I will be purchasing a Dan Craft blank this week. I would love to hear from those of you who use Dan Craft products. Leaning hard towards the FT, but still considering the Sig V. Comments?


Joe Luebeck
Butte, Montana

They are both very nice blanks. The Sig V is light and crisp. The FT is slightly heavier but faster. I prefer the FT as it is the most versatile blank I have built on. I find they not only cast well with the designated line weight but also have the reserve power to cast well with at least the next two heavier line weights.

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

Joe,

I'll be building - work permitting - the Sig V 7wt this winter.

I have built the sig V 4 and 5 wt blanks and find them to be outstanding rods.

here is a link to their construction.


[www.theworriedshrimp.com]


My first DC rod was the little Fast Taper 8'6" 3wt later i built an FT 8 and FT 7 wt... they are very different actions than the light-weight fast recovering Sig V series.

(e.g. the FT 9' 7wt weighted 2.1 oz. whereas the Sig V 9'9" 7wt weights 1.8 oz.)

I've not used another brand to compare the FT with... all i can say is they are POWERFUL.

for example i had no problem landing fairly hefty small mouth bass with the FT 3wt.

see here:


[www.theworriedshrimp.com]


great value great blanks.

cheers!

tws

"A double haul is not the art of taking twice your limit!"

I was hoping there would be more input on new Sig V blanks,I have 3 FT blanks built,5wt -10ft,7wt-9ft and 2wt -9ft . Love 5 wt ,haven,t used 7 wt that much I need to fish where fish are bigger,,and find I like 2 wt best with 4 wt line. they are all powerfull ,10ft seems to suit my casting style better than 9ft does. I also built a FTL 4wt last winter when they came out and like the action of it with 3 wt line ,enjoying it more as i use it more. I bought a SIG V 6 wt but havent had time to wrap yet. I like action of FT 10 foot blank,lots of power for wind, streamers or weighted flys,yet can still set dry fy down easy.the FTL is more of a gentle action yet even under lined one wt from Dans rating will put out a lot of line. That is my experince, looking forward to getting Sig V done and don,t consider myself a great caster,so a better caster might have different take on
blanks Daryl

In my view, the FTs are great rods with very fast actions and great power with very high line speeds, this allows them to do a wide range of tasks reasonably well. I have found I can punch into the wind, throw big flies or double weighted nymphs with no trouble at all. They are also very responsive and I can enjoy most of the fish I hook (small ones aren't much fun on the 5wts and up). In general, I find them to be great fishing tools. Kind of a Jack of all trades. These blanks work well beyond 40' with a line matched to their weight designation but if you overline them one weight, you can work them in close very well and they will still perform out at long range. You could keep a couple of these around and cover about any conditions/situations that arose.

The Signature V blanks are quite a different story. These blanks are light and sweet. They are capable of throwing a matching line a reasonable distance at high speed but they really come into their own when finesse is a factor. As a matter of fact, we call these our "Finesse series" These blanks will pinpoint a dry fly and lay it down gracefully on the water. They are truly blanks that once you pick one up, you won't want to lay it down! There isn't much as satisfying to me as gazing at the beautiful arch in my 4wt as I am playing a 12" trout. I was recently amazed by the wonders of the 9'6" 6wt model as I don't usually like 6wts for my own use. This rod performed so well, I put it in my double rod tube as one of my go to rods!
When I took the 6wt to the river, I started with a double nymph rig and was suprised to find I could cast in a very natural way (no "Chuck and Duck") and keep the beadhead nymphs airborn with little effort. What really took me back though was the fact that two of the trout I hooked put a really nice bend in this rod and even pulled the drag! Neither of these fish would go much over 12inches!
I guess you have figured out which blanks I like best for my own time on the water.(:~). I guess I would say, if you have a specific thing you wish to do with your future rod and you feel you would prefer a more finesse oriented blank that you can look up at during battle and fall in love with the curve and lines of the rod, go with the Signature V. If you want to be Top Gun and out shoot most and really drill the fly out there or you need to cover a wide range of situations, go with the FTs.

Dan Craft
Dan Craft Enterprises
www.dancraftent.com

I too just started fishing a Sig V 9 ft 6 in. 6 wt that Dan sold me last month, one sweet blank. Caught some nice Deschutes redsides and an incidental summer steelhead on the first trip. I built it for a trip to Alaska next June for rainbows. A good match to go with my 6 wt GLX.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/2006 02:14PM by Spencer Phipps.

My current line up of Five Rivers rods is three FTLs (803-6, 904-6, and 905-6) and a Sig. V 966-4. I can't imagine a more pleasant and smooth casting bunch of rods. All have ample but not too much power for my normal 20-50 foot fishing distances, and all have similar actions so it's a set where I don't need to adjust my casting stroke much when switching rods. Plus, they make a very portable set for traveling or backpacking.

On the other hand, if I had to choose only 1 Five Rivers rod to fish with all the time, I'd probably choose the FT863-4 or the FT903-4 and use it with 3-6wt. lines depending on what I wanted to do with it. It's the most versatile taper I've encountered, although it doesn't exactly match my preference for moderate power and action.

I think Dan is real good and accurate (no hype) about describing the strengths and weaknesses of his various series of blanks. Don't hesitate to discuss your choice with him. Ultimately, he understands you want the rod to be one of your favorites, not just a rod that was some other customer's favorite.

Hopefully, Dan is still out there. I have asked him this before, but I was curious if others had any opinion.

Is the FTL "not as fast" as the FT, and knowing that it is "lighter", is it a sutiable rod for big game in the 8 weight?

I love the FT and I really want to try the FT Light, but I don't fish much below 6 weight and I am all set in the lower weights. As someone who fishes Florida for Redfish, The Chesapeake for Stripers, and Canada for Northerns, I can always use the larger weights.

I agree with all those out there who have commented on Dan's graphite. It is nice and it goes with all colors of thread abd hardware.