Matrix: What type of small stream rod do you fish?

[adam]

When I was a boy, I dreamed of running into the air and flying high above the trees.

When I became a young man, I taught myself to fly a hang glider, then a paraglider, then a ultra-light, a sailplane...

They all have attributes but all are flying machines, some get you farther than others.


I can sit here and dream of flying now having done it so much, I don't even need a glider.



But I feel the urge and every once in a while I'll go to the hill and practice what I love, looking around high above the earth.




This is a web site about fly fishing, none of this matters however, the reason why we are here is fishing and that's what we are conversing about.


I'm enjoying this topic very much, I am learning.

[terry]

I'm enjoying this topic very much, I am learning.

So am I

[greendrake]

If I weren't fishing bamboo,it would be 1 of my fiberglass rods.Funny,out of 28 votes only 1 person is using fiberglass.I would have thought that there would have been at least a couple.

[Ernest]

I think fewer of us have experienced really good fiberglass rods than bamboo rods.

I started fly fishing with poor glass rods, got rid of those when I found some good glass rods, and stopped using those when graphite came out. Then I moved to bamboo, traded the glass rods off in a swap for something, and now in small streams I fish a mix of homemade wood and bamboo.

(I own a few graphite rods. I use the bigger ones for large rivers and lakes and ponds, but not for small or medium sized streams.)

The best glass rods have become a specialty item almost. They are not in most shops and stores, and the shops and stores upsell the graphite rods. You can find glass rods if you look, but with the marketing hype about graphite and bamboo, the good news about glass is drowned out.

I bought a very nice glass rod in a charity silent auction. One of my grown kids borrowed it for a trip out west. I was looking forward to getting it back, but I was out of luck; he liked it too much. When I went over to his house I looked everywhere, but he had hidden it from me.

[adam]

I am surprised as well.

Mark Steffen only makes fiberglass rods now. He used to make graphite primarily...

Personally, I think fiberglass is the worst medium for the reasons why so many people like it. If I wanted something that felt like bamboo, I would fish a bamboo rod., if I wanted something non bamboo, I would fish a plastic rod.

Our wants, needs, choices are all interesting to read.

The guys who make wood rods are very interesting. I have a couple of blanks ready to take down in the shop because of my research into it, listening, reading what they had to write, their interest, passion for that medium. It is readily available and like many, I enjoy knowing that anglers make their own fly rods.

I hope that Ernest writes more about making and more importantly, fishing wood rods here or somewhere else at this site.

[terry]

I use to have a fenwick fenglass 6' 5 weight that I really liked. Great little rod. Selling it was a stupid move on my part. :(

[adam]

Fenwick "Fleaflickers" are awesome!

I loved those rods until I was introduced to a good small stream bamboo fly rod.

I had the 5'3", the 6' and the 6'6" gifted to me by the designer. Fenwick ferrule technology was used in developing Sage ferrules. That is huge.

That would be a good article to go back and try to find in the wayback machine. Pete and I fished those fleaflickers hard and wrote about them quite a bit.

I forgot about that, thanks for jogging the memory.

[terry]

Awesome is a good description. I would love to get my hands on a 6'6" model. These rods can handle anything a small stream fisher will throw at them. Its too bad Fenwick stopped producing these.

[adam]

eBay.

I've purchased a couple from there less than $150 but that was a few years ago before fiberglass was "discovered"

You will be able to find one if you have time and a little money saved to strike when the time is right.

Good choice BTW.

[adam]

I think Hardy is making fiberglass rods, you may want to look into that. I understand they are reasonably priced (hows that for contradicting myself)