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Fiberglass Rods
Anyone fish glass rods. I am a big fan of fiberglass for bass and panfish. I fish a 5ft 1pc built on a Forecast spinning blank that I use 5/6wt lines.
I had been looking for a Fenwick glass blank for a long time, but they are very rare. So I bought the Fenglass 605-2 factory rod on Ebay for $50 and stripped it down. Single foot guides, 2 very thin coats of Flex Coat lite, and steel wool to matte the blank must have shaved almost an ounce off of the original weight.
I can't wait to fish this rod!
http://www.rodbuildingforum.com/uplo...4bdea3a7c1.jpg
http://www.rodbuildingforum.com/uplo...4bdb5d9f34.jpg
http://www.rodbuildingforum.com/uplo...4be2a9188b.jpg
Anyone else fish glass for warmwater?
Lou
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LD
I have a 7 1/2' 6wt that was built for me on a Fenwick Woodstream blank back in the late 70's. I still get it out and fish it every now and then. A couple of years ago I put on new guides and wraps.
Thought about buying another glass rod, but can't get over the price some are going for on ebay.
Years ago I owned an Orvis 2 pc 8 1/2' 8wt. It was actually made on a Phillipson blank and was honey brown in color. I fished with it for a couple of years and then sold it in order to buy my first graphite rod. Looking back, I wish I hadn't done that.
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I grew up using them, but haven't fished one in awhile. I love the soft action of fiberglass.
There is a whole bulletin board out there devoted to fiberglass rods, but a quick Google search failed to find it. When I visited this board in the past, it seemed the Diamondglass rod was the weapon of choice for most. Other rods that got mentioned a lot were those by Hardy, Steffen Bros., and Dave Lewis.
JC wrote a very nice review of the Hardy rod a year or so ago.
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JC certainly did an excellent review of the Hardy glass rod.
The website that db4d is referring to is fiberglassflyrodders@www.ezboard.com. It is Clark's old website. The guys that post there know glass rods.
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You bet I like my 2-piece fiberglass EagleClaw 8 foot 6/7 wt. Good all around warm water fly rod that handles most anything I may run into.
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Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL
"Flip a fly"
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Loudog;
I like the finish. What grade steel wool did you use? I believe that my next rod will be a matte finish.
Interesting on the weight reduction. Both my 9' 5 wgt. and 9' 3 wgt. were top heavy and I had to swap out or buy heavier reels to balance them.
My first fly rod was an Abu Garcia 8' 8 wgt., level line and 8 lb. test leader!
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a neat little rod I have is a twenty year old Fenwick ultralite spinning rod. It must be about five feet in length. I fly fish it with a 3 wt. line and reel and have not bothered to change the guides or tiptop. As you say, lots of fun with the panfish.
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Thanks Jack. I used 000 steel wool or the finest grade you can get. Initially, I could not get the area where the original guides were cleaned all the way. I tried the stell wool and it worked great so I did the whole blank. You need to work with good light so that you can make sure you don't leave any streaks and remove an even amount of the gloss.
I wiped the rod down with lemon pledge and it restored a little bit of the shine and it looks great, but is still matte!
Lou
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Picked up a Berkley parametric Curt Gowdy 8' 6/7 rod on ebay last night. Looking forward to fishing for smallies with it.
I have an older SA Series One 7/8/9 reel that I think will balance well. Now all I have to do is decide what line to get.
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Lots of the old fiberglass rods are badmouthed and maligned, when they are actually superb fishing tools, much better than our current graphite sticks for some applications. I would prefer a fiberglass rod for fishing big bass bugs, streamers, and, in lighter weights, for emergers and small flies for trout. I have a 6 1/2' Femwick 5 wt, a 7' Eagle Claw Featherlite, and an old St. Croix 7 wt. that I use regularly. They are wonderful.