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Red Truck Diesel 7wt 13'6" Rod Review

19K views 30 replies 15 participants last post by  Slint 
#1 ·
Few months back I was fortunate enough to try a couple prototype rods at the GGACC from Leland's in San Francisco. The rods are put out by Red Truck which is a division of Leland's. They go by the name "Diesel". A very odd, but cool name I suppose. The prototypes were not much to look at but my buddy Will Widdicombe and I put em through the paces and we were both clearly blown away by the performance of the 7 weight 13' 6" rod. It excelled with most casting styles and line types so, I ordered one. I was informed that Leland's technical staff spent 1 1/2 years designing the rod through a well known manufacturer based in Asia. Alot of tweaking and trial and error. The first shipment steamed in yesterday (after a long wait) and we met again at the ponds. The word spread quick about this stick....those that heard about it had bought one and were all out casting like kids at Xmas.

The final delivered rod looks like an older Scott with a completely unsanded and uncolored blank; even rougher than Scott's lightly sanded blanks. Although some may be put off by this raw look it is functional...good idea to leave it au natural for strength. The stripping guides appear to be titanium oxide and the wraps are neat with no slop. No fancy wrapping or inlayed feathers and handwritten script. This rod is all business with no BS, it is a professional grade tool and, like any other, form must follow function. The handle has solid ergonomics and resulting sexy curves with very clear cork. There are no rubberized cork rings or ornamental rings used on this handle as you find on so many other offerings these days. The reel seat is spartan; just clear anodized aluminum, uplocking and gnurled, no insert, but it is smooth, solid and funtional. The ferrules are regular, non-spigot type. The ferrules on my rod stuck tight though and I had to call upon a second set of hands to free them. My buddy suggested using paraffin but maybe it would be best to let the graphite wear out a bit.

The rod tube is just plain extruded aluminum with no paint or finish coat. Also a very raw look but it beats PVC and nylon. I was surprised to find the rod tube cap has a freakin' bottle opener built into it on the back side. The quality of this particlur installation was very nicely executed. It is the only extraneous accutrement; and duly so as drinking is arguably of far greater import to the chronically afflicted steelheader than inlayed jungle cock feathers. This could set a new trend. Impress your friends at the tailgate when you pull the tube out and pop open a cold one at 5am. Maybe you could just store your bottles inside the tube for smuggling? The rod sock has a screen printed name "spare tire" in the upper corner at the tip pocket but I have no idea why or what that means. I thought that maybe there was a spare tip included in that pocket but there is not. I have not heard of Leland selling a blank but if they did I would stand in line like a teenage girl waiting to see Lady Gaga.

The action is fast and more progressive than regressive but with well placed flexing in the right spots at upper and lower quarters. The rod recovers very quickly. It likes to be tip cast with Scandi lines but will load well into the butt with heavier skagit lines. It is a true 7 weight and likes to cast within a 480-550 window. The thin tip would not do well with heavier lines. The rod has good butt strength and I think it could lick a helluva big steelhead but....anything over 15lb would probably end in hand to hand combat.

This is a lighter feeling rod, but I dont know what the actual weight is. I hope to put it on a scale soon. I do not know exactly what the graphite modulus is but I was told it is mixed and around 50+ million. Does higher modulus make a better rod? I don't know. I was however told that it is a lower modulus than the TCX rods. That aside, I would still compare the action to the Sage TCX rods however; there is no TCX rod in 7136 for direct comparison. It casts similar to the Burkie 13'4" 6/7/8 4 peice but....I won't compare it directly to that rod either.

As far as lines go, we cast an Airflo 540g compact skagit which it really liked. This ability was somewhat surprising since it seems to be specifically designed with true Scandi in mind. It is not really a friendly first timer Skagit rod though since the action is so fast you dont have time to feel the rod anchor and load like a highly regressive taper rod. It made long tight skagit casts (100'+) with little effort and 10' of T14... I am not as excited about Skagit anymore though so I cast the new Vector Ballistic 7/8 (a CND Lee Davidson brain child) and it was a true pleasure at all reasonable fishing distances. It was very relaxing to cast and there was no over exertion needed. The rod would be well suited to those who do not want to toil all day with a heavier rig but still want some length, mending control and power to shoot through a breeze. Lightning fast line speed and lazor tight loops are the norm with the Ballistic line, even with a steady breeze.

Consistent 90-110' (measured) casts are easy for an experienced caster. It can be overpowered though if you are attempting anything longer which will crash this line into a pile if you force it. If you really want to shoot it through the wind with a stable ending we found scandi heads do the trick if you don;t mind all the stripping. Would like to try an even longer line (CND mid spey?).

The rod currenlty goes for $300 which is surprising since it performs like rod costing much more. Cost though is becoming less relevant to graphite rod performance.

Overall this rod gets a 9 out of 10 rating in my book.
 
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#4 ·
Diesel

Wouldn't call it glowing. This is just a site and thread to review rods not a fund drive thread. It's the individuals that work for this outfit (good or bad) and their collaborative spirit of innovation that are important and so impressive. Leland's just provides the R&D funding....and yeah, of course, they should contribute.
 
#7 ·
Agree - Who be you?



Per Bob's previous posts, it would be great if you could identify who you are and what, if any relationship you have with Leland's.

Otherwise, what could be a reasonably well written personal review of a new rod might (read will) be perceived as a product push by a non sponsor.

Thanks

Jonathan Barlow
 
#9 ·
I don't work for Leland's

I don't work for Leland's. I am just an independent environmental consultant that thinks this rod blank is very well designed. Gee whiz. I just like to cast...doesn't matter what it is.

