I just started noodling around for UL blanks (6'6" to 7'6") and looked at a few companies. Going to Lamiglas site, I am surprised at how reduced their offerings seem to be compared to many years ago under Dick Posey. I sent a few email queries out a week ago and never got a reply.

Curious how the company is doing. Anyone know? I noticed that they are not sponsors of this site anymore. They look like they are focused a narrow niche in fishing rods now but again, I'm not sure. Anyways, curious.

Thanks.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2020 03:21PM by Mo Yang.

I don't know but I hope they are doing well.

Way back in the 60's they and Shakespeare were our go to blanks. In the NE they are still the standard for surf rods. The last blanks I bought were 7' tri-flex blanks from their kayak series rated 15-30#. They are crazy strong, could fish 40# no problem. I honestly think you couldn't break them.

I don't know how they are for UL stuff but they have always been rock solid for saltwater.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

There have been some pretty stiff Covid restrictions in Washington, they got hit early, and really hit again two month, or so again. Cases and deaths way up, much worse than Oregon. I get emails from time to time when they get rods done, maybe every month, or so.

Spencer, you seem to be the guy when it comes to Lamiglas. I found your recent comments about saltwater fishing in the NW interesting. It left me wondering why the majority of the best rod blanks companies seem to be from there.

Any thoughts on the matter? I always wondered if Boeing was a factor. All of their engineers that I have had the pleasure of conversing with struck me as being true genius level talent in their fields. It does seem like the NW may well be the largest aerospace manufacturing cluster in the US.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Gary Loomis worked for Lamiglas in the 70s when he contacted Boeing and bugged them until a guy acquiesced and showed him about carbon fiber. Fenwick was the first to manufacture graphite rods,Gary perfected it,and left to form GLoomis ,right across the highway in Woodland WA. NFC is in Woodland as well. I'm just gonna blame Mr Loomis lol.


There I edited that !



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2020 09:13PM by Robert Ford.

Fenwick was our other go to brand, but a little later on. No way they were the first to build a fiberglass rod.

It is generally credited to Robert Gayle and a Mr. McGuire. Shakespeare Wonderod was introduced in 1946. I think I would credit Fenwick with the first all graphite rod though. Maybe that is what you intended to say?

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

As Robert said Renton, WA at one time was a hotspot for rodbuilding, right where Boeing started and was during WW II, my grandparents, talked about how that valley was a place of very productive farms and orchards before the war. Lamiglas started there in I believe 1949, and the people that later started Fenwick, Sage, etc. were all there building for themselves and others. I got to believe real estate prices and other costs made them move elsewhere, Woodland was just a little town back than and still isn't real big, and was on the I-5 corridor, you can throw a rock from the Lamiglas factory and hit the highway, there is just a service road between them. Same was happening in So. Cal., it was where the engineers were that wanted to build rods.
Lamiglas especially and Loomis also were always customer oriented and when I was on leave I could just walk in the door and they always had time to show me product and little work around for anything I was looking for, 20 years ago when you picked up a G Loomis catalog they would show all their product and has a alphabetical listing at the end to reference any other things they thought that rod, or blank could be used for, some of the listing were surprisingly extensive and spot on if you were looking for something a little outside the box, or your normal comfort zone.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2020 01:58PM by Spencer Phipps.

I miss typed that. Fenwick was the first to manufacture graphite rods on a grand scale with the HMG line. My bad.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2020 09:15PM by Robert Ford.

Actually a lot of cool history I am reading. Hardy tried it's hand with graphite fly rods in the late 60s. Shakespeare ,made some early prototype graphite rods early 70s, and Fenwick put them out on the market. They were susceptible to breakage,which led to Gary Loomis developing advanced techniques in blank making in the 1970s. It's really amazing actually. Necessity becomes the mother of invention(not to be confused with the group fronted by Frank Zappa!).

My area had some history as well. The sailfish in west palm beach had a lot to do with it. So did Bimini. Attracted guys with deep pockets.

I'd say everyone has heard of Fin-Nor but they might not know when/how it got started. Perhaps less known is Tycoon Tackle and their rods. Which is a little funny as at one time his rods held nearly all the world records. All that is before my time. My mom's family moved here in the 20's and my dad came right after war.

Never had the pockets for Fin-Nor reels but did have some Vom Hofe. Another name worth looking into.

Sorry for getting us off target. Here is to hoping Lamiglas weathers the storm.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Actually, when Gary left Lamiglas he joined with a few others and formed Loomis Composites, Inc. He was there until about 1984 when he left that venture and then formed G. Loomis, Inc.

...............

