I've been searching for a faster action 4 piece 4 wt fly rod at about 7' in length. I can only seem to find 6'6" or 7'6", not in between. What are your thoughts on making one from a 9', trimming the butt section to the length of the handle and seat... in effect a 3 piece rod with a removeable handle? Of course it's workable, but not being a rod designer I don't know if it would ruin the action, much less negate a warranty.

Dave Lester

It's not going to ruin the action, but the action will become a bit slower. Mock up the rod and fit the handle were it would be if you cut and discarded that last 6 inches of the butt. Now cast it and see how it performs for you. That will tell you most of what you need to know.

I feel sure it would negate any factory warranty, but such is part of the custom portion of custom rod building.

.................

David,

I'm a big proponent of butchering blanks and voiding warranties if it ends up getting me what I'm after. Still, I want to offer a few practical considerations. I have done exactly what you want to do on three different rods. If you use a 9' 4pc., and trim the butt section just long enough for the handle and ferrule, you will have a rod of about 7'7" or so. If you find an 8'6" 4pc., you can get it closer to 7'. But keep in mind, if you want a fast action in the shorter version, you typically have to start with very fast action in the full length version.

Short answer. Buy the FT863-4 from Dan Craft, trim the butt section and you will end up with a 7'2" 4wt. 4pc. with fast action. I've made that exact rod, but I built the rod full length and then built a spare second handle on scrap. This way I had two rods in 5 pieces total. When in the shorter version, the stripper guide is down close to the grip, but it makes no difference for casting - just looks a little weird.

Hope this helps. Go for it!

Steve

David Lester Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've been searching for a faster action 4 piece 4
> wt fly rod at about 7' in length. I can only seem
> to find 6'6" or 7'6", not in between. What are
> your thoughts on making one from a 9', trimming
> the butt section to the length of the handle and
> seat... in effect a 3 piece rod with a removeable
> handle? Of course it's workable, but not being a
> rod designer I don't know if it would ruin the
> action, much less negate a warranty.
>
> Dave Lester


So what I did was get a 9' 5 piece rod from Dan craft. I removed the bottom section. He's got some older sig III still I think. In terms of stiffness you'll need to talk to Dan Craft. But the 5 piece 4wt turned into a nice 4 piece 3 weight. I'm not sure about warantee, but it is possible hey may still warantee it, considering you aren't altering the blank (but that is a total assumption). Other than the older Sig III's I know that he's got some new secret sauce style FT's coming out that may work for this application too :)

-- Cheers
-- James