Short Fly Rods

[Matt Penttila]

Hi to the group. I've been reading lots of posts on the board the last few months, and read the article about using Forecast E-glass Blanks for Fly Rods, which inspired me to build a couple rods so far. My first wasn't so hot, a 6' 1 pc SPG720 Blank, Full wells grip, black wraps, snake guides, and uplocking reelseat. Nice to cast but lots to be desired in looks, but a good rod to toss in the back of the truck and go off with. My next rod was a 3'4" 5wt, cigar grip, downlocking reelseat, blue wraps and rec single foot guides. Casts beautifully, handles everything from 4wt up to a 7wt with no problem.

Now for my latest dilemma...

My girlfriend's father was over for Thanksgiving breakfast and was admiring my short rod, and commented how he would like something similar to it. So afterwards I was thinking, Gee I can build him one like it. And of course the girlfriend suggested that I build him one for a Christmas Surprise. So I ordered the parts and supplies I would need, but I have a problem.

I built the 3'4" as my special one of a kind rod, and was going to make a couple 5 and 6 foot rods this winter, but now I'm sort of obliged to build a small stream rod for him, which isn't the problem, but the problem is I don't want to make the rod too short but not too long either. I was thinking of a 4' rod for him, would ride very well in his truck behind the seat or on the dashboard, which is where I keep mine most of the time when not fishing.

So what would you recommend for a lenght of rod? I'm using either a Forecast SPG601, SPG720, or SPG721 blank.

[iflysw]

Hello Matt,
After reading your message and being a close neighbor to your Blackstone location (Chepachet ) , I wanted to know how you take a 6' blank and turn it into a 3'4" Just curious as to something to look into.Where did you take the cuts on the 6' blank i assume all from the butt and not from the tip.

[Matt Penttila]

Hi iflysw, I took the Batson blank and cut it down measuring from the tip, as the blank I used was a SPG720. Nice casting, like using the tip of a bamboo rod, which is what I was after. The inspiration for the 3'4" 5wt was from the movie "The Atlantic Salmon" by Lee Wulff where he used the tip section of a 3 piece 9 foot fly rod and the detatchable butt section to make a small rod to fight a nice salmon.

[Matt Penttila]

Well, started on the rod, only to find out that I need to order another reel seat, as the one I ordered looks totally out of place with the custom cork grip I'm making, Graphite and wood would work ok on a spinning rod, but not on a fly rod. So I ordered a new one from Mudhole, hopefully it will be in by next week.

[Matt Penttila]

Well, I've got the new reel seat, turned the cork, trimmed the blank, and installed the reel seat, grip, and tip so far. I'll try to post pics as soon as I figure out how to get them on the board.

Matt

[MontanaMoose]

Hello Matt, can't wait to see some pics of the beauty you're building !

Cheers,

MontanaMoose

[Clay]

How does a 3' 4" fly rod cast. I like 9 to 10' rods just to get over the top of vegitation while standing in the small streams that I fish. I have heard of people casting fly line without a rod at all, so of course it can be done.

[Matt Penttila]

Casting a short rod is just like casting the long rods, just need to get the whole arm into the swing to take up the difference in rod length, ie if a 9 foot rod tip moves 8 feet in the horizntal plane, then a 3' rod tip has to move the same distance, so you have to move the rod along with the tip to cover the same 8 feet. I chock most of it up to timing, as I can cast a pretty tight loop with the shorter rods. I jsut got my PM from JohnScott about posting pics, hope to have them up by tomorrow mid afternoon before work.

Thanks for the inquiries, I'm working on a deadline of December 22nd to have the rod in the dryer, and delivery on the 24th (when my girlfriend leaves for Maine to deliver the rod to her father on Christmas morning) Too bad I have to work Christmas day, otherwise I would be delivering it to him personally.

Thanks

Matt

[Matt Penttila]

OK let's see if this works......

Top is the Fly rod that's for the girlfriend's father

Bottom is the cork and blank for my rod next year, as I'm only going to fish freshwater with a 4' fly rod.



Hope to start wrapping tomorrow morning.

[MontanaMoose]

Looks good to me Matt. Interesting grip on the top rod. I see you 'roll' you own too. Nice work. Am I correct that the blue tape I think it is, might be an arbor for the cork since the i.d. of the cork is larger than the blank? If so, seems it would save having to even ream the grip much if at all, yes?

Cheers,

MontanaMoose