Fiberglass rods

[Jim Flamming]

Hey Everyone.

