For a competent flycaster is there any practical versus aesthetic advantage in building a rod on a slower action blank? I'm talking about a #4 trout rod, and I'm building this rod for a person who has some slack in what he pays for a blank.

A competent flycaster should not have any trouble with any fly rod. It may take a few casts before he or she gets the timing for particular rod, but after that it should be easy. Fast action rods are purported to throw tighter loops, which some will claim, makes them easier for beginners, but the timing of the casting stroke has to pretty exact. I can throw tight loops with my old 7-1/2 foot fiberglass as well as I can with my much newer and faster Winston LT, it's all in the timing. I personally don't like stiff fly rods, they make my arm tired, probably because I get tense since I have to really concentrate on the casting. With a slower action rod, the casting just seems to take care of itself and I don't have to think about it. But, that could just be my personal style. In addition, the lighter the line, the more likely it is that light tippets will be used. A softer tip and slower action provides more cushion on light tippets. I've seen plenty of people break off fish on the hookset with fast rods.

This is just my $.02 worth.

It seems that there is a trend towards ever faster blanks. The last time I had occassion to cast with my dad (he died less than a month later) out in his yard, he pulled out an old fiberglass rod he picked up at a song at a show. I call them spun glass rods, although I am not sure of the term. Kinda a matrix type blank. Anyway, I was showing off my newest graphite "cannon" and my smooth double haul, and he easily cast that old glass rod just as far as I could. I laughed appreciatively and assured him he had a "winner". The lesson here it that slow action rods, like the old glass ones, load easily and are very forgiving to cast. Not a bad thing. Sometimes the wheel doesn't need reinventing. And be good to your parents.

Phil,

Generally a blanks action is best for you personally, and your casting style. I have rods that range from fast to slow and like them all for certain applications. There are two areas where I think a fast action blank really helps out.

1) Wind blowing in your face. I have noticed (at least for me) that I can consistenly cast farther with a blank that has a faster action during windy conditions. During these conditions it seems to me that I can maintain tighter loops with less wind resistance with a faster blank, than a slower action. The slow action takes longer to load, and lets the wind interfere just that much more.

2) When using heavy shooting heads. I have been beach/saltwater fishing a lot lately, and am appreciating slightly faster, and more powerfull blanks for this type of fishing. I seem to get better feel from my casts while slinging heavy heads all day with a fast tapered rod. And, if it helps any, my first surf fly rod was slooowwww, so I did notice a difference... Overall I have noticed an improvement for me when I built a faster rod for this application. Its just easier and more fun to cast.

Again, these are my humble opinions, and are open to argument.

Barret

There is something aesthetically pleasing about the way a soft cane rod insists on making the caster slow down and relax, giving time to take in the beauty of a mountain stream while gently presenting dries to rising trout. Then the breeze picks up and you curse yourself for leaving the 80 billion modulus kryptonite rocket launcher at home!

The trend is is for faster rods. Some of the fastest of these don't fish well up close where most of the fishing on small to medium sized streams is done. There is a cult following for slower rods like cane, glass, old Scott G series, etc. Most rods today fall into the medium-fast range that intermediate level casters seem to do well with.

Every caster is different and selecting the right rod is very personal matter. For me, the Gatti FRHP 8 1/2' 4/5 wt does it best in most situations. Light, fast, sensitive, accurate, fishes beautifully near and far. My quest is now to find a cheaper alternative as I can't afford to build many of these for myself.

Tony

I have always liked the feel of slower action rods myselft, I would pick up a 7' #3 St. Croix Avid and love the feel of it. However while hanging out in my local fly shop a few weeks back and chatting about rods, and building, etc. the gentleman gave me a great piece of advice. He said when you're willing to spend a lot of money on a rod (at this point we were talking sage and winston) you should not have to make any compromises or adjustments. You should choose the rod and action that best suits your casting motion and timing. I was casting a #3 Winston WT in front of the shop and if I wasn't really careful to let the back cast unroll, my front cast would collapse when I got more than about 50' of line out. To cast this rod well I needed to slow down my natural timing rhythm. However when he put a Sage XP in my hand the faster action or the rod combined with a bit more power allowed the line to unfold behind me much quicker and fit my casting sytle a lot better. I was able to cast nearly the entire line with that little 3 weight! And the line didn't collapse at the end of the cast. Not only could I cast much further with the XP than I'd ever need to cast a 3 weight, but my close range casting showed a noticable increase in accuracy as well. Needless to say that it was quite a revelation that the rods that felt the best to me were actually much different from the ones that performed best in my hand.

The best thing to do would be to have your friend cast several different rods/actions in front of you and watch his timing. Then choose an action based on his natural tying and rhythm.

Mark

Thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions. You've provided me with food for thought, particularly concerning timing and relaxing. (Sounds kinda Zen, doesn't it?) I'll see if I can get him into a tackle shop and talk them into letting him cast some factory-built rods.

80 billion modulus kryptonite rocket launcher? I love it!! LOL!

I certainly agree with all of the comments concerning matching style and action. I will add that there seems to be an interesting trend, maybe counter trend, to "high-end" rods getting faster. I think the "faster is always better" trend that was driving marketing is finally slowing down (pun intended). The "faster is always better" trend seemed to me to be the result of manufacturers exploiting the properties of the high modulus materials to build rods that they could market based on casting distance that shows well in reviews and parking lots. But, I think that there is a similiar adage in effect in fly fishing as in the old golf one: "Driving is for show, putting is for money". In fly fishing: " Casting looks cool, presentation is for catching". I know that it is possible to present a fly just as gently with a fast action rod as it is with a slow action if the angler is a competent caster. However, it seems that some manufacturers are listening to anglers that say they prefer a slower action for the reasons given above (the Zen stuff). Some of the manufacturers (Lamiglass and Diamondback to name a couple) seem to be switching some of their model lines to take advantage of some of the good properties of the high modulus such as building a lighter, smaller diameter and more sensitve rod, but slowing the action down making them better fishing tools for some of us who prefer/enjoy the slower actions while on stream. Especially for us East coast guys who most often are on smaller streams. I think what this says is that we continue to have more and more blank options and that is a great thing.