Hey all!

I'm writing an Essay for an English class I'm taking. I convinced my prof to let me write it on fly rods.

My working thesis is:

Fly rods are not created equally. They vary in materials used, production techniques, and research and development done.

What effect do materials have on the rod?

Production includes tapers and any other variances in production techniques.

How much and what kind of R & D is done to create a high end rod?

I'm looking for resources on rods, ideas to write about, and comments about anything fly rod that you think would help.

Any resources you can offer would be much appreciated. In the end I would like to show that cheap rods are garbage and high end rods are the way to go!

Thanks,

Ryan Mann

Much has been written about cane rod production and the differences between the cane, workmanship, production levels etc. I know you are probably more inclined to be looking at plastic but you may want to consider cane to throw a curve into the paper.
You may want to try calling Orvis or one of the other rod manufacturers. the only reason I say Orvis is that I was in Vermont once and asked if I could see the rod building plant. Got a 2 hour tour and was treated like a king. Answered all my questions, no secrets even got to roll a blank.

Ryan, this is a great place to start! A few simple searches on Google ("fly rod history" "fly rod design" "fly rod material") turned up quite a few intersting sites - but you have to wade through a bit of cruft to find them. In general, when investigating any topic, it is best to proceed without a preconceived notion of the outcome. That opens the mind to new possibilities. What if it turns out that normal fly fishers can catch just as many fish on a cheap rod than an expensive rod? How does the skill of the fisher play in to it? I remember writing a paper in college comparing an inexpensive Japanese economy car (1975 Honda Civic) to a German performance car (Porsche 911) and thinking that the Porsche would be the "best" car. Guess what, it wasn't! Does that mean I would trade my Porsche for a Civic? Nope!

Just some thoughts! Take them for what they are worth.

Cheers,
Michael

Check out the site below if you want some ancient history.


[www.flyfishinghistory.com]

post removed - invalid email address

Ryan
I would do a search here on "Steve Kartalia". Steve has taken a lot of the jungle jargon out of fly rods and weights, line weights, etc. in a few of his posts that has made this part of your topic understandable to me.
Just scroll through and find a few of his posts dealing with fly rods and even reels.

Putter

Ryan. I like your overall thesis, but I would suggest that you approach the topic historically. Solid wood rods evolving to bamboo, then to steel, fiberglass, and graphite. Then perhaps factory graphite to custom graphite. The Common Cents/Sense System represents another advance. Bamboo is a bit of a spoiler, since it has remained popular, even the most desirable rod, despite the advances in material and production. Good luck on your essay.

Ryan,

My day job is teaching college English, which is NOT a great way to keep a person flush in high-end fly rods, but it does put me in contact with lots of free time to hack away at rod building. I'd be happy to provide feedback on your essay, if you're interested. Please feel free to email me off board.


Good luck,

Sean

Ryan,

"Any resources you can offer would be much appreciated. In the end I would like to show that cheap rods are garbage and high end rods are the way to go!"

I think you can find some great information here that will both support and disprove this statement of yours, depending on how you define "cheap" or "high end". If you mean inexpensive versus expensive, you may be surprised at how well an inexpensive rod can perform if matched properly with the line and the caster. On the other hand, if you mean cheap as in poorly constructed, I'd say most here would agree with you that a well-constructed and well-designed rod can make noticeable differences in performance.

I can't offer much insight into how companies conduct R&D or the specifics of blank design, although some of the many blank manufacturers that are sponsors here may help you. I know a lot of the R&D comes from custom builders and eventually shows up in production rods, filtered by the realities of what most people are willing to accept regarding aesthetics. I think you'll find that a lot of the blank and rod manufacturers put a lot of R&D into the actual blank but tend to be pretty conservative on component selection so they don't scare away certain customers.

This site has a great search engine and you should be able to find lots of great information and discussions. And, since everyone here is required to use a real e-mail address, you can contact people and many will probably be willing to talk with you. I'll help if you think I can.

Steve

Hi Ryan. An excellent resource book for an historical perspective on the evolution of fly rods is "The Technology of Fly Rods" by Don Phillips. He covers an amazing amount of information from bamboo to fiberglass to graphite. Invaluable information for anyone seeking an "in depth" understanding of fly rods IMHO.
Good luck with the essay, Erik

I have recently come into possesion of a Heddon Trail Blazer #7676, 7'3" medium light, weight 7 fly line. This is a pac/rod 4 piece, spin/cast . M y question is this? The third section is missinng. I knew this when I acquired it, but thought a simple inquiry t o Heddon would put me on the track to acquiring a replacement. I can not as apparantly they are no longer in business and all my inquires as to any info for them has proved fruitless. Any info on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Del