Tom Kirkman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Actually, when Gary left Lamiglas he joined with a
> few others and formed Loomis Composites, Inc. He
> was there until about 1984 when he left that
> venture and then formed G. Loomis, Inc.
>
> ...............
Yes that is correct and I have a couple of those old LCI rods. So cool!

Robert Ford Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Tom Kirkman Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Actually, when Gary left Lamiglas he joined with
> a
> > few others and formed Loomis Composites, Inc.
> He
> > was there until about 1984 when he left that
> > venture and then formed G. Loomis, Inc.
> >
> > ...............
> Yes that is correct and I have a couple of those
> old LCI rods. So cool!

Same here! I still collect older Loomis rods including LCI's. Those early fenwick graphite rods were quite brittle and would break fairly easily. I think this was something Gary Loomis recognized and sought to improve upon. I saw a video about it somewhere, probably on youtube now.

And the old original All Star rods were also sourced from Gary Loomis in the early days when Morgan McCain owned All Star. But when Brett Crawford took over All Star rods he brought in Don Mook who is the man who built Gary Loomis first 2 rod factories, and he was hired by Brett Crawford to do the same for All Star to build an in-house rod making factory in Houston, Texas, and Don Mook built the rod factory in Oklahoma, and some more up in Washington State. Don is now retired, but he achieved something with his first All Star rods I have never seen duplicated by anyone anywhere as yet, though some have come close. It revolves around resonant frequency of a rod blank. Don Mook some how created one of the first true pencil rods where scrim was rolled into a much tighter more narrow diameter blank, and when you tap on the blank with a hard object it has a high pitched ring to it. No other rod made by anyone has a higher resonant pitch. Some come close. The higher the pitch the harder the material is making it extremely sensitive. The lower the pitch the softer the material and less sensitive it is. Don Mook's All Star rod has not been surpassed by anything that I have ever seen since the 1980's when Don made these rods for All Star and Brett Crawford. And today they are extremely rare and hard to find. Great rod! Probably one of my favorites even above Gary Loomis rods. Its one of my most prized rods.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/2020 06:41PM by Kent Griffith.

Kent Griffith Wrote:
->
> Same here! I still collect older Loomis rods
> including LCI's. Those early fenwick graphite rods
> were quite brittle and would break fairly easily.
> I think this was something Gary Loomis recognized
> and sought to improve upon. I saw a video about it
> somewhere, probably on youtube now.
>
> And the old original All Star rods were also
> sourced from Gary Loomis in the early days when
> Morgan McCain owned All Star. But when Brett
> Crawford took over All Star rods he brought in Don
> Mook who is the man who built Gary Loomis first 2
> rod factories, and he was hired by Brett Crawford
> to do the same for All Star to build an in-house
> rod making factory in Houston, Texas, and Don Mook
> built the rod factory in Oklahoma, and some more
> up in Washington State. Don is now retired, but he
> achieved something with his first All Star rods I
> have never seen duplicated by anyone anywhere as
> yet, though some have come close. It revolves
> around resonant frequency of a rod blank. Don Mook
> some how created one of the first true pencil rods
> where scrim was rolled into a much tighter more
> narrow diameter blank, and when you tap on the
> blank with a hard object it has a high pitched
> ring to it. No other rod made by anyone has a
> higher resonant pitch. Some come close. The higher
> the pitch the harder the material is making it
> extremely sensitive. The lower the pitch the
> softer the material and less sensitive it is. Don
> Mook's All Star rod has not been surpassed by
> anything that I have ever seen since the 1980's
> when Don made these rods for All Star and Brett
> Crawford. And today they are extremely rare and
> hard to find. Great rod! Probably one of my
> favorites even above Gary Loomis rods. Its one of
> my most prized rods.

Kent, going OT on my own thread, it is interesting you write about resonant frequency. The Japanese domestic rod companies sometimes tout their analysis of resonant frequency so that the maximum amplitude happens at the grip. i don't know if that is just marketing or not but I have tested at least one rod that seem to really be accurate - where a tap of the rod tip will create a high level of virbration at the handle, but not further up or down on the rod. We know that with strings and such, there are nulls and peaks when it vibrates and I have often wondered about that with rods. Thanks.

How about we start a thread on this subject? I have dug up some of the Japanese science on it. It would make a good thread discussion.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 12/12/2020 10:51AM by Kent Griffith.

Go for it. I've been playing around with blanks. Interesting, one of the higher power to weight blanks I tapped has a very dull thud compared to my other blanks. but it's strength to weight ratio is high. So that is a bit confusing. Tapping it, I had anticipated that the blank would be a flabby blank - but it is not....

I think most rods made today are some kind of blend for durability..the higher the glass content the greater the thud when tapped..