Someone really wanted this...

[Aknib]

I've had this on my watch list purely out of interest, i'm sure I paid £279 brand new for mine with a small amount of unofficial loyalty discount.

And...

There's an additional twenty quid postage cost on top of the sale price!

Hardy Marksman Ultra lite Bomb 10’ | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Hardy Marksman Ultra lite Bomb 10’ at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Dr. John Bridges (1587)

“a foole and his money are soone parted”

 

[@Clive]

It takes two to tango so somebody else must have wanted it nearly as much as the buyer.

 

[S-Kippy]

Blimey ! I’d be happy to get as much when I decide to thin out my Marksmen… if I ever do. Seems criminal them sitting unused in the shed though.

 

[Alan Whitty]

I've been using my 11ft 6in Marksmen smuggler this week for a change, I said it when Steve sold his 11ft specimen years ago but I think it will have to go as I don't feel it's a patch on my Harrison's....

 

[jon atkinson]

18 bids, opening one was £132, 17th was £411! Winner really must have wanted it!!

 

[S-Kippy]

18 bids, opening one was £132, 17th was £411! Winner really must have wanted it!!

Or has more money than sense. I love all my Marksmen but I would never pay that much.

 

[nottskev]

Well, I suppose we want what we want, and other people's purchases are often mystifying.
I like bomb rods, in the sense of slim, light leger rods, but they're pretty niche items and I wouldn't go this far.
Remember the old "Can you tell Stork from butter" ad's?
Wouldn't a "blind" rod testing review be interesting, where anglers who know their stuff test anonymised rods and report?
Might shed light on how much is in name and reputation, but it would be hard to disguise the rods and fishing blindfold isn't really the answer.

 

[@Clive]

There are online anglers who seem to be able to give you the definitive review of every rod, reel, line, etc. on the market. I don't know quite how they do it, but I would like to see them compare products blind, or possibly un-badged.

 

[nottskev]

Reviews based on use seem to be one of the things that went out with the demise of the angling press. Many things called reviews just reproduce the maker's claims and blurbs. People post "reviews" based on taking receipt of or even "unboxing" items, which is not much use as most things work until you actually use them for a while.....

Mind you, I'm casting no aspersions on the Hardy rods - some anglers whose opinions I respect rate them highly; that bomb rod would just be too dear for me in the sense I'd question its value to me personally. I've lashed out on items myself - but generally to replace or get a spare for things I've tested long-term and don't want to be without.

 

[@Clive]

There are coarse fishing rods that achive classic status within their production period or soon after and go for high prices second hand. Most of the older classics that bring good money however are cane fly rods. Other than scarce or 'owned by a famous angler' rods I can only think of the cane Mk. 4 rods and Wallis Avons that would fetch over £200 and that would be higher than anything fibreglass. So for a second hand carbon Hardy to go for £400+ is a new one on me. Bomb rods aren't usually regarded as being desirable.

 

[S-Kippy]

I take anglers reviews with a pinch of salt as they almost always have some association with the distributors of the item in question. There is one such pretty well known angler I used to bump into regularly and not once did I ever see him using the rods he “reviewed/promoted” on line…..and I made a point of looking.

 

[nottskev]

Carbon rods selling second-hand over £200? I'd have thought that people pay sums like that for some Normark's or Carbotec's, but then I'm not one for keeping track of the used tackle stock market.
I cheerfully stumped up £220 7 years ago for a mint 20 year old Shimano Diaflash, and drove to the Deep South to collect it.
I love the rod, and wouldn't swap it for anything (Aco)lighter.
And of course, we have to remember some people have lots of spare money, as I'm reminded if I ever look at what those thousands of second-hand unused quality centrepins are bought and sold for as they migrate from one display to another.

