Jon - acknowledge all of that and you're the Carpenter expert. I'm just a customer who uses the rods.
That said, Paul is a Queenslander and the area he is likely to fish is territory like Shoalwater. Much of this is really nasty shallow country with the potential for huge fish. You simply will not be able to extract a reasonable fish from that kind of area with a Long Reef. He also did emphasise the need for a rod that could handle large poppers. To be able to work a big chugger (say 150g +) your options start to thin out quite quickly and a Long Reef is not one of these.
A person with long levers has a huge advantage from a casting perspective. It is a simply matter of applied physics. Once they learn the correct technique, they're away!
We don't have any areas like the Maldives around here that I am aware of where you are fishing for GTs in really forgiving territory.
Hi Brandon ,
I am the agent of Carpenter , those rods of mine are used for casting practices to judge if my customer is worthy of WV/SP series or must start with DJ/LR first . A few started with SPs but later on look for LR and TBL , you know these blokes and they are regulars onboard NOMAD , hence my posting in the hope that new anglers should start with something they can manage , it's just the same in everything .
In popping , if one can't cast the required distance accurately , he won't stand a chance of catching any fish and his mate who is on the same boat will catch fish after fish after fish . Fighting with WV/SP is not very forgiving , have seen too many guys pinned down on the gunwhale of the boat unable to lift the rod due to wrong fighting technique .
I am aware of Shoalwater , etc. and always compare notes with those who have been to Komodo , they are similar in certain areas of Komodo where you just have to lock your drag or the fight wud last only in matter of seconds , most of the time the GT wins . As for Maldives , when casting from motherboat , you can't approach the edges of the reef too close like you can do with a dory and long casting rod with good back bone is the only option .
For guys who are targetting YFT and Kingfish , the big rods are useless due to the requirements of the small lures , even a big YFT weighing 40 kg at times refused to strike 60 gr. lures , now how can one cast such lure with WV/SP series to a distance required ?
Carpenter answers all the field requirements of the anglers by producing various rod for various usage , afterall everyone's aim is to catch fish when fishing and Carpenter keeps up the developments of field condition by revamping their existing rod , such is the case with SP80M and LR88 or comes up with a completely new product such as OMA92 .
Jon .