I'm wanting to build myself a new "goto" 9 ft. rod that I will throw a WF4 line with, and these Anglers Workshop blanks currently have a pretty enticing price tag. Do any of you have any experiences with this line of blanks? I'm looking for a 9' 3 or 4 pc. blank with an ERN of around 4.5 - 4.9 and an AA of 61-66. The CCS Data site makes mention of only one blank that meets my criteria. Any help/thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Torin.

Torin--I honestly have never tried AW's fly blanks, unless I have under a different private label ;) but...(I know, I know--you hear this a lot from me) I'd really encourage you to consider a Dan Craft FRSV8943...it's got an ERN in the range you're looking for usually and an AA right in the mid 60's and is just an amazing blank for ANY money...but especially the money the sell for! :)

Anyway, I'm curious to see feedback on these AW blanks too so I hope you get some more replies shortly!

All the best,

John,

I have to disagree with you there. The 8'9" Sig V 4 wt won't fit what he wants. From the sounds of it, he is looking for a 9' 4 wt for trout fishing. He likes a moderate action and to feel the rod load on ~20-40' casts. The Sig V, while an awesome blank, doesn't fit that criteria. Unless you are really hauling, a 5 wt line at 30' is about the lower limit for a good 'feel' on this rod. It is pretty 'tippy'.

I would suggest the 9' 4 wt rainshadow RX7 first. It should CC somewhere around 4.5-5.0 and 60-62. The Pac bay 9' 4 wt would do about the same. Both feel great on the water and make awesome goto trout rods for eastern 'big' water with medium flies like the Beaverkill, East Branch, etc.

Thanks,
Rick

Rick,

I know my email handle shows that I'm in New York because I've got that Juno Speed band for increased internet speed, and all Speedband account members supposedly have New York addresses. Fact is, I'm actually in John's neighborhood in Colorado, although you are right-on about my rod requirements. I'm looking for a moderate to moderate fast action that will begin to load with about 15 to 20 feet of line beyond the tip, and I'm more often than not using 2 fly rigs with at least one weighted nymph. Long casts don't make any sense in these Western Rivers because of the varying surface currents that are notorious for creating drag, so most of my fishing is done at close-range with a longer rod to keep as much line off the water as possible during the drift. Oddly enough, most of the flies used here on many of our Colorado front range waters (waters near the Denver, Colorado Springs, Ft. Collins metro areas) are in the smaller sizes (16-24). Thanks for the blank suggesstions, I will definately consider those.

Torin

Rick--I've CC'd three FRSV8943's that came in from 4.7 to 4.9 with AA's of 64-66. That's what I used as data to meet Torin's criteria, and the fact I regularly cast one of two 8943's with 4wt line and thoroughly enjoy it! But you are right that if you want a really full parabolic feel, you have to over line it. The funny thing is most assume the Sig V is a fast or ultra-fast action rod and the Sig III is a slow to moderate-fast. In fact, the Sig V consistently CC's out mid-60's, and the Sig III over 70! But the V is a blazingly-fast DAMPING rod. One way I've built them for customers who do want a fuller feel is with the Forecast ceramics and a full 10 guides...makes for a very smooth casting rod, but you lose the staggering lightness possible with this blank.

Another option I've fallen in love with is lining the 84343 or 8943 with AirFlo's new Platinum Chalkstream 4wt line, which is really about a 4.4. Man that is one nice combo! :)

Anyway, thanks for challenging me on that--you're interpretation of Torin's needs was more complete than mine, though I still think the 8943 is a beauty for 20-40ft trout work.

Warmly,

Torin,

I just finished building an 8' 3 weight sig III for my brother. We used it all last week on a trip through Wyoming and Montana and then on the Big Thompson as we came home. As we fished the smaller rivers up there we did a lot of nymphing using smaller (size 16-20) 2 fly rigs and split shot. For short distance work this rod was incredible. It loaded just fine from 10-20 feet with a Rio Classic WF3 line and had no problem working the tight undercut banks with the leader and only a foot or two of line out. It was also incredibly sensitive, I could feel every contour of the stream bed as the fly ticked along the bottom, (for the short amount of time I got to use it.)

This was also the most accurate rod I've ever cast. With a dry frly from 20-40 feet the rod was practically telepathic; all I had to do was think about where I wanted my fly and the rod did the rest. The rod fit my casting style flawlessly, and just felt great to fish with. On the Clark Fork river in Montana my brother landed a nice 5 lb brown with this rod and said he "felt" a little under-gunned, but still had no trouble landing it.

Dan has a 9' 4 weight in the Sig III that would probably be great for some of the slightly larger front range streams like the S. Platte or the Poudre. It's listed as a 5 piece, but if you call Dan he might have it in a 4 piece. That was the story for the 3 weight blank I got.


Here's a picture of the rod with the Titanium reel seat that I machined for it like the Orvis T3 seat.

[www.rodbuildingforum.com]

Mark