Gentlemen,

Just wanted to say "Thanks" to all who responded to my post last week regarding the recommendations on a Lamiglas or Diamondback fiberglass rods.

During my research, I stumbled upon this relatively new Lamiglas blank (Todd Vivian sent me a helpful review - Thanks Tom!).

The 3pc. Blue Ridge has a graphite butt, graphite/glass hybid mid section, and a glass tip section.

Sounds like the best of both worlds - soft flexy tip with a little backbone in the butt.

Anybody here good or bad things about these rods? Might be the next project.

Best Regards,

Tony

the lamiglas Blue Ridge's construction sounds interesting. i don't see it at their web site. can someone forward me the review? i DO see a new "Spring Creek" series which also sounds interesting... i wonder what the blank prices are. i'll have to check out their PDF.

eric
fresno, ca.

I'd like to hear more about these blanks, as well.

Bill

sounds very interesting. would like to know more.

A blank you small stream/pack/travel guys should look at closely is the Forecast 7'6" 5pc 4wt. I have built a couple in the past month and am amazed at how sweet they are, especially for $30 or so. Very similar to the Orvis Superfine Henry's Fork 7'9" 5wt that everyone loved/s.

Scott Kinney
The Longest Cast Fly Rods
[www.thelongestcast.com]

Thanks for the tip on the forcast blanks. there arew a lot of good 'travel" blanks out there. i am kind of intrigued by the combining of different blank materials in one rod. russ peak, the great glass rod maker, used to make rods with glass and graphite. i think it was graphite butt and glass tip. there was another manufacturer back in the 40's or 50's that i read about that made a rod with a glass butt section and a split bamboo tip section. don't know how these rods performed.

i sure wish tod vivian would weigh in with some info about these new blue ridge travel blanks.

Sorry Guys,
have been off for the past 10 days doing work around the house. Weather has been so crappy there wasn't much fishing.

The Blue Ridge are as Tony described them above with graphite butt section, graphite glass mid & glass tip. We were trying to find an area between the traditional glass actions and graphite. I believe with this blank you will find the best of both worlds for small stream light line fishing.
I do have the product review done by Bob Petti of the Global Fly Fisher which I'll post below.

Thank You,

Todd





Blue Ridge 7ft 3wt 3pc

The "Blue Ridge" is about as far away from the XMG50 on the rod action scale as you can have. The "Blue Ridge" blanks are one evolutionary step up from a pure fiberglass blank in that the blanks are actually comprised of three different material composites - the butt is graphite, the mid section is a graphite/glass bend, and the tip is glass. This makes for a rod that has the smooth and softer action of glass, but with the added butt stability and light weight of graphite. It truly is the best of both worlds.

I used this rod a few times on the upper Willowemoc Creek, fishing for some of the wild local brookies and browns. What a delightful rod! The graphite butt removes any of that "tale wagging the dog" feel that some glass blanks have, but the slow action and soft tip gives you that special feeling where you can comfortable cast just a couple feet of line and the leader. For small stream work, it is absolutely fantastic.

The blank is a rich glossy jet black, and the graphite material in the blend allowed Todd to design a blank that does not have a large diameter butt section like many glass blanks. I used an off-the-shelf Bob Venneri reel seat for this rod, and it fit perfectly. With a set of single foot snake guides, the rod is light weight, but has just a hint of heft to give it a very classic feel. For you guys who like short rods and light lines, you will really like this one.

For those of you who are curious about slower action rods, but are not sure about using a pure glass or even bamboo, this will be just the ticket.