This is the second in a series of hard-hitting and incisive analyses of some of the major developments in the sport today. These detailed whitepapers are designed to provoke thought and stimulate debate… or, maybe it’s stimulate thought and provoke debate… well, maybe it’s just provoke… among you, the recognized cognoscenti and, as noted earlier, the final authorities on all things bamboo.
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In Defense of Bamboo Rods As An Investment Strategy
Well, let’s see… there’s uhhh… hmmmm.
I, uhhhh… lemme see… I, uhhhh… well… hmmmm. Wellll…
Anyone? Anyone?
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Step 1: Buy as many rods from relatively new, little-known makers as possible. Make sure you pay their asking price (typically in excess of $1000)
ReplyDeleteStep 2: Post them on Formerly Clark's at a discount, say $800 each
Step 3: After 3 days with no response, reduce prices to $700 each
Step 4: After another 3 days with no responses, put them on eBay with $600 reserve
Step 5: Pay listing fee invoices to eBay for the unsold rods (all of them)
Step 6: Put them on eBay again with no reserve.
Step 7: Collect $400-500 per rod, less listing fees, eBay commisions and paypal fees.
Step 8: Spend an hour or so carefully packing up rods and another hour on line at the post office
Step 9: Correspond with one of the buyers who would like to return rod because the ferrule fit is too loose (or too tight, or the varnish has a flaw, or the tip bends down when holding the rod estended straight out)
Step 10: Refund money to buyer above, including shipping charges so he won't leave you negative feedback.
If you follow all the above steps carefully, I guarantee your investment will outperform those made with Bernie Madoff.
Once again, with the wisdom that has led us all (how many is that?) to follow him here, the C.I. has laid it all out with the clairvoyance of a Financial Advisor. It's a futures market in rods 'n reels.
ReplyDeleteI'm in.
Confession of a Backslider
ReplyDeleteOld habits die hard. It took 54 years to stop the nail biting. And cigarettes, let's not even go there. I had been good, not even lurking on the Big Brother Board, missing it a bit at times but sublimating the desire by hanging out in nicer neighborhoods. Then Dr. Smead emailed me to enquire if I would serve as intermediary in the sale of a vintage Pittsnogle rod. So, with photos in place at photoBucket I visited the Site of Doom. Thought I'd peruse recent posts on the Collecting board first to get a feel for the market. Bad Mistake. Right up there at the top of the listings was "Collectible Values to Soar", a thread started by a gentleman whom obviously has deep insider connections to the previous White House Cabinet, Wall Street, the FTC, the European and Asian Markets, the FHA and Rush Limbaugh. I read his commentaries and was so impressed that I immediately posted the Pittsnogle rod For Sale item right there in his thread. Turned out to be a good move because there are now 7 bidders vying for the rod and the stakes are escalating hourly.
But now I'm back, logged in on the site and feeling that old sweet endorphin rush again. So, no longer in control of my actions I pop over to the Fishing Bamboo board and find an interesting thread about an upgraded version of an old product now in the final stages of development. But wait, the same gentleman who initiated the thread discussed above is also posting on this thread. And he is being incredibly rude and negative. Not wishing to cause him public embarassment I PM him to suggest that his comments might be a tad over the line regarding civility. His response is to publicly post "there, I just sent photos of your rod roll to Orvis. We'll see what they have to say about your stealing their idea.....thanks to SnooKen!" Being a gentleman myself I showed what I believe was great restraint. I did not call him "a raging asshole" until I was at the end of the PM response which his actions forced my hand to make.
Same guy/next day.....starts a new thread on Announcements to bitch about someone "adding a comma" to a For Sale item post. "That's not editing that's just cheating to keep you stuff at the top of the list!"
Same guy/same day....starts a new thread on Collecting.."Buy Collectibles"...."Your cash will soon be trash".....review of his recent posts shows that the day before he had listed a "Payne 106 Outfit" on the Classifieds.
C.I.; I think I am cured but know that I am weak. Is there a possibility you could use your considerable influence to create some sort of "12 Steps Away From Clark's Is Only A Start" support program here? (BTW the only thing you overlooked in your Classic Tackle Investment symposium was the Process Acceleration by Divorce option)
Yes, but what does Pittsnuggle have to say on the subject? Enquiring minds, you know....
