cabelas custom glass rods....

[Normand]

....now available online

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabel....mc_id=k244266

[Lotech]

great idea for cabela's. If $$$ were available I'd go for a 9'- 7 weight. That's what the old fashioned rods seemed to offer. Salmon, Trout, Bass & whatever. They had a great "Old Fashioned Stroke."

[tailingloop]

I ordered a 6wt. For $100 what the heck. Wish it was 8ft instead of 7.5ft but it could be fun.

[Normand]

would anybody know what the reasoning is behind the short lengths being offered??

[Bluegill222]

My guess would be that compared to graphite, a long glass rod is going to feel too "whippy" to the average customer, many of whom these days have never experienced bamboo or glass and thus equate power with stiffness. Just a guess, though. I was hoping for a few longer rods as well, but that little three weight looks fun just the same.

[cheffy]

But a 7 1/2' 8 wt. to me that's an odd configuration
I do have a couple of old Herters that I like. esp. the 9' 8 wt for carp.

[Chuck S]

They may've blown this somewhat with those shorty rods. I have and know that excellent feeling glass rods can be had in that 8' to 8'6" length and much prefer these lengths to most of those offered. Way back when in the glass era, Lee Wulf had a signature series of short rods which were the craze, but in bamboo, I believe, but sales showed that longer rods were the ticket.

[Lake Erie High Ball]

Thanks for the post Normand.

I have been looking for a nice 3wt.

I have never cast a glass rod but if it casts anything like a bamboo how could I go wrong at this price?

Sean

[tailingloop]

Well, I received my rod today. I ordered the 7'6" 6wt. The catalog and the website call this a 6wt. The rod is labeled 5/6 wt. My example weighs in at 4.1oz. The cosmetics are excellent - about the best I have seen on a $100 rod and even many costing 1.5 to 2x that much. The cork is what you would expect with lots of filled in pits and gouges but well done. The uplocking reel seat on this model has a tight fit. Most of the reels that I tried that did not have a machined reel foot did not fit. This included an Orvis Battenkill disc, Ross Worldwide Flywater (original standard arbor version), Pflueger Medalist 1494, Echo 4-6, Cortland Crown, and Scientific Anglers System 1 4-5-6. Reels that fit included a Ross Cimmaron, Ross Gunnison, Ross Worldwide Flywater (large arbor version), Teton Tioga, Redington RS-2, Redington CD, Sage 1850, and Able Super 7/8QC. The deep green finish of my 7/8QC looks pretty sharp with the deep green blank of the rod, though I wont be using this reel on the rod. The short fighting butt on this rod is sort of weird. I Usually like fighting butts on my 6wt rods but I don't like the butt on my 7'6" TFO either.

Rod comes in a nice quality though garishly embroidered cordura case with built in dividers and adjustable shoulder strap. I will be buying a rod sock since I travel, even locally, with my rods in a multi rod case.

The rod has a fairly crisp action, comparable to a medium fast graphite rod. Compared to the two 7'6" 6wt graphite rods I own, a St. Croix Premier and a TFO TiCr-X, I would say the action is faster than the St. Croix and a bit slower than the TFO. It does seem bend farther into the butt section under a load than either during the cast. My other glass rods are a 7' 3wt built on a Lamiglass blank and an 8' 5wt and 8' 6wt built on J. Kennedy Fisher blanks. The rod is faster than either of these.

With a WF-5-F line it feels a little under loaded close in but still handles well. I had no problem false casting 40 to 45ft of line and shooting another 15 to 20ft. I could have made longer casts. I was able to toss nice tight loops at all ranges with a short stroke with a quick acceleration and stop, or open in up a bit by slowing things down and lengthening the casting stroke. I think Most people use shorter rods for close in work so many may prefer a 6wt line. The rod handles 5 though 8wt lines quite well. You could load up a reel with a 7 or 8wt and use this rod for tossing medium sized bass bugs and poppers at close range. Performance was not at all like I was envisioning, it was expecting something a bit slower, but I do like it. If I didn't I was going to donated to the club raffle. I'll buy another one for the club.

Over the last few years I have developed a preference for 7 to 8 foot rods when float tubing for bluegill and bass and usually carry three or four with me on my tube rigged with different line/leader/fly combinations. I purchased the rods for that purpose and I expect I will probably fish it most often with a WF7F line and toss poppers and foam bugs.

Now I want to try the 5 and the 8. The lighter ones are shorter than I like.

[8wt]

Saw these at Cabelas yesterday. Anyone else have experience with these rods?

Thanks