Here’s what I am trying to do, I want to build a medium fast action 9 ft #4 fly rod for fishing the tailwaters. Have some questions about various mid priced fly blanks.

Has been awhile since I've built a fly rod, back to it now and I'd like to consider something besides a Rainshadow and Pac Bay. Does anyone have any experience building and fishing the Shikari fly blanks? Was considering the SHIII series fly blanks.

Was also thinking about the Lamiglas Perigee, is the new line of blanks similar to the old? Were there any problems with thin walled blanks being prone to breakage?

I like the Talon Highlander also, and wanted to consider the Anglers Workshop blanks, maybe the Generation 3 (AF86B4F) or the Stream Stalker series (SAF8645)

Can anyone offer any feedback? How long has Shikari been building fly blanks?

Tim

The original Lamiglas Perigee were very easy to cast. I only tried one, a 5-weight model, and it was just fine. My brother comanderied it a couple years ago.

The Shikari fly blanks don't get a lot of press, but they're quite good. Surprisingly good in fact.

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I have one of the older Perigee 5/6 rods and my son another, we haven't had a breakage problem. Also have a 9 wt that has been salmon stress tested many times. I like the Angler's blanks also, though I've never fished for the 4 wt. I think they are were built by GUSA, I know the Salt Stalker series were.
If you aren't in a hurry the Dan Craft blanks I would add to the mix. The new FLTs are in and the new 4 piece Sig V should be here soon. The old Sig V 8 ft 9 in 3 piece was flat awesome.

BAF904-2,or BAF904-4,Austin Fly Rod Blanks(www.allstarrods.com)

I haven't built the Perigree PFT1083/4. However, I do have a PFT1086/7 and a PFT1088/9 that I absolutely love! I've put many, many miles on my PFT1086/7, and I'm still fishing it hard every time I go to the river/lake/pond/etc. It's my "go-to" rod in just about every situation, except for the tiny flies. I do have one of the PFT1083/4s that I just haven't built up yet, but it won't be too long. If it performs as well as the other Perigrees, then I know I'll be quite happy. Can't say enough positive things about the Perigrees.

Dan Craft!

The FLT's are great! And the new Sig V's are due in...Dan things they will be as delicious as the old ones....give him a call!

Keith

The Perigees are superb blanks. Aside from being stunningly beautiful they have a complex action: the top 1/3 is relatively soft, allowing delicacy for close up fishing, easy mending, strike sensitivity, etc; the bottom 2/3 is quite powerful, so if you need distance or leverage against a fish, there's plenty there.

I use my 4/5 a lot on the famous San Juan River in northern New Mexico. It's an excellent tailwater with plenty of fish over 20" -- the average Rainbow is about 18" and 24" fish are not uncommon. I can recommend the 4/5 Perigee (or the 3/4 Perigee) without hesitation. You'll really enjoy the 4/5 for tailwater fish, guaranteed.

Jim

Thanks to everyone for the information and helping me to decide which blank to put some of my time into. I wonder why Lamiglas discontinued the Perigee for awhile? I thought maybe they may have had some breakage issues due to the thin walled blanks and they discontinued them but maybe not. This thing about building a rod is kind of subjective, when I take the time to build a rod for myself, I want the blank to be a great quality rod with the action that i like and I want it to be beautiful in a simple way. So, maybe the Perigee is the way to go.

Jim, the 4/5 designation, does that mean it'll fish with both weight lines? If I want the rod to load with the 4 weight would I go for the 3/4 or the 4/5? I should know this but I don't remember anymore how they're listed in the catalogs. Thanks.

Tim

Tim,
The Perigee blanks were I think discountinued because they originally made these "rodbuilder only" blanks in every style and type of blank. I have fly, livebait, surf,salmon/steelhead, bass and walleye rods in Perigee. They were also if I remember right a little spendier than they are now. When they discountinued them, the price dropped, lots more people tried them and really liked them, but the die was cast. They only brought back the more popular fly blanks.
The dual line weight designation usually means the rod will work best with a 4 wt DT line or a 5 wt WF. This is of course a manufacture's arbitrary designation. You may like it with different lines.