I am looking to build a couple of fly rods for Alaskan Silver salmon. I am looking at 9 ft, 4 piece 7 wts with medium fast actions. I am particularly concerned about durability. The folks that I will be fishing with have broken several rods (most likely due to high sticking when landing the big fish). Although I'm very careful about not doing that, I know things can sometimes get out of control at that point. I'd like to keep the price around $100, if possible. Any experiences or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Chris

Dan Craft FT 9' 7wt. 4pc. Needs to be overlined with an 8wt line though. Unless you put on ceramics.
Herb

I'd look at the Rainshadow green or matte graphite RX7 blanks, a pleasure to fish, versatile and durable (I like the green). The Tiger eye blanks from Sevier are also a great value, and a striking blank in the sun also. Should be able to put a kit together for not much more than you suggested for the blank alone.

The Dan Craft FT is a fast action blank but they have a lot of power and the FT907-4 blanks are now listed on sale for $110.40. They are terrific blanks in my opinion.

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

The 907-4FT is a nice blank, but if you're looking for a more traditional 7wt, I wouldn't recommend it. It's a way-high-powered cannon. Casts best for me with a WF8F or DT8F.

A Batson RX7 may be more in line with your specs and price point.

Scott Kinney
The Longest Cast Fly Rods
[www.thelongestcast.com]

CHRIS!!!

STOP!! HALT!!! As a 20+ year Alaskan, I would NOT buy any 7 weight!!!!! Stick to a fast 8 or even 9wt. Silvers tear 7 wts to shreads and when they don't, it takes much longer to land the fish. The only way I would use a 7 wt is in slow shallow water. Like I have told all of my flyfishing school students, (near 1000) that one big factor that authors of flyfishing books fail to mention, is that the velocity of the current and the depth of the current play HUGE roles in the weight of a fly rod. Forget about the size of the fly and the "X diameter" of the tippet, these play much less of a role when using sink tips and split shot.

So, please whatever you do, leave the 7's at home and get a rod with some backbobe to land the fish well, and compensate for the wind! By the way, I just went fishing 3 days ago and landed 8 nice chrome silvers.

Have a great day Chris...

Paul

Hmm...looks like some good local advice there. The 907-4 FT might be a good one for you then (it's really more of an 8/9 wt, and I've caught some pretty gnarly fish with mine).



Scott Kinney
The Longest Cast Fly Rods
[www.thelongestcast.com]

"is that the velocity of the current and the depth of the current play HUGE roles in the weight of a fly rod. Forget about the size of the fly and the "X diameter" of the tippet, these play much less of a role when using sink tips and split shot."

I should change the above statement to:
is that the velocity of the current and the depth of the current play HUGE roles in the SELECTION of the weight of a fly rod. Forget about the size of the fly and the "X diameter" of the tippet, these play much less of a role when using sink tips and split shot."


Sorry..

Paul