I'm sad, I had to retire my shakespere spiral wonder rod fly rod. Cost me $5.00 at a junk shop, older than me 38?, caught a lot of fish, looks cool. It started makeing a cracking noise so I stopped useing it before it broke......
So I built a Lamiglass 4wt fiberglass. I love glass, it casts slow but far.. Sure its not for catching big fish in big water.
The deal I dont understand for a light weight line rod your wasting your money on a fast action rod, the fiberglass casts nicer, cheaper. If you want fast/distance put a light line on a 5 or a 9wt then you have a multi-purpose rod.
I'm probably asking for trouble if ever cast a bamboo rod..

It will cost up to 100 times that original $5.00 to cast today's hand-made (by an American) bamboo fly rod. ... I'd be afraid to use the thing!

IMO, Graphite has become so affordable that its benefits have become taken for granted. Unless a slower and more rugged rod is wanted, fiberglass is a 2nd, and not so close, choice, in my opinion.

Many of todays younger anglers probably haven't fished a fiberglass rod since they were a kid, throwing a Snoopy spin-caster or Zebco 202. Even the wally worlds around here (inland northern FL) don't have much glass left. ... But I'll agree, for a few things, like Lite to Ultra-Lite rod blanks, they don't know what they are missing. Very forgiving and still lots of fun. -Cliff Hall+++



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2006 12:11AM by Cliff Hall.

Diamondback still make some nice Fiberglass rods and sell the blanks as well. They will still set you back the price of a graphite blank... but if that's your thing they do have a following.
Dave

Yes somethong special about that slow languid glass rod. In the low line weight s great poles 6 and above shear pergatory. It is still around not as cheap as demand is low. It does age the more it is flexed. The fibres fracture and this is why the rod feels softer after passage of time. For brok rods under 7 feet I still like them. They take the knocks better from trees and bushes

If you want the feel for fiberglass (slow responding) but don't want to drop big bucks to get 1970s technology, consider what I do on many of my small stream rods. Let's say you want a rod that's 7.5' long and you want to fish it with a 5 or 6wt. line. If you notice from the CCS database, most of the vintage glass rods in those line classes have ERNs in the 3.0-4.0 range. All you need to do is buy one of the widely available $30-45 standard graphite or IM6 blanks with an ERN in that range and fish it with a 5 or 6wt. line. Put snakes and a cheap stamped metal reel seat on it , wrap it with classic twist thread and finish wraps with varnish and you will even have the look of a vintage rod and the whole thing will cost you $60 and will fish exactly like you want and be a little bit lighter in the hand. And still cheap enough that you won't be scared to keep it behind the seat of your truck.

There are plenty of fast action fiberglass fly rods just as there are plenty of medium and even slow action graphite rods. Material has nothing to do with rod action.

..........

This has been a question of mine for awhile, can a graphite rod really give you the action of cane/fiberglass? I think for a small stream rod fiberglass is probably the way to go, loads easier with the shorter casts but I am seldom on a small stream "unfortunately" the factor that seems to make a difference for me is the weight of the blank and the overall look of the rod. I like the light weight of the graphite blank. I can't seem to get over wanting the moderate slow action though.

[www.steffenbrothersflyrods.com]

Tim

Try casting a 9', 8 wt fiberglass rod 100 feet for saltwater fishing for a couple of hours.
Fiberglass has a niche in small stream rods with a lot of bend and heavy enough to make the rod bend when you wave it. Some people like that.
Grafite rods are lighter and more responsive across the board than fiberglass.

I'm a huge fan of fiberglass fly rods. I was sad when Lamiglas dropped their black S-glass line...they were sweet & it didn't break the bank to purchase one...I don't like their honey colored ones - too "whippy & wimpy". Now-a-days, I like to rebuild old Conolon "live fiber" rods... the brown ones with the fabric pattern showing on them. They are readily availbable on @#$%& & I refuse to pay more than $20 for one. The ultra lite spin models convert nicely to "fast" 5wts. Shorter fly models (<8ft, my favorites) cast very nicely. Anyway...if you like fiberglass & are on a budget, I would highly recommend rebuilding one.

Tim

Tim,

How well or how easily a rod loads has nothing to do with what it's made from. If you can't easily load your graphite fly rods, you've got the wrong line on them for the distances you're using them at.

You can get a moderate/slow action in a graphite blank. And you can select a line which will load the rod just like it loads your bamboo or glass rods.

........

I can't help but think that if you desire the action of a "fiberglass blank" you should take heed of Steve Kartalia's post as well as Tom Kirkman's. A moderate to slow action IM6 graphite blank that is "overlined" relative to the factory line weight designation will mimic what you appear to desire. It will also do this at a reasonable cost and provide a lighter weight rod.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2006 05:46PM by Stan Grace.

You've all made some really valid points, but for small stream fishing, average cast of 10-30 ft, wouldn't a quality fiberglass rod roll cast and protect your tippet more than the IM6 graphite? I know the fiberglass isn't the casting tool that graphite is, I am talking about for trout and smallie fishing in close. To me it seems that fiberglass has certain applications where it excels.


Tim

Tim, I agree that many fiberglass rods excel at close-in work. However, I think the big problem is not action but power. Many graphite rods (slow and fast and everything in between) simply have too much power to excel with the rated line at short distances. And, I think most fisherman blame this on the rod's action or material when really they have just selected a rod with too much power for what they are trying to do.

Good examples of graphite rods that are not powerful at all, and thus great for the type fishing you are talking about are Orvis Superfine and Winston WT. Check the ERNS on those rods in the database. The reason people love them "as much as bamboo or glass" is because they have low power. Some of the Winston's actually have quite fast actions but low power. That's the key for fishing real close. LOW POWER



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2006 01:50PM by Steve Kartalia.

Exactly. It's not the material so much as it is what you do with the material. As you climb the modulus ladder, you obtain the ability to do things you cannot do with lower modulus materails, but you really don't give up being to the same thing you do with lower modulus material, if you want to.

Steve & Tom,

Thanks for your perspective, I've never seen it explained that way. Makes a lot of sense and I appreciate your help. Thanks for such a great resource Tom.

Tim Kelly

Out here on the left coast, you can sometimes catch more trout when using very long, hard-mono leaders, say 12' to '18. So if I'm casting 15' in a small creek, I really don't have any weight to speak of to load the rod, just leader and fly. In this situation, my little Lamiglas honey fiberglass rod fits the ticket. The rod is so whippy, it doesn't require line weight to load. And if I hook into a big fish, I'm not afraid of breaking the rod. There's also a gentleman out here who casts 25' leaders with a fiberglass rod.

That said, I haven't tried to find a graphite rod that matches the Lamiglas action because the Lami does what I want.