Aiken, SC, January 5, 2011: Bryson Bratcher of Pensacola, FL has signed on for another season with ALX Rods pro staff. “We’re very excited about having Bryson on our pro staff again for 2011.” Said Alex Dziengielewski, President of Hydra Fishing, LLC which produces ALX Rods. “Bryson has proven to be an upcoming talent in the redfish world. We look forward to seeing Bryson's success with ALX Rods in multiple IFA divisions and other Gulf Coast redfish circuits.”
Said Bratcher: “I'm excited about another year working with ALX rods on the redfish tournament circuit. My past experience with their completely custom lineup has been remarkable. The ability to talk one on one with a designer and builder allows you to ensure you're getting the exact rod you envisioned aesthetically and performance-wise. I'm really looking forward to helping test and develop their new production line. 2011 should be a great year for both of us!"
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Brett Mitchell joins the ALX Rods Freshwater Pro Staff for the 2011 Season.
Brett Mitchell of Timmonsville, SC has been added to the ALX Rods pro staff for 2011. “We’re very excited about adding Brett to our pro staff this year.” Said Alex Dziengielewski, President of Hydra Fishing, LLC which produces ALX Rods. “Brett has a proven track record and is a consummate professional both on and off the water. We look forward to Brett not only helping increase the ALX Rods brand, but to add his touch to new offerings in the future,”
Said Mitchell: “I have been impressed with the ALX products for a while and had the pleasure to fish with some of their handy work this past season. They performed above my expectations, enough so that I am making a complete conversion to ALX Rods and will be helping promote them in the 2011 season.”
Said Mitchell: “I have been impressed with the ALX products for a while and had the pleasure to fish with some of their handy work this past season. They performed above my expectations, enough so that I am making a complete conversion to ALX Rods and will be helping promote them in the 2011 season.”
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
The Critical Path
Anyone who has studied project management knows of the "critical path". Very basically, it's the one "trail" of activities that is more important than any other. If something on that one trail goes haywire, the whole project timeline will be impacted.
It isn't hard to see the line paths highlighted in yellow. Both spiral builds have a change in direction at the point the line transitions to the bottom of the rods. The Simple has a dramatic change while the Revolver style set up has less change, but still more than a traditional on top build. We just believe straighter is better.
There is an advantage to "spirals" in reducing torque on rods. It gets the line under the rod - to a path of least resistance. If we only fought fish or worked lures straight down, we'd buy into that. We flex our rods every direction known while fishing. Also, when the fishing reel is changed to where we aren't cranking a handle - creating a massive amount of torque by using it - we'll look closer at that advantage. We question the torque generated mid rod by the line moving under it - you have line pressing on one part of the rod and then pulling on others. We're not sure if that is good or not.
Until our minds are changed - we'll choose to build the most efficient critical path - unless you just really want to be crooked. :)
Tight lines!
Fishing rods have a critical path - for the line. In a similar fashion, there is one "path" going from start to finish - and if that gets disrupted, the entire thing goes nuts. In the fishing world when your line goes off a true path it results in a backlash, wrapped up line, reduced casting distance, etc. You lose time. You have to make a correction. Same as in project management lost time and corrections = lost money.
That's one of the reasons that line path theory is one of the more important aspects incorporated into ALX Rods - we use the straightest, most efficient line path available. Straight casts - no hang ups - line screaming out to get that lure in front of your next check cashing fish (or photo op for your Facebook profile!).
Tonight I participated in the Tuesday night Chat Forum on thebassholes.com - check them out every Tuesday at 8:30pm EST. I was asked about spiral wraps (AKA: Robert's, Revolver, acid wrap, etc). We don't use them unless specifically requested.
Here's why:
A typical ALX Rod set up:
Here's an example of two different "spiral" set ups:
It isn't hard to see the line paths highlighted in yellow. Both spiral builds have a change in direction at the point the line transitions to the bottom of the rods. The Simple has a dramatic change while the Revolver style set up has less change, but still more than a traditional on top build. We just believe straighter is better.
There is an advantage to "spirals" in reducing torque on rods. It gets the line under the rod - to a path of least resistance. If we only fought fish or worked lures straight down, we'd buy into that. We flex our rods every direction known while fishing. Also, when the fishing reel is changed to where we aren't cranking a handle - creating a massive amount of torque by using it - we'll look closer at that advantage. We question the torque generated mid rod by the line moving under it - you have line pressing on one part of the rod and then pulling on others. We're not sure if that is good or not.
Until our minds are changed - we'll choose to build the most efficient critical path - unless you just really want to be crooked. :)
Tight lines!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Where it all happens...
Some clients get the chance to come and have fun in the shop testing out rods, etc... others don't. One of the questions I get a lot is... "Where do you build?" "How big is the shop?"
Well surprise! Not very big. It's about 300 sq feet on the side of our house. So that means it's important to be efficient, relatively organized, and able to stick a lot of stuff to run this operation in a "small" area. It's plenty of room until you also need to store 400 grips, 100 rod blanks, 200.... you get the idea.
Anyway... here's one side with some descriptions...
And the other side...
A few things that really are huge here... the climate control (for curing finish) and the high ceilings - but I still have scrape marks from those 8' swimbait rods!
What you don't see is the side I stood on. There is more storage and then the desk (too messy to show that!).
Tight lines!
Well surprise! Not very big. It's about 300 sq feet on the side of our house. So that means it's important to be efficient, relatively organized, and able to stick a lot of stuff to run this operation in a "small" area. It's plenty of room until you also need to store 400 grips, 100 rod blanks, 200.... you get the idea.
Anyway... here's one side with some descriptions...
And the other side...
A few things that really are huge here... the climate control (for curing finish) and the high ceilings - but I still have scrape marks from those 8' swimbait rods!
What you don't see is the side I stood on. There is more storage and then the desk (too messy to show that!).
Tight lines!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
MICRO Guides
Here's an article (slightly updated from the original I penned in 2009) that has shown up on a few other websites. It has some great info regarding micro guides (the latest craze right?). ALX Rods has been using micros since June of 2008... so we laugh a little when it's called the "hot, new thing"...
Micro Guides – What, Where, When?
A new approach to fishing rod guide trains appeared at ICAST 2009 (on a mass level). Since then “New” micro guides have appeared on no less than 5 major rod manufacturer product lines. Micro guides are generating great interest in the angling community regarding what “micros” are and the details about them. Let’s examine micro guides – the history, advantages, disadvantages, and beyond!
Micro Guides – What, Where, When?
A new approach to fishing rod guide trains appeared at ICAST 2009 (on a mass level). Since then “New” micro guides have appeared on no less than 5 major rod manufacturer product lines. Micro guides are generating great interest in the angling community regarding what “micros” are and the details about them. Let’s examine micro guides – the history, advantages, disadvantages, and beyond!
Post #1.... Here we go...
Well, I started this little project back in May of this year (and it's now almost November...). Wasn't sure what to do with it, how it worked, etc. So I figure just hop in and get going.
Here's my goal - I'm going to share rod information, I'm going to get some other folks on here to share fishing information, and hopefully we can all enjoy it.
I'm going to be looking for other people to make occasional posts and make this a great, informative blog.
Please feel free to leave some suggestions on what you would like to see!
Here's my goal - I'm going to share rod information, I'm going to get some other folks on here to share fishing information, and hopefully we can all enjoy it.
I'm going to be looking for other people to make occasional posts and make this a great, informative blog.
Please feel free to leave some suggestions on what you would like to see!
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