 

[@Clive]

I have to agree about the centrepins, the prices asked are astounding. I cannot rationalise somebody paying £600 for a replica of a vintage reel that you can buy an original for less than £100. The last two modern Youngs reels that I bought, John Wilson Heritage and a Lightweight were both unused. The price tags showed rrp of £320 and £295. Somebody had paid that then left them sitting in their boxes for years before accepting less than half price for them. One of the sellers threw in a free Hardy Matchmaker rod. I picked up a 100 year old Youngs centrepin for £40 last month. Once I had cleaned it and removed the line guard it operates 'as new' and spins without wobble for exactly 60 seconds. A new replica would set me back just under £600.

Then again, a certain Mr Baird from Huntingdon negotiated a £600 price for a fully restored Allcocks Wizard in 2002 and never used it. I got it for less than a third of the price 21 years later from a sale of his belongings after he had died.

I just hope that when I die my wife gets what she thinks I paid for the rods and reels.

 

[Aknib]

I am usually careful to refer to tackle I personally like in it's own right as opposed to it's better than this, that and the other simply because I haven't used many comparables and some reviews really do mystify me in addition to holding deep suspicion as to their commercial motives.

Funny thing with the Hardy rods is that not one rod which I own I would consider likely to be the best at something, more that they do a range of things very well indeed which suits my thinking and, in all likely hood despite their high price, they suit my budget too as I now have far fewer rods doing a few things well as opposed to an arsenal of rods each of which do a particular thing better.

But no...

I personally wouldn't have entertained the price that that bomb rod went for or anywhere near it.

I'm fickle too...

Give me the best rod in the world and a promise it will catch me twice as many fish but I won't even entertain it if the nice cork handle has been spoilt with a band of what looks like mucky crushed grit at either end (the Hardy XT range immediately springs to mind for me), or the graphics are too loud or say something I don't like.

 

[@Clive]

It isn't just the sponsored anglers. Some might recall a former member on here who would give the definitive review on any item of tackle despite his fishing exploits being restricted to a few outings a year catching chublets. He had a bedroom full of tackle that he never used so had no means of comparison.

Then there was another who dismissed the Okuma Trent as a knuckle breaking danger despite having never seen one. The Trent is the blue reel that features in many of Nottskev's HDYGO photos.

Like Steve I prefer not to recommend anything that I haven't used extensively.

 

[S-Kippy]

I think someone’s been in my shed….a number of Marksmen have suddenly appeared on the Bay. Silly starting prices as usual

 

[Aknib]

You could be the proud owner of a 'handle section only' float rod, and for which you have the highly unlikely chance of getting a tip section, for the modest sum of £114.99 delivered.

Yeah right...

Ye Gods the world's gone mad!

Hang on a minute, handle only section?

Did the tip break?

That's all I need, a new conspiracy theory where Hardy have joined forces with Drennan, i'm already on high alert whenever someone in dark sunglasses and an upturned, collared raincoat walks by my front window on a hot day.

I reckon Hardy would do it in style though, special forces landing on my rooftop by helicopter before sliding down the chimney breast and setting off smoke bombs and thunder flashes before I suffered a volley of machine gun fire

God only knows if they find the fishing room and discover it's better stocked than their museum...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32577202...fbOK2AozZ+XbnpJ5J5zEPZ1bAQ|tkp:Bk9SR9yxsOXFYg

 

[@Clive]

Hardy practiced many dirty tricks in their early days. They weren't above claiming to have invented things that others had developed and some of their catalogues are so up their own orifices I am surprised that they didn't claim to have invented toilet paper. They had a theme where for years they claimed to have invented the built cane rod. Actually they bought an American rod, had it dismantled and then copied it. In the same editions of their annual catalogue there are claims by them about inventing built cane rods and a letter of appreciation from a customer saying that until Hardy commenced manufacturing these rods customers had to make do with American ones.

They also conspired to prevent their local rivals from being able to advertise in the two leading journals of that period.

 

[S-Kippy]

I’m struggling to think why anyone would want that butt section. There can’t be many out there who have lost one and I’ve never broken a butt section in me life