The Salmon River from the DSR to the upper fly zone is narrow enough so you will not have to cast much more than fifteen feet with your spey rod, and if you wish to fish the near side of the river you will need to stand back in the woods or else wade across the river and fish back where you came from. In these close quarters you may find it difficult to land fish without high sticking them, so a
Forum: rodboard

I'm looking for a rod sensitive enough so that I can feel and avoid obstacles while I use my line to push lures back into tough-to-get-at places. Oh, and sensitive enough so that I can detect bites through the slack line created by pushing these lures.
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I have a client who often fishes with the guy who is after 16+ pound steelheads from the top of a 60 foot cliff over a raging river, but my client wants an extremely sensitive ice-fishing rod to fish for perch through the ice with a mousie grub on a dot lure under a porcupine quill bobber. What blank would you recommend?
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On rare occasions you can see your bait disappear into a fish's mouth, or see the flash of a fish as it turns or rolls to take your bait. Sometimes you feel the fish tug, but most often strike detection is a matter of focusing on your line: if it's moving in a current sensing when it pauses, speeds up, or slows down, if in quiet water noticing when your line moves, tightens, or gains slack. I
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Tom: I'm quite certain this rejection phenomenon applies at least equally to trout taking nymphs, but this would indicate that detecting both strikes and rejections by trout requires more rod sensitivity than detection of strikes and rejections by bass, even without considering slack lines vs taut lines. My choice of experts to rely upon in this sensitivity issue remains the same - upstream ny
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In films and in the water I have watched LMB feed by flaring their gills and with considerable force inhaling their prey. If you are an angler I'll bet you have seen the same thing. It's how LMB feed, not all of the time, but apparently much of the time. I have never seen a trout, on film or in the water, slam a nymph like a bass slams a frog, or have I seen a trout strike or inhale a nymph with
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I contend nothing about the equipment or its supposed sensitivity. I simply stated that detecting a pick-up casting upstream to a trout with a gentle take requires greater "sensitivity" of whatever sort than detecting the relatively aggressive strike of a bass in slack water, where keeping a tight line is relatively easy. And IF I were to rely upon someone's opinion (rather than object
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The majority of posters discussing "sensitivity" are bass anglers. L.M. bass literally inhale baits with a good deal of force in what is usually calm water. On the other hand fly fishermen present nymphs upstream, which makes it very hard to keep a tight line, and trout sip nymphs versus bass @#$%& down their prey. If I were to follow any supposed expert angler's advice about rod sensi
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Rod sensitivity is a matter of opinion rather than empirical evidence. A great number of anglers can determine a rod's relative sensitivity without ever laying a hand on the rod, if only they can get a look at the price tag.
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Battling 16+ pounds steelheads from a cliff fifty feet above a raging river will require a rod which can do a lot more than cast 300'. This guy is going to need a fish-fighting rod of heroic ability. I suggest a ten foot telescopic rod which he can collapse down to four feet when he hooks up. This would give him the backbone and leverage necessary to play the fish under the conditions you descri
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In addition to building the rod you might approach this customer about building him a landing net with a lightweight sixty foot handle.
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How big are the trout they plan to catch? How big are the flies they plan to cast? How deep is the water they plan to fish in? How far will they need to cast? Fly rods tend to be as different as spin rods, from ultra light to heavy surf casting.
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You may have noticed that today's rod blanks are so light that when an ordinary reel is attached the outfit becomes quite butt heavy, or "out of balance." Does this mean that savvy rod builders should pour lead or concrete into the tip section of the blank to restore the elusive but desirable balance?
