Well I completed my first fly rod for my brother as a Christmas present with help from this website, Tom's book and the good people at Custom Tackle. I must say that I am pleased with the results. The casting performance is noticeably better than my factory built rod and the aesthetics/finish was probably average (I'm guessing), so I know there is room to improve.


Now I'm ready for another one. I've got a small mountain stream fly rod in mind for brookies in the Shenandoah National Park. I figure something in the range of 6'6 - 7'6 and 2 wt. or 3 wt. will do the trick. I am looking for recommendations on a blank that you all have built or used, plus I am looking to stay around $75-$100 for the blank. Also, would the rod performance benefit greatly by using ceramic guides?

Thanks,
Eric Millard

have i got the perfect rod for your application. i just finished a 2pc
3wt 7' lamiglas E glass blank. built it to look like a cane rod of old with downlocking struble reel seat (d20) and tiger stripe maple insert. i used rec recoil snakes for lightness. this rod is gorgeous and casts a dual taper 3 with ease out to the distances you would fish a 3 wt. this rod is so pretty. i departed from my usual finishing procedure in that i used varnish on the wraps instead of epoxy.
perhaps the rod would benefint from ceramics but i was looking to make this look like an older cane rod, and it does. the blank is available from custom tackle for i think 72.00 shipped.

I love Rainshadow and Elkhorn blanks, and definately use a 3wt. i use mine for every thing that isn't a big lake. don't let the cost of the rainshadow's throw you, a well known rod builder here in colorado had been passing Rainshadows off for Loomis' until our friend broke his and had to find the manufactuerer to get a new tip. and those REC recoil guides are the way to go. have fun!
-talley

The 7' 3wt Lamiglas mentioned earlier is probably a good choice. Fishing small streams has very little to do with "performance". I doubt that ceramic guides would make much difference. Being a traditionalist, I personally would stick with snake guides.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2005 09:46PM by Rob Matarazzo.

I have built a couple little rods that I like. I am not "traditional" at all in guide selection and since I am not selling them I don't have to meet conventional standard of appearence. I like to use a good ceramic tip top (SIC or Cerment) because they are lighter than the wire loop tops. I like about 3 or 4 single loop wire guides at the top and then ceramic down from there. This setup keeps the guides near the tip lighter where it counts and the cost down from all ceramics just a little. I have one little rod built with 3 SIC titanium guides on the bottom and 4 pac bay titanium finished single loop guides and a SIC top. It shoots a 4 wt line pretty good with not much line out.

If I was not going to use a ceramic tiptop I would try a Recoil top because they are so very light. Also, when fishing, I find that a rod that shoots line well helps get under trees, etc. So I think guide selection is as important on little rods as big ones.

Real good choice to go with Custom Tackle.

SNP are my home waters. The most versatile, all around rod is definitely a 7' 3wt up there. I'd either follow earlier advice and use the Lamiglas or choose a moderate action graphite. Most importantly, choose the blank carefully since the average cast up there is less than 20 feet with less than 15 feet of fly line past the tip. You don't want to build a 3 and have to use a 4 to get it to load. FWIW, my favorite rod to use in SNP is a Pac Bay Pro series 7' 3wt.

On short casts, a good 3-weight rod will require a 4-weight rod to fully load. If you intend to use a 3-weight line at those short distances, look at a 2-weight rod blank.

Also keep in mind that line weight ratings will vary widely - there is no standard behind them. You may wish to consult the CCS data page and look for a rod with the exact amount of power you desire.

.........

Hi Eric,

I've been looking at a lot of different blanks lately and it seems many manufacturers produce a 6'6" 2 weight blank.

Hook & Hackle (sponsor to the left) has 4 different blanks in this size: 2 IM6 (green and matt black), IM7, and their XT51. They range from $40 - $100, and they're 20% off right now.

American tackle also has a 6'6" 2 weight in their matrix series.
And forecast has a 6'6" 2 weight that should be available by the end of the month.

St. Croix makes the SCIII in a 7'0 3 weight, and a 7'6" 2 weight. These are the blanks they use on their avid rods and I love the 7'0 3 weight avid. Sweet rod.

I just ordered two blanks from hook and hackle last night. They've got some really good deals right now. All their forecast blanks are 33% off and everything else is 20% off. I would definately check them out.

Keep in mind these are just a sampling of whats out there I haven't built any of them. And aside from the avid I've not fished any of them either.

Mark

Look at a 1 or 2 weight from Dan Craft. Or the Lamiglass in a 2 weight. That blank has a very low CCS. I think a 3 weight fished short is too much blank. Better a 1 or a 2.

Eric:

Please take a look at the Lamiglas Appalacian Travel Series. I built a customer a small stream fly rod with their 6 ft., 3 piece, 3 wt. blank. It is a real great blank, with very definite spine and sets up well. I recommend that you use single-footed ceramic guides for this little demon. I used Alconites and it casts like a dream - from 10 feet to 30 feet. It has a spine so well defined on all three pi9eces, that the rod locks in and will not rotate out of the casting plane.

My $0.02 worth.

Doug Weber
Weber Rod Works

I'm going with REC recoil single foot guides on a 7'6" 3wt rainshadow blank. Anyhow, if you have a Cabela's near by you might want to check out the reels there. I picked up a new Tibor Light Spring Creek that they were closing out (very decent discount); should be a good reel for this application.

I would like to thank everyone for helping me out with this. Great advice, as usual. I really got some good recommendations, it's going to be hard to select. I really like the sound of the Appalachian Travel from Lamiglas, but that fiberglass rod Larry built sounds aweful sweet. Well I will do some research and let you know what I choose.

Thanks,
Eric Millard