ReplyDeleteYes Ken, You tried - you tried so hard but were rebuffed in the end. The Pittsnoggle you offered up was top of the line. Pinkie could not have done better. They simply don't care. Let them have their charts, their indexes, their rod futures.
ReplyDeleteStay here and stay calm.
Buona sera,
Cloozoe's investigator
"but what does Pittsnuggle(sic) have to say on the subject?" I wish I knew. Have never met the man, only admired him from afar. Shoot, I've never even handled the rod under discussion. Dr. Smead only sent me photographs and copies of documentation and now he has decomissioned me from any part in the transaction saying that he was "cutting out the little man." Well, like my Daddy used to say, "Son, doing handstands on the crick bank is a sure way of getting in over your head.
ReplyDeleteCwfly, sir. I forget to add that according to Dr. Smead the correct original spelling of Gillum's nickname was actually "Pinkeye" and that he was so dubbed in childhood due to chronic bacterial conjunctivitis.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWord is, Melvin threw out his back diving headlong into a gutter to retrieve a slightly used butt ahead of his longtime friend Clarence (Sweet Daddy Thunderbird) Chillingsworth. It seems Sweet Daddy landed on Melvin and now our dear Pittsnogle is barely ambulatory. Sitting up at a keyboard and typing is out of the question.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I followed the whole sordid thing at The Little Forum That Good Sense Abandoned and you done good, Ken. I'd say real good.
ReplyDeleteI missed one parting shot at "Chartist1" sad to say. When he started the new Collecting Bamboo thread titled "Buy Collectibles", basically a rant about uncontrolled skyrocketing inflation and "convert your cash to tangibles before $$geddon" I emailed myself his Classified sale post for the "Payne 106 outfit" he had posted the day before so I could get the URL of the ad then went back to his thread and created a post there saying "Sage Advice....see link below" and put in the link to his rod for sale blurb. Damned if when I hit the "Submit" icon the moderators has already pulled his thread. You can bet I PMed PCG and complained, yes sirree.
ReplyDeleteOK, I came to that other place later than most of you, so I lack some relevant history (some of you may remember my :What's the difference between Super-Z and step-down ferrules post last winter after the C.I. got so excised about them).
ReplyDeleteSo - what is the history of Melvin Pittsnogle? Who is he?
Sorry for requesting info that most of you seem to possess, but I am trying to get with the program (which I clearly sorely missed out on at that other place).
ZenCane
Here's another (serious) strategy (following the C.I.'s suggestion). Purchase rods from current, wonderful, but under the radar makers (I'll cite Winston Binney, WBINN on the old place). Pay much less than $1000. Fish a terrific rod for the rest of your life.
ReplyDeleteSeems like a good investment!
ZenCane
Or...........you can get buddy buddy with a rod maker, buy several of his rods and begin to shill the market with various rants about the unbelievable casting abilities of these rods, mention that he was friends with Dickerson AND Young, slept with Garrisons granddaughter, smoked pot with Tom Maxwell and is the ONLY maker with the TRUE tapers from the master himself (insert desired name)
ReplyDeletethen continue to discuss your VAST collection of rods, but nothing seems to be quite as special as these "Billy Bob" tapers.
OR........ if you're a maker you can simply build a few rods and give them to random people.............lets say, members of a bamboo forum with "cane status" (perceived or real) then play the humble servant of the cane muse, simply trying to bring peace through fishing bamboo as they do your bidding like renfield!
Rule #1: New maker = 50% loss of value on the secondary market in their first 10 years.
Rule #2: Never ask a maker if he can build a special taper.
Rule #3: Never assume because they say they learned from a master that they ARE as good!
Kings of Kane:
Summers,Brandin,Wojnicki,Carpenter,Aroner,Dorsey,Bob Taylor
Princes of Powerfibers:
Jenkins,Schroeder,Wagner,Reams,Gray
Squires of Snakeguides:
Thramer,Gorman,Becker,Harms
All rodmakers not listed, whose name begins with.....B,P,C,A,T,Z,O,K,L...and sometimes Y are highly suspect and should be considered a serious investment risk!
FINALLY.........always rememeber what Joe Brooks told me when I was 9.."if you won't fish it,
F#%k it!"
Also, if a sellers name has the word "Hole" in it..believe it, and never trust anyone with nicknames relating to lizards or trolls!
Done!
signed
Da Scwheib(deceased)
BOO!