Everyone has their own experiences and opinions which are all valid, depending on circumstances. From my experience, after more than 50 years of fly-fishing in salt and fresh water, rod building, guiding, teaching and working for a rod manufacturer, I've found if you take care of your fly rod, it will take care of you...... To prevent your rod sections from becoming stuck or loosening, I r
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I worked for Orvis as a fly-fishing manager for one of their stores. A container of ferrule wax (aka paraffin wax) is given to each customer buying any Orvis carbon or fiberglass fly rod. The rod shop recommends using it to prevent stuck ferrules as well as reducing the chances of rod sections working loose. Many other rod manufacturers recommend the use of ferrule wax for their rods.
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Michael Danek Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If it doesn't do what you want done then you try > harder, and it very well could be more taxing than > a longer rod that does well what it's supposed to > do. We have to have a test run. Phil? True^. A 71/2' in and 8 to 10wt rod would be more difficult to cast than a 9' rod. The OP's query sort
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Michael Danek Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think it's not the size of the fish as much as > the size (weight and air resistance) of the fly > that calls for the high power. > > I also question whether at the end of the day a > shorter than optimum (casting efficiency/length) > rod will leave one in better shape than using an
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Phil Ewanicki Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What is the desired outcome of balancing a fly rod > and reel, and where should this balance point be? > Should this balance occur when all the fly line is > reeled in or when you are waving 20 0r 30 feet of > fly line during a cast? I have always wondered > about this. The balance point is
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If your reel is way too light to balance your fly rod an easy way to balance my fly rod is to add weight to the reel by buying lead tape used in golf clubs and wrap it around the spool and wind your line over it. Obviously the reel must be lighter and not heavier to balance the rod. Just add the amount of weight to balance your rod with your fly line and backing. You can tape the weight to the
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Good to hear. Article with more details about St. Croix's reentry into FF rod manufacturing >
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Here's a great article by Lefty Kreh about choosing line weights for fly rods >
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Tom Kirkman Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > One reason that custom rods are often superior to > commercially made models, is that instead of > following conventional wisdom or tradition, they > feature aspects that are better and in this case > possibly more sound ergonomic principles. The line > weight the rod is rated for will have less
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A five weight rod is considered the prototypical trout rod. Of all the manufactured rods you search, I don't believe you will not find any five weight fly rods on the market today built with a full wells grip. FW grips are used for heavier rod weights, not trout weight rods. Some fly-fishers use an index finger up grip on the blank for casting lightweight rods. Anyway, I would not build a ro
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I've used ZipCast fly line cleaner for a long time and purchased several bottles a while back when it was getting hard to find. Now I'm down to my last fraction of an ounce of ZipCast. I assume it is no longer sold. The link on the left hand side of this site is no longer active and it is no where to be found Online. Good stuff; sorry to see it go away.
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Phil Erickson Wrote: > Fly fishing is not a science, or an engineering > project, it is a personal adventure into the > environment filled with hope, fun and enjoyment. ^ great quote, agree completely.
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david hartis Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My question is ,is > the blank really ultra light compared to other 0 > or 1wt. blanks ? I have built a fiberglass > Lamiglas 7 wt.,3 pc and I love it.How should the > sage compare to the Lamiglas?Any help on this > matter would be appreciated.David Hartis Like a 2x4 compared to a toothpick!
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I own a Sage LL., and just built a new TXL (I really love it). The TXL is a lot lighter and a little faster than the LL. Sage makes The VT2, which is very close to the LL series in action and power and a Light Line aficionado would find it to be a great rod. The shortest blanks available are for the VT2 is 7'9" in a 3 & 4wt, I believe, actually the same lengths available in the old L
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FYI
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I tried Armorall on three of my fly lines a while back and interestingly, it ruined two of them and worked okay on one. One fly line became soft and mushy and was ruined, the other was a brand new line that cracked in weeks after using Armorall. I believe it's like playing "Russian Roulette " with your line and depends on the composition of the line you are cleaning. Another vote for
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Larry & Herb. Thanks for the info. I believe REC makes two gauges of SF recoil guides, the RSF (light duty/ freshwater) and the RSFX (heavy duty / Saltwater). Am I correct on that? Here is a link to REC: On a 3wt fly rod, I will use of course use the RSF in the smallest sizes available.
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I just picked up a Sage TXL 3710-3 blank. I'm considering using REC Recoil single foot guides. Sage uses light wire snake guides on the rod and lists the guide number and sizes as: 5 - 2/0's, followed by 1 each of size 1/0, 1, 2, & 6 as a stripper guide. The smallest Recoil SF guide from REC is Size 1. So with SF's the rod would have 5 - 1's, one each of 2, 3, 4, and 6 as a stripper. Wh
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This Dancraft blank should fit your needs:
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I've only ever handled two Gatti blanks and both were perfectly straight. Since I can only judge by those two, I cannot say if it was a superior manufacturing process, superior materials, superior QC, or just a fluke.
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Pac Bay makes a 6’6” 2wt Tradition II that is a full flex rod. I built one for my wife and it’s very nice and very reasonably priced too. I believe they only make a 2-piece in that weight and length. Click on the link and click on “product data”. Good luck with any rod blank you choose.
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When I first started building rods, I bought a book that explained a method for finishing off a wrap without cutting the tag of the thread. I use a loop of small diameter braided line and wrap over it to finish. When all wraps are completed, I insert the tag end of the thread into the loop, and pull the loop halfway under the wraps, I then pull both thread and the loop with equal force. The th
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I’m a fanatic about balancing my fly rod / reel since 10% of the time you are casting and 90% of the time you are holding the rod fishing. There’s nothing more miserable for me than fishing a tip heavy rod all day, and the second most miserable thing is fishing a butt heavy rod all day. When fishing, a balanced rod feels a lot lighter than a unbalanced rod an ounce +/- ligher, IMO. By r
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I use FC guide adhesive. I heat the guide foot for a few seconds with a soldering iron and swipe it on the stick to get a SMALL amount of adhesive on the bottom. The guide foot cools in seconds and I use rubber bands to attach all the guides to the blank. When I'm satisfied with the alignment, I use the soldering iron to heat up the guide foot and affix it to the blank. After heating the guid
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Try Golden Witch:
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Here is some very good info on the subject:
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Quite a while back, I had a bass boat and fished for bass all the time. At the time I owned a bunch of fiberglass rods , while a friend that was fish with me handed me an expensive graphite rod to fish with. Immediately I felt the difference! I could feel the jig bouncing on the bottom, and even could tell if I was fishing over a hard bottom, weeds, etc. Also, I could feel every vibration in
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I have a TXL in a 4wt and it casts well both short and long with a 4wt line. Perhaps your friend can cast one in a shop and see if he likes the rod. Also you may try to find out what rods and types of rods he owns and prefers to cast. I like the TXL, but one FFers treasure is another FFers trash, LOL. While I generally agree with all that's posted about over and under rated rods for the l
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Tom Kirkman Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- I'm glad to know it's still possibly swimming in the same waters where I caught it. Maybe I'll catch it again when it's 10+lbs. And if I do, I'll take more photos and release it again .............. Go for you......good for us......a true sportsman.
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If cost is not an issue, try looking into a Gatti FRLW 2wt. Great casting/fishing rod and he will be the only one on the block with one. Gatti USA has them listed. Mudhole does not have this rod listed, but maybe they can order a blank for you.
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