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Modern aircraft make increasing use of graphite components. I think rod builders originally "borrowed" graphite technology from the aerospace crowd. Aircraft parts are subject to constant, repetitive, and sometime harmonic distortion. I have never heard of a graphite component in an aircraft suffering stress fatigue, although it may happen. At any rate, the graphite used in rod blanks
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I am not convinced there is appreciable benefit to a fast action rod unless it is double-hauled. Beginners don't double haul, and the majority of fly fishers will never double haul or feel the need to either. Any rod can be double hauled, but timing a double haul with a fast rod is tougher than with a slow rod. Time is "speeded up." It's much like equipping a novice golfer with stiff
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The current and probable future casting ability of the fly rod's owner is a key to selecting a "good" fly rod blank - which to me means the blank best suited to the type of fishing it will be doing and the type of fisherman who will be using it. Accomplished fly casters usually appreciate and benefit from using very fast action blanks. Beginning and mediocre fly casters find very fast
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First use heavy thread to make a ramp. This creates the desired profile and eliminates the sagging and running problems associated with thick layers of epoxy. Saturate the thread ramp with epoxy and allow to harden. Apply a thin coat of epoxy and turn while it hardens. If you wish you can overwind this smooth epoxy coat with fine thread and finish with another layer of epoxy. I have done this wi
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I second Lane's suggestion. I built a 6 wt. on a 9' 4-pc. MHX blank. I judge the completed rod to be equal in performance to those in the $500 - $700 price range, and my MHX cost me less than $200 to build.
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Which type of single-foot fly rod guides do you prefer and why: ceramic inserts or wire loops (including REC)?
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Is there any effective way to dye cork and a "filler" to achieve a consistent handle color? What kind of filler and dye would be used?
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Thanks for the update, Marc, but it makes me sad. I have watched in amazement as U.S. manufacturers have taken (previously) labor intensive products offshore to reduce the labor component in their standard cost - after modern production methods made huge reductions in labor costs. Go figure.
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The SCIV is a lot of blank for the money, and St. Croix's service is second to none. It's also nice to buy a product made in America. The SCIV is not too far removed from the SCV, which is a fine blank indeed. You can get a good look at how well a St. Croix 8 weight compares to Sage, Loomis, T&T etc by going to: www.yellowstoneangler.com/FlyRodComparison8weightrods
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If you were to use a store-bought rod for distance casting three of the top choices would be the Sage Xi3, the Shimano Cross Current, and the St. Croix Legend Elite. Each of these rods comes equipped with standard or oversized snake guides and tip tops. Of course they are designed for catching fish as well as casting.
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I'm surprised no one has specified micros. Are they banned from fly casting distance competition?
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I suspect as one gets further into competition fly casting the equipment becomes more specialized - and more expensive. Richard, it sounds like you are just getting into distance casting, which I understand has more than one category. If you are planning to cast full lines rather than shooting heads I would second Larry's recommendation of a Mudhole MHX blank. I recently built on a blank labele
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I still doubt the "one leg is better than two" theory, even if shedding one leg reduces weight a bit.
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Fly anglers have been using braid backing (dacron & micron) with success for decades. I would be interested to see the total weight savings of a minima guide set versus a snake guide set. I wonder if a blindfolded caster could feel the difference, even after a day's casting. Single foot and minima guides do not increase casting distance with a fly rod - no advantage here. This past May I
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I make my reamers with three-quarter inch strips of #40 grit, canvas-backed belts for belt sanders, cut in a long spiral from the belt. I glue this in open wraps to sections of broken blanks with contact cement. If you ran one of these hard enough to heat up the glue, then in a matter of seconds there would be nothing left of your grip but cork dust.
Forum: rodboard

I finished building a rod on an MHX 906-4 (6wt. 4pc) rod last week. Two alconite strippers, eight REC lightweight doublefoot snake guides, a full wells (!) grip for a big hand. It casts vey well indeed; into the wind more like a 9wt. than a 6 wt. I had planned to use this rod on shad and panfish, but it's so light and casts so well it's going for redfish as soon as it cools off enough to fish
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I would like to learn some properties of various brands/types of epoxy used to cover thread wraps. I'm not looking for the "best" brand or type, but to the brand or type best suited to specific purposes, conditions, or applications: 1) Which epoxy has the longest working time? The shortest? 2) Which cured epoxy is the hardest/most brittle? The softest/most flexible? 3) Which epoxy
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