” rods are made in China and stamped Made in Japan. Been there, walked the factory floor, seen it.

The “Made In” thing is a bit of a fallacy tbh, unless it’s made in Europe where there are all sorts of checks and balances on provenance. Even then you can ship over a blank from China, whip on the rings and the reel seat in the U.K. and say it’s Made in Britain and nobody is really the wiser.

Chinese technology is probably in front of us now, the Koreans even further in front. People have this idea that a Chinese rod factory is in some back water with rats running around and a few toothless guys working a mandrel. That might have been the case 25 years ago, but people forget China is now the second biggest economy in the world. They’ve invested a lot. They’ve essentially listened to the western advice that has been plentiful in recent years and improved on it. Most of their factories are high tech and highly automated, a lot of them built by the West. China is only really cheaper because of its buying power and its abundant workforce.

When I first went there seven years ago I went with the mindset that I’d be seeing Soviet era motorbikes and chicken cages on the back. It couldn’t have been further from the truth.

So if you had a union jack on one rod and a chinese flag on the other are.you going all chinese?

 

[Mike]

So if you had a union jack on one rod and a chinese flag on the other are.you going all chinese?

In all honesty, it depends on the factory. Top end Chinese factory, I'd go for the Chinese one. If it was a toss up between UK, China and Korea, I'd go Korea.

 

[Tomthewelshie]

In all honesty, it depends on the factory. Top end Chinese factory, I'd go for the Chinese one. If it was a toss up between UK, China and Korea, I'd go Korea.

I agree about Korea too, they make excellent items of all kinds.

 

[chesilpete]

In all honesty, it depends on the factory. Top end Chinese factory, I'd go for the Chinese one. If it was a toss up between UK, China and Korea, I'd go Korea.

And.... are there any Korean beach rods available in the UK??

 

[Mike]

And.... are there any Korean beach rods available in the UK??

Any expensive (£350+ rod), not made in the UK, rod, is more than likely to be built in Korea. Most brands use a Korean factory somewhere in the chain, if they don't have their own local manufacturing.

Without giving brand secrets away in the sea-angling sector, probably the most prestigious name in fly fishing makes most of their blanks in Korea now.

The funny thing is, there are not that many factories in the world that make fishing rods, so chances are, most brands are all using the same factories.

I do get why people are loyal to one country's brands, though, so I'm not knocking it at all. I quite like building model aircraft, I could easily use a Humbrol brush made in China, which I could buy for £2. Instead, all my brushes are French-made Raphael 8404, which are £20 each. Do they really make a difference, probably not, but I prefer to use them.

 

[chesilpete]

Any expensive (£350+ rod), not made in the UK, rod, is more than likely to be built in Korea. Most brands use a Korean factory somewhere in the chain, if they don't have their own local manufacturing.

Without giving brand secrets away in the sea-angling sector, probably the most prestigious name in fly fishing makes most of their blanks in Korea now.

The funny thing is, there are not that many factories in the world that make fishing rods, so chances are, most brands are all using the same factories.

I do get why people are loyal to one country's brands, though, so I'm not knocking it at all. I quite like building model aircraft, I could easily use a Humbrol brush made in China, which I could buy for £2. Instead, all my brushes are French-made Raphael 8404, which are £20 each. Do they really make a difference, probably not, but I prefer to use them.

I quite like the koreans they seem to be technically good at making things.
I would not react negatively to a made in Korea label, especially if clarity was given around manufacturing plant and supply chain etc.
It would be nice to know something had not been made by a 14 year old girl being paid in rice.
I do prefer to buy British and will pay a premium for that but am highly suspicious of anything with no country of origin.

 

[Mike]

I quite like the koreans they seem to be technically good at making things.
I would not react negatively to a made in Korea label, especially if clarity was given around manufacturing plant and supply chain etc.
It would be nice to know something had not been made by a 14 year old girl being paid in rice.
I do prefer to buy British and will pay a premium for that but am highly suspicious of anything with no country of origin.

Weihai is pretty much the centre of tackle production in China. It's a beautiful city overlooking the Yellow Sea, it is China's apple-growing region. It was a British Colony up until 1930 and was leased back to the RN until the 40s. It's a mix of colonial architecture and ultra-modern, glass-fronted skyscrapers. There were definitely no 14-year-old girls being paid in rice making anything there

At the time this particular factory was making 100,000 bass rods for the US bass fishing market. Makes you realise how small the angling market is in the UK compared to the US of A.

 

[chesilpete]

Weihai is pretty much the centre of tackle production in China. It's a beautiful city overlooking the Yellow Sea, it is China's apple-growing region. It was a British Colony up until 1930 and was leased back to the RN until the 40s. It's a mix of colonial architecture and ultra-modern, glass-fronted skyscrapers. There were definitely no 14-year-old girls being paid in rice making anything there

At the time this particular factory was making 100,000 bass rods for the US bass fishing market. Makes you realise how small the angling market is in the UK compared to the US of A.

Mike, Its interesting that you have been there and actually seen it.
I think my issue is more around the general way in which China as a country is interfacing with the rest of the world.
There are no doubt human rights issues and their politics seem aligned to anyone who wants to cause disruption and trouble globally.
Russia, Iran and North Korea all spring to mind. Then theres the issue of them refusing to take any significant action on climate change, I could go on but wont.
Its up to everyone to choose where to spend their cash, my preference is not to spend it with the Chinese although sometimes its inevitable.

 

[Baldie]

I have a good few eastern rods along side the usual uk makes, I would put a Tronixpro Naga against any of my UK rods, also Zulcron.
The uk brands might be made in the UK but with cloth from the far east. They are years ahead of us in technology, they make millions of rods as against 1000s for uk manufacturers, yes they will make them to a budget or to a quality demanded by the buyer!
Don’t knock them until you’ve tried them.

 

[squidword]

Horses for courses really, one persons love is another man's hate. I owned a tronix pro conti rod and it snapped at the joint while casting. I have tried a few in the Tronix range but don't like any of them. Do most of my south coast fishing with a pair of Fox Nemesis rods, must be twenty years old now. Always go as light as I can possibly get away with, prefer fishing rods to stiff, lifeless scaffold poles. Zziplex profile, profile gt, century ld's (which are like carp rods). If I do need to go heavy, it's century super matches (fantastic fishing tip, but powerful mid section) or my 30 year old Primo's. Bought my son a pair of Grauvell kona beach rods second hand, gave them a cast, was extremely impressed. Tried many others Abu, daiwa, zziplex, century etc... Many not suitable for me, either too soft, too stiff etc..I still prefer the older rods.

 

[Trampster]

Bought my son a pair of Grauvell kona beach rods second hand

Not heard of the Kona rods Squiddy, glad to hear you liked them. I've got a couple of Grauvell Vertix rods and love 'em.
Shame they went bust.