Hi guys.
At long last I have gotten around to building and finishing a fly rod. The blank of choice was a 2003 Forecast 866-4 (8'6", 6 wt, 4 pce). I used Batson black chrome "H"ard ceramics. Fuji snakeskin finish 16 skeleton seat with rosewood insert, composite sheeting cork half wells grip. Wrapped in blue dun, no CP, with gold trims.

First problem I ran into was badly fitting ferrules. I ended up having to trim male/female sides of all the ferrules before good fits were achieved. All feedback and info I could find on possible problems with these blanks indicated that this was to be expected.

Finally got round to the guide spacings and static testing, and found a nice setup with (from the tip) 4 size 7 fly guides, spaced 6 1/4 inches apart, then 3 size 7's spaced 8 inches apart, then 10 1/2 inches to a size 8 fly guide, and finally 12 inches to the stripper, a size 12 double foot guide (U-series).

After getting the reel and line on, the first thing noticed was the rod was slightly softer. Again, expected. In my hands, I could get out about 40' of line before my limited skills let me down. Over to a more experienced mate, who immediately launched the whole fly line after a few double hauls. Yes!!! Or so I thought. Next cast saw the tip section work loose and only a good catch saved it (more ferrule trouble). Now Terry reckons the rod would have been better with snakes or single foot wire guides instead of the ceramics. He normally fishes a high end, fast actioned rod with snakes, and has the friend I built the rod for set on snakes/SF's now.

I reckon the difference is in the rod blank and his casting style, being used to a faster lighter rod, and not really a snakes vs ceramics issue. I feel I should stand by my build, as the rod obviously casts OK, but have offered to strip the fly ceramics and replace with SF wires. I am definitely going to see to the offending ferrule. I'd appreciate any comments from any of you more experienced fly rod guys regarding this. Thanks.

Ted..

If you can borrow one try a 5 Wt line on it and see if it " feels " any better. It may not be a 6 wt.
The lighter guides will help that softer blank perform better.

Hi
on a 6wt blank ceramics should work just fine and would have been my choice. If your mate could put a full fly line out then it suggests there is not much wrong with the blank or the setup. The previous advice is very good as different casting styles may well respond to different line weights, the individual user needs to find one that suits him.
As far as the ferrule problem is concerned have you tried ferrule lube or even candle wax? This often helps. On one occasion I did resort to spray graphite to build up the male end. Not very technical but it worked.
David Olley
Balmoral
Scotland

Have you tried to place them on " with a twist " just before they seat.
The tip of the mail end can be trimed, or the mail end will fit well if needed with 1-2 coats of permagloss on them. More of a permanent fix cause permagloss is hard drying and fast.
Wax will tend to collect durt and dust on it.

Make sure the femail furrels are clean.

Hello Ted,

I just bought two 2003 Forecast 907-4blanks from Neal's Fishing Products (Neal Cissel). Both have excellent fitting ferrules as did the one I built last year. I may have been lucky or Neal might have a higher standard of quality control than other suppliers; but I have nothing but good experiences with these blanks. They represent a very good value in the market today.

Dave

i built on a 2003 forecast fly blank and had the tip section come off while fishing a small stream, nothing even close to power casting. i guess those 2003 (and earlier) forecasts offer a value to some, but heck, those 2004 (and on) forecast blanks are also a great value, with seemingly better quality and color if you ask me.

eric
fresno, ca.

Thanks for the help there fellas. I personally thought a 6 wt would do fine with the ceramics. I do admit the #7 BLLT top seemed a bit heavy
For the ferrule, I think the female end could be trimmed a little. I had trimmed about 1/4 inch off the male end, and the clicking stopped and the ferrule was seating fairly tight.
I also happen think there is less line wear from ceramics, especially on the tip top. I'll see how trimming the ferrule works first, and get Owen and Terry to persist with casting the rod with ceramics. If that fails, I'll rewrap with SF wires/snakes.

Another guide to think about being a ceramic are the Titainium guides. Fuji's and Titans ??
People say the Titans are soft ?? They don't feel soft to me ??

When triming a mail end I also round off the edge of it. I use 400 grit paper. Don't know if it helps but I don't like the sharp edge. I just take the edge off.

After 2003 the Batsons changed the factory that was making there blanks and from there on got a better quality blank being made.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2006 08:09AM by bill boettcher.

Yes Bill, I was assured of this by Batson Ent. I am perfectly happy with their 2004 onwards blanks, which I have also built on. I also shape the ferrules after trimming or modification. Right now, it looks like Titans and Fuji Ti frames are out of the budget. Had it been my personal rod I would be willing to chop and change to see what works best, but I can't really be swallowing all the modification costs concerned with those kind of changes. If the change to SF wires doesn't make anybody any happier, then it just means there's gonna be a lot more research and homework before I crank out another fly rod. UL spin rods are my thing really, somewhat of an area of speciality.

With the wire guides the blank should perform better. It will have less weight to go back to it's streight position. St Croix rods come with them and cast very well. If that was a fast action blank I would say stay with the ceramics. This is how ya learn.