I am looking to build saltwater fly rods in the 8-10 wt range. I wanted to hear everyones input as to which fly rod blank they feel is the most durable. I also wanted to know if a 2 peice blank is less likely to break then a multiple peice blank. thanks for your time. James

James
You might give a hint as to the intended use of the rods that you are making. Why is breakage your primary concern?
Gil

If you intend to really beat and bang your rods around, you will most likely not want to invest in the very highest performing blanks. They get much of their performance from materials and construction that do not lend themselves to much in the way of abuse. They're plenty tough on fish, but not on being thrown around or tossed about.

Multi-piece rods, when or if they fail, rarely break at the ferrules. Your concern here is mostly a non-issue.


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I agree with Tom: before I got into building fly rods, I did some reasonably extensive research, and I found that the number of pieces had no influence on breakage. Quality does make a difference, and quality varies from blank to blank and manufacturer to manufacturer, but I found that Company Q's XX model will have the same break resistance whether the blank is 2, 3, or 4 piece.

I build only rods for myself. Your post doesn't say whether you're building saltwater fly rods for yourself or for others, but I just got turned onto a sponsor of the board: Black Dog Tackle. One of the things that originally kept me from getting involved in saltwater fly fishing was cost; I was philosophically opposed to having to shell out $400 or $500 to get started. So I was thrilled when I found Black Dog, and discovered that I could get blank, reel seat, and cork grip for well under $100. I haven't finished building my first Black Dog fly rod yet, but I'm looking forward to it, and hoping that I end up building many more.

The Salt Stalker blanks at Angler's Workshop are a very nice and durable blank. I notice that they are also selling some of the ones in your size range for it looks like 1/3 off right now. As Tom said I'm not so sure multi piece rods are any less tough than any other. Drinking a few with some guides, they thought there was a difference, till I asked them what they saw most? Then they admitted in that light, it was more a wash, as they saw more people using 4 piece or more rods now.

When i was 14 I owned an 8 and a 10 wt rods. I don't recall the type of blanks but they were relatively inexpensive. I didn't have an understanding as to how fragile fly rods can be if proper care was not taken and both snapped at the ferrule while casting. I got extensive use out of both of them and i must admit I was quite careless for their well being (spiking it on the jetti,boat deck, or ground after landing or losing a nice striper). This was roughly ten years ago and i am getting back to saltwater fly fihsing. I have many years of rood building experience but i never got into building my own fly rods. I would like to build myself a nice fly rod and I would like to know what companies were well known for making durable blanks at a high graphite modulus. The use for the rods are strictly for striped bass and i would like to build an 8 and a 10 wt. I was looking at G-loomis' GL3 blanks. What do u think?

The higher the Modulus , the more fragile the blank will be is a good rule of thumb measure of "durability" when choosing. Take a look at some of Dan Crafts blanks , and check the CCS site to look up the #s for the "action" you desire .There are TONS of different blanks in differen configurations and sections to choose from . GL3s are nice blanks , I've buile quite a few that I got form Hook and Hackle , though I did break one "testing" it before delivery . Defective.. Have fun ,
John
No. E. Rod Builders

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