just wondering what your opinion is; a friend of mine wants me to build him a 4 weight for specifically for casting small dries to browns in eastern montana. Something with a nice moderate action. I was considering the diamondback classic trout even though i have never even seen one of them; what do you think of these blanks, and how they would work in this situation?
thanks

Which blank? They make more than one 4 wt.

Another relevant question is cost and appearance specifications..... there are many good blanks out there, on the higher cost side, Dan Craft has outstanding blanks, on the lower cost/great looking blank side, I like the Tiger Eye blanks -- depends on price and appearance, I think ......

Tony M

The Diamondback Classic Trout blanks are wonderful medium action rods,with a very unique and beautiful finish on them.I have a 3pc 7ft6 3wt and it is one of my favorite small stream rods.The Scott G and Winston WT(or older IM6) are also incredible,but pricey,blanks.My 8ft 4wt Scott G is my hands down favorite rod to fish with.

The Dan Craft FTL sounds like a great choice as well.I haven't built on one yet,but everyone who has seems to speak very highly of them.I have built on several of Dan Craft's other blanks and I absolutely love them.Amazing performance for your dollar.

Don't overlook lower priced blanks like the Forecast/Rainshadow RX6 or Tiger Eye(gorgeous looking blanks) blanks.Some of them are real sleepers.I really like the Forecast 4pc 7ft6 4wt and Tiger Eye 4pc 8ft 3/4wt.

TIGER EYE IS UNBEATABLE FOR THE MONEY,, JUST MY OPINION !!!!!!!!!!!!!

The old Scott G series blanks are what you want if you are looking for moderate action. They make wounderful dry fly rods for small streams. You can make casts with one of these rods that you just can not do with a fast action blank. I think you get a better drift because you can throw a lot more slack in the line with one of these older blanks.

Our Tiger Eye blanks in 2 or 4 piece work would do nicely for this application. I use them all the time here in north Idaho.

Joe Douglas

i would like to see you get the diamondback classic trout, build it and report on how it fishes, but that's kind of selfish of me :-) i've been toying with wanting to get one for years now.

i fish small streams for trout in the sierra of california. the mainstream rods which seem to be held in highest regard by experienced fly guys who have started with low end, moved to the faster type of rod and end up going for the "slower, medium, more relaxed" style of fishing when it comes to streams (i'm talking years of development) often speak of a select few rods which rise to the top, names almost spoken in hushed, reverent whispers. these would include the winston WT, certain orvis superfines, thomas and thomas paradigm, the old scott G..... and the diamondback classic trout, though admittingly, the classic trout is a smaller percentage of the others but that could be because it was never marketed as much as the others.

i'm not sure about the older versions, but a few years ago, diamondback revamped the lineup changing the color of the blank to a golden rich brown, maintaining the unique pattern design of the blank and doubled the options by also offering a faster version called the Classic Western. a faster version of the classic trout. just stuff i've picked up by reading... no personal experience whatsoever with the classic trout line. if his small streams often expeience gusty winds (montana?) you might go for the faster version but i'm just speculating.

by the way, once again i'll add, i have a dan craft FTL 8', 6 piece 3wt which i sometimes fish with a 4wt. it's a great moderate action rod.

on the lower end, tiger eye blanks are beautiful, relatively inexpensive and any of their fly blanks 8' and under would be great for small stream work, but i THINK they would be considered a stiffer blank than my FTL. less moderate. slightly.

eric
fresno, ca.