What is the perceived advantage of a spiggot ferrule? I have rods with both types of ferrules, but I can't say I have a preference.
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Batson has switch rod blanks in their Imortal and Revelation lines in 5-8 weights. Proof has a few offerings. Mieser sells blanks but they are more expensive than the first two I mentioned, but highly regarded. And a number of OEM sell blanks.
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What do you mean by cheaper? Sage X blanks for a 9 ft 5 wt cost around $450. CTS blanks are around $265. NFC has a good sale on right now -- final cost $60 to $220. Batson Eternity and Revelation highly regarded -- $125-$200. MHX $100 - $225. Pac Bay Arctos around $100. RodGeeks (basically the same blank as St. Croix) about $115. I doubt you would be disappointed with any of them.
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Both are quite low vs what's normal for this time of year. Water temps on the Arkansas might be more favorable. Cold front with some snow/rain coming through on Monday night and Tuesday, so water temps may be better after that.
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Where in Colorado will you be fishing? There are several large fires in Colorado right now but cooler weather and some rain has helped of late. Overall, Colorado Rivers are quite low right now due to minimial precip this summer, and that is particularly true in the southern part of the state.
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Most 212 silk will work. You for sure need to dilute that frist coat. I have done test coats by putting a 1/4 inch or so wrap on a pencils or pen in order to see how it turns out and how the underlying color comes through. Fishhawk 212 worked just fine for me.
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Perhaps you have precipitated some heavy traffic, as the NFC website is not working for me.
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Angelo: My main concern is around what you are stating -- the feel of the tip section. Several of the 9-foot fast action rods I currently own are not good nymphing performers, in my mind. I do have an H&H 9 foot 5 weight that happens to be very good for nymph fishing, and I think it is because the tip is somewhat softer than my other faster action 9 foot rods.
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What non-OEM blanks do folks recommend for wrapping up a nice nymping rod? I am thinking 10 - 11 feet, and leaning more towards 11 feet than 10 for extra reach. 3 wt.
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U-40 cleaner as outlined above. You need to be very thorough in soaking and wiping.
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I would also suggest a 5w over a 4wt. Unless you are on small streams, and especially for stillwater, I would go with 9 foot minimum. Many are now makin 10 foot blanks. i think that Rainshadow Eternity are nice blanks if you want a fast action, but I do not find my 6wt to be super fast, as they state. There is certainly nothing wrong with the older generation of graphite such as in the Unity
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Does he stil have blank inventory?
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Go to some of the higher eleveation small streams along with Front Range and you can pound up brook trout that in some cases will rise ftantically and impale themselves on the hook. Wild Basin area of RMNP good for this. Fall River in the park, and Big T also. A bit of a drive, but the upper Poudre River can be the same, and is parlelled by a road.
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One would hope for a good degree of objectivity from this forum which, to me, seems to be the case in what I read.
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I have not built any Arctos rods, but many here have given the blanks positive reviews.
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Such is the case with all consumer goods in a competitive marketplace. You can know the ingredients of a beer, its IBU measurments, the water source from where it is brewed, etc, but the final opinion on taste is yours alone. One person loves the new Corvette, the next thinks it is garbage, despite the measurments and specs. In addition to fly rods, I also make golf clubs. The same thing is i
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Often some nice blanks on @#$%&. You will not go wrong with any you mentioned. I also have had good luck with the Xi in house blanks offered by Hook and Hackle, who periodically has nice sales on Batson (Unity, Revlations, Eternity) and PacBay (Arctos) blanks and kits. May also want to consider TFO BVK or Mangrove.
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These Frog Toggs may be up your ally:
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work it a bit with a rat tail file. Be sure to debur with emory cloth so as not to scratch the graphite.
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Of course you indicate you are dealing with a request, but personally I find no need for a fly rod less than a 3wt. I have an old SAGE LL 4wt at 8 1/2 feet that well feels the fight and delicacy of a 5 inch trout and use it for tiny brookie and cutthroat streats. I really don't see a need to go below 7 1/2 oir 8 ft in rod length. But that is just me. Good luck. These are very nice rods:
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If you are using colored thread, just cover that area with thread and you will be fine.
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I put a RIO In Touch Technical Trout 6WF line on my Eternity2 9ft. 6wt. It is my first experience with a minimal stretch line. I only cast the line on the grass at a nearby park. It turns over quite well and lands with delicacy, which I desire. I was casting a 9ft 5x leader with about 24" of tippet. I can cast 55 feet with no problem (withouth double haul). The line feels just a tad l
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I broke a Sage rod years ago in my car trunk. It was n old model no longer in production. They sent me a new section of an updated model, but the rod performed like crap. My adivce would be to just build a new rod.
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Great stuff! So much temptation. How about some trout light spey rods down the line. 11 foot in a 2, 3 and 4 weight? Lots of us in the Rockies are taking to or thinking about swinging.
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With all the new and diverse models of lines, and very little way to test drive them, it makes for an interesting consumer dynamic.
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Thanks for all the feedback. I got a great deal on a 6wt. Rio In Touch Technical Trout line, so I will try that. It's funny, I have two original Ross Gunnison G1 and G2 reels. In the 1990s I loaded them both with WF lines, but I cannot recall the make of the lines. I think they were SA Dry Cell, but not sure. A chance they may have been Cortland. Not much variety in lines back then. Both li
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Having built two fly rods recently, a 9 ft. 6 wt and a 9 ft 5 wt., I tried both with NOS SA Mastery GPX fly lines I had purchased a few years ago and had not yet used. Wow, I found the lines to be so aggreisve in their weight forward, half-size heavy taper that I felt like I had an anvil on the end of the line. The 6 weiight is a Baston Eternity2, so a pretty fast, high-quality graphite rod. I
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Per Lance's comments, I can say that my first fly rod was a 7.5 ft. Fenwick glass rod of 1979. I thought it was a gem. Made a Sage 8.5 ft for 5 wt in 1983 when Sage was still kind of new. A first felt like a board. then I grew to love it. My current Eternity2 rod makes the Sage feel like an ineffective noddle unalble to toss much line at all. The same type of comments could be made about sk
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No "road test" is going to be fully objective. YA shootouts do present deflection charts, swing weight, etc, which are on the objective side of the equation. They try to equalize their testing by using the same reel and line. The rest is their individual and collective opinions. Overall I think the shootouts provide some level of quality feedback to the consumer who cannot try out s
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Ultimatley, it is all about what the angler/caster prefers in a rod for the manner in which they fish and the place where they fish. Even cosmetics come into play. Most people know what they like, but not until they cast the rod.
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