Hi Guys,
I would appreciate some of your opinions and experience regarding blanks and components to use on fly rods that will be used in extreme fly fishing for GT's, Dogtooth, YFT, etc on a trip to the Coral Sea. I am expecting to break a few rods on this trip, so I would prefer to keep the costs lower, as not only is there the cost of the blanks but shipping and taxes to the P.I. which will almost double the purchase price.
I'm looking for #12-#14 wts for shore work with the GT's in mind, so will need some casting ability and a good deal of grunt available for locking up on fish with it, and up to may be #16 or more if necessary for dogtooth, yft etc on the boats where I assume grunt will be of the foremost importance. Blanks that come to mind are the Lamiglass Triflex Grande Blue Water, or something from TFO, the Biscayne rod company or CTS. I dont know any of the qualities of thes blanks as to their castability and or grunt power and how they compare to each other. I'll be taking more than one rod in each weight catagory.
My other concerne is the best guides to use on them. I like a good sized stripper guide for heavy rods, so I'm thinking a 20mm or even a 25mm stripper which excludes the titanium Cermets, or any of the other casting guide ranges as they only go up to a 16J, leaving only the heavy duty spinning guides like the MNSG in Sic or the Alconite BMNAG (in the Concept ranges which I definately prefer). Another option might be the Alps XXN 316 series in Zirconium, or is there no real advantage of one over the other at this level. For the running guides I do intend on using ring guides in preference over snakes.
I really am looking for hair splitting differences that could help optimize the the rod for specifics. I'm looking forward to this trip and I want to feel that I am well armed with as good as I can get gaining all the advantage possible. Your opinions and experience will be much appreciated. Thanks.
Earl Hamilton.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

There is a lot of information on this site on "blue water fly rods" - do a search on the pharase in quatation marks - some of the threads apply directly to your quest.

Also do a search on posts made by the author "Michael Taylor and set all dates in the search window.

Click on my name on this thread and send me an email and I will forward some material that may assist you.

Bill Stevens