I met and talked with Bob Pauli at the ponds recently and he can vouch for my loitering about. I was all over that poor bastard after his GGACC casting clinic a few weeks ago. We were foaming at mouth.....trying to get him to free up these Vector Ballistic lines and he looked at us kinda perturbed since he had just finished and was trying to chill. We could care less about his course; we were so fiendish. The man was kind enough to break out his twine for us low life pond scum junkies and we must all say thanx to you Bob.

Call me if you want to meet up and cast.

Mark Schmidt
415-602-4680
 
#12 ·
I am a former employee of Lelands who was let go some time ago, that being said, what hangdown says about the Leland/Red Truck line is accurate. I know the hard work that went into designing and producing these rods, and how long it took to perfect. The boys at Lelands would not stop until they had the best rod they could get. Again, I have no reason to support these rods as I was terminated from the company, but if you want an excellent fly rod at a bargain price, these rods would be the way to go.
 
#15 ·
I will send you my set up to try. both of mine are on loan in Oregon with Scott Howell. They should be back early next week. Email me you contact info:
George@flyfishingoutfitters.com

George Revel
Hi, was the blank designed by Fly Fishing Outfitters or was a current blank (or slight tweeks on a current blank) used? What company is making the blank (regardless if they designed it)?
 
#17 ·
Another good line to try on it

I fished the Klamath over the Labor Day weekend and employed the Diesel for the first time in the real world. It has significant reserve power. I bought a Rio Skagit Flight in the 570 grain thinking it would be right but it was too short for this rod (better on a 12' - 12 1/2' stick). I tried the older SA Mastery 7-weight, 500 grain, 29-foot skagit line (peach colored) matched with 15-foot, 3-5 ips, Type III sink head (green tagged) and Varivas mono shooting line. Was fishing a sz. 8 bead head, nothing massive. That rig was spot on! With extra length and taper design (and lighter fly and sink tip) could snake roll, single spey, etc. Cool not to be limited to only the skagit cast pallete. Anyone tried any other lines?
 
#18 ·
I got a hold of one of these and fished it the last 2 days. I loaded it up with Rio Skagit flight 525gr with a 10' MOW tip 2.5/7.5 float/sink tip and tied on a 2 fly setup, #6 purpil peril and #4 egg sucking leech. IMO the rod casts great. I was surprised at what good quality components the rod has for the price. It's definately not cheap looking. This thing has enough reserve power to be a cannon. I had no problem shooting line out with a snap-T cast. I think they have a good thing going here. Currently they are out of stock. But I hope to have them send me one when they get a shipment in.
 
#21 ·
Thanks for the great review, to bad some had to jump to conclusions and brand you an "Illegal Alien"...
The last thing I'd do is tell everyone on here who I am ! That's your own private business, if the Site owners have a problem with you or your post they should deal with you .
Again, nice review, after all, this is the kind of post that makes the spey pages informative and worth reading-
 
#24 ·
I held the spey diesel next to a z-axis spey and they are pretty darn close in flex and weight. The z-axis seemed to load a bit better, but the difference was nill after 5 or so casts. The price difference however will speak volumes when it comes to making a decision. If I could afford to drop 8 bills on a z-axis I would without thinking twice. But the diesel is a sweet rod for the money. I'm hoping to get more stick time with it next week.
 
#26 ·
Got mine in the mail finally! I paired it up with a Ross CLA #6 spooled with 525 skagit flight head, which balances it out very nicely. I was able to put in 2 more days of stick time. With a floating head I could literally cast all the way across the river if I wanted too. With a 10ft head, 5 float/5 sink of T-11, and a #4 egg sucking leech I could easily get more line out than I could control with the current. This rod keeps getting better the more practice I get with it. I also got the extra tip "spare tire" for $40 extra. I wish I had more time to fish.
 
#27 ·
Good with a Carron Jet Stream 8/9 65' floating

At risk of sounding like I am a Rep for Carron, Diesel, Maxima, Vector, Sage, and whoever else ya'll conjure up, The Diesel 13' 6" 7 weight casts the 65' Carron 8/9 JetStream pretty damn well with a hand tied Maxima Chameleon, 15' mono leader. It is better with the Carron line than the Vector Ballistic lines (for this particular rod). I would rather use the Vector 6/7 on the Sage 7136...that's much better suited and very, very sweet... As a comparison; casting the Carron line with the Sage 7136 Z-axis does not work well because it has no-where near the power reserve of the Diesel to power the cast through.

In the long run The Diesel is a very solid go-to workhorse Skagit rod that is also compatible with true mid-spey lines in the right hands.
 
#28 ·
Diesel

Normally spend more time doing risk assessments of Diesel spills and other fuel releases than casting Diesel rods, but ...

I grabbed Hangdown's spiffy new Red Truck Diesel 13'6" 7 wt and headed on over to the Golden Gate Angler's Casting Club ponds for a little work out with the lines I like to throw.

Heard that the rod was a monster with Skagits so I started with a Rio Skagit Flight 525 gr with 12 ft of T-14 and it launched very well. Also nicely cast Airflo Scandis, 500 gr regular Scandi and 510 gr compact Scandi.

Also heard that the rod was not so great with long belly lines, but much to my surprise I enjoyed casting the CND GPS 7/8 long belly with 15 ft floating polyleader and 5 ft of 12 maxima. I found I had to use a faster stroke than I am used to with long bellys but you can hit this rod pretty hard on the forward stroke without forming tailing loops because the tip is very firm and there is very little tip bounce.

Nice simple sort of retro Scott cosmetics.

I like the rod and will be sorry to give it back to you, Hangdown, it would be fun to play with a little more. Like to try your Jet Stream on it. Any chance of meeting up at the Oakland Casting Ponds after work on Wed ?
 
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