I am planning to build two fly rods for trout. On is to be a 9’ four piece #2/3 for small streams and the other a 9’ four piece #5/6 for Alaska trout/steelhead. I am considering lamiglas blanks for these rods. I only have experience with their fiberglass blanks and know nothing about their graphite blanks. I am looking at the im700 and the XMG50. Any opinions will be welcome.

I tried to post this a couple of weeks ago but managed to mess up my registration and was unable to view any responses. I apologize for the duplication.

I have a factory lamiglass appalachian 5 wt that I love. I believe it is made with the XMG50 graphite but I do not think they offer that series in a 9' , although for a small stream rod, you might want to consider a shorter rod than a 9' anyway. I am a fly fishing novice, but this rod seems to be about perfect to me.

If you are a lamiglas loyalist, the IM700 series are good quality blanks. However, Lamiglas rarely gets mentioned in discussions about favorite or most requested blanks. You may consider Rainshadow RX7 or RX8 as a capable alternate. Also, the new switch blanks that Bob Meiser developed would be ideal for this kind of fishing. At 10 1/2' they can be used as either overhand or 2-handed styles. I have built a rod on this blank and it is most excellent.

Having fished trout in Alaska, and Steelhead in the Pacific NW, I think a 5/6 wt rod would be a bit on the light side. I think a 6 wt minimum or a 7 wt would be a better choice. I've caught a number of steelhead on my 6 wt and it is barely up to the task. It will depend on the kind of flies you will be using. If you are chucking mouse patterns and heavy egg-@#$%& leaches the 7 wt may be a better choice.

Even Lamiglas' graphite blanks will be considerably lighter and crisper than the glass blanks you have used.

Good luck!

Terry

The Lamiglas IM700 blanks are more of a med fast action like the All Star Austin and older St Croix SCIV, etc. The XMG 50 blanks are a faster blank. Angler's Workshop had an excellent discount price on a few Ti2000 titanium butt/IM700 mid and tip last time I was in the back, they were 5 wts, 9ft long I believe. I have a 9 ft 6 in. 7 wt XMG 50 that is an excellent steelhead rod, I also have a 10 ft 5 wt. that I enjoy while stillwater trout fishing. There are some reveiws of some of the Lamiglas line of blanks in the archives of @#$%&, they too like them very much. My Perigee 5/6 Lamiglas blank has a large, light weight, but stiff butt, it would work as a summer steelhead rod no problem, fishing comets, optics, Teeny nymphs #6 and smaller, etc.

I built 9' 6 WT on an XMG50 that I use mosty for smallmouth bass and I'm extremely happy with it. It is a very fast blank. Terry mentioned that Lamiglas rarely gets mentioned among peoples' favoraites and that's true but I also have wondered why - they're among mine anyway. With regard to the small stream rods that Lamiglas produces, if we're talking about the Appalachian Trout rods - they are made from the XMG50 blanks but they are have much softer actions and a different finish. The other series of XMG50's, like the one I built, have a dark plum color, are available in 2 or 4 piece models and, again, have very fast actions. The Appalachian series has a sanded natural graphite finish, have a softer action and, as I recall, come only in 3 piece models. I also believe that 8'6" is as long as the come.

I guess it depends on your definition of a small stream but a 9' rod sounds like a long rod for what I think of as a small steam situation. I normally think in the 6' to 7'6" range for small streams. If your using the long rod to "dapple" you fly and avoid most casting altogether as I know some people prefer to do, then a 9 footer may be a good choice. I think you'll need to look for another series in that case. Dan Craft may be a good choice for that.

Personally, I am EXTREMELY impressed by their XMG50 spin blanks. Weight for power, I've not seen their equal in their larger diameber spin blanks although I've not compared them against the GLX. This makes the XMG50 extremely high performance for the $. However, the challenge with Lamiglas is that I sometimes find it quite difficult to reach the appropriate people when issues arises.

This doesn't tell you about the fly blanks but I do have a 9 1/2" salmon blank so my experience may be relevant to your fly blanks.

In all, I have no qualms about recommending the XMG50. IM700 I have no experience about.

Mo

I want to thank everyone for their responses. They have been very helpful.