This rod appears to have been weaved nearly 1/2 its length...or is that in the blank? [www.tackletour.com]

That type construction was prevelant in the US market about 30 years ago. With new and higher modulus fibers that can't be woven or braided, it fell by the wayside in the early 1980's.

Hard to tell from the photos. It could be an outer wrap of woven graphite like the new American Tackle Matrix rods have.

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Steven,
It says that it is woven graphite. It appears from the picture that the weave in at least the outer layer is at about a 45 degree angle. A 45 degree angle would essentially cut the modulus in about half if all the layers of graphite were at this angle. If you used material that had half the modulus to begin with and ran it straight up the blank you would get higher strain energy or toughness but that is not the case with this approach. The only advantage that I can think of is with this approach the graphite fibers will give you much higher shear and torque strength than when the fibers run straight up the blank. But with most blanks every other layer is scrim, usually glass, that provides shear and torque strength.
It looks a lot like a gimmick to me.

It would be very difficult to even use a higher modulus carbon fiber in a woven or braided fabric. Very stiff fibers don't like such short bends.

I have no doubt that it may be a very tough blank, but I doubt it offers cutting edge performance.

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Hi all,

I can't speak about this with the technical expertise that the others have. Last year I bought a Megabass rod, a special edition Casting Rod, pretty high up their line, and I can attest that there is something very special going on in these rods. The feel of the rod is like nothing I have felt in my own personally built rods or any other North American rod I have tried.

Whether or not there is some gimmicks being advertised or marketed, I can't say but they do perform incredibly well. The rod is absolutely weightless in hand yet has a stout backbone and delicate tip that works wonders for cranking in stick baits, feeling the slightest tap and setting the hook. It has become my favorite rod for Bass fishing with Rapalas and top water baits, especially after I re-wrapped it with a spiral wrapped guide configuration. When I find some time, I plan to try and replicate this rod using a more readily available blank, but I'm not sure I can.

I am very good friends with the editor of the Tackletour article, and I have spoken with him at great length about these rods. In fact, I talked him into buying his first Megabass. He described it well when he says that the rod feels like a weapon or sabre in hand, you don't cast it, you "fire" it.

Anyways, just thought I'd add my 2 cents to this thread.

Best Fishes,
Mark

Mark Janeck
Custom Rods, Campbellville, Ontario

They certainly make beautiful rods. As for the Woven graphite portion you will notice 2 distinct things with this rod. 1) the handle is built on a straight woven grahite tube and 2) the woven graphite blank itself is only half way up. I think they do this because the woven graphite has a fantastic backbone quality to it and they are tough as nails you can actually develop a blank with woven graphite that is a smaller diameter yet has great power.. the upper half of this rod seems to be a very high mod graphite that is for the sensativity factor. It is kind of cool how they are able to meld the 2 together into 1 rod.

Gregg

I'd love to find similar blanks. Given all the new info/insight, are the Matrix blanks the same or similar as previously mentioned?

Mark: Did you weigh the blank before building on it, or does the maker supply the weights? Right now, the highest power-to-weight ratio I know about is found in the St. Croix SCV line. (An aside: the weights listed by St. Croix in their builders' catalog have been off by as much as 25%, but I weigh my blanks myself, and the SCVs are indeed very light.)