REALTIME FLOWS    U. Kern: n/a cfs    L. Kern: 1341 cfs    E.W: 312 cfs    U. Owens: 108 cfs    L. Owens: 496 cfs   09/02/19 1:15 PM PST

Tim Zietak KT Keller Deluxe Para 15 bamboo rod

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Tim Zietak KT Keller Deluxe Para 15 bamboo rod

Postby SxS » June 6th, 2015, 12:09 am

I just couldn't pass up a great deal on Clarks forum last week for a lovely un-fished like new Paul Young Para 15 KT Keller taper bamboo fly rod made by Tim Zietak! Frankly, I had been searching for a Para 15 clone for some time. Unable to afford a real Paul H. Young or an R.W. Summer's 856, I was looking pretty hard for a John Pickard 806. When the Zietak appeared for sale for an astonishingly great price, I jumped on it and I’m darn glad I did. Immediately after I bought it, I emailed Tim and told him I felt a little guilty because I wanted to someday order a new rod from him, but I also told him rest assured that will probably happen one day soon anyway. He replied, "you got a great deal and at that price, I can't blame you one bit" Tim has four of my rods at his shop right now getting various minor repairs done. In the few months he has had my rods for repair, I have enjoyed many conversations with him ranging from fishing to music but mostly tapers and line choices and care of bamboo rods etc. He is knowledgeable, friendly, on time and affordable and any other nonsense you may find online from one disgruntled guy named Dennis is beyond my comprehension, I can almost assure you the issue is not with Tim.

OK, enough on that, I finally got my hands on a Para 15. This is a KT Keller clone meaning the dry tiptop is 4.5/64ths and the wet tiptop is 5/64ths. The dry tip is not very parabolic at all and the wet tip is quite parabolic.

First inspection:

The finish on this rod is exquisite! It's mirror like and stunning and it makes the darkly flamed blank simply gorgeous! The reel seat is down locking and utilitarian in nature but a dead ringer for the ones Young used, and the grip is identical to the original Young's as well. The wraps are similar to my Granger specials in color but slightly more golden and less green and the dry tip has some signature red spirals at the ferrule and tip top for identification. They are also labeled as wet tip and dry tip on the shafts just above the ferrules.

I put the dry tip on the rod; the ferrule fit is perfect. I did the proverbial wiggle test and with my eyes closed, I could have sworn I had a super light powerful 9' 8 wt modern graphite rod in my hand. I paired the rod with a 3 and 3/8ths Hardy perfect loaded with a DT 5 wt line and lawn cast it. Super tight loop well into my neighbors yard about 55 feet away with one false cast! I did the same with the wet tip and a DT6 line. I just couldn't take it. Feeling Like Robert Traver in his story Morris the Rod Maker" I jumped in the car and drove to the Pasadena casting club and took it for a real test spin at the pond!

After spending an hour getting some sweat into the brand new grip, I came to the conclusion like so many others have, that if you need to own one bamboo fly rod for trout that can do everything well, the Para 15 with one wet and one dry tip, is exactly what you should own!
The dry tip is capable of delicate presentations with small dries but has plenty of backbone to deliver bigger bugs on target anywhere in normal reasonable distances and well beyond. I'm not a great caster, but this rod is way more forgiving than I imagined a parabolic rod would be. The wet tip is very parabolic and you can really feel the rod working deep into the butt under your hand. Slow it down a split second and you come into this power band that can shoot line as well as any graphite salt water flats rod I own. In fact, this is the first bamboo rod I have ever cast where a double haul is super easy to do because the rod helps strip the extra line in your left hand back through at the end of the back cast setting you up for an effortless haul on the forward cast. The dry tip does this as well but not as pronounced. I think this is partly due to Tim using pretty big guides throughout the rod compared to typical small guides designed for skinny silk lines found on most of my vintage bamboo rods.

Honestly, I cannot decide which tip I prefer, they both do everything really well. I guess if I had to choose, I would say I like the wet tip with a DT6 Cortland "sylk" line the best.
I plan on really breaking this little gem in on the ranch in exactly one month! Yes I will bring many other rods but I bet they stay in their tubes the whole trip! Heck, I used to break out the plastic rods when the western winds kicked up, I just don't see wind being a problem with this powerhouse of a rod.

Conclusion:
I’m really in love with this amazing flyrod!!
Thank You Tim Zietak for creating this gem!

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SxS
 
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Tim Zietak KT Keller Deluxe Para 15 bamboo rod

Postby Rasputinj » June 6th, 2015, 3:51 am

Very nice, I have a wet tip Para 15 clone it is a great taper.
Rasputinj
Rasputinj
 
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Joined: October 8th, 2011, 9:06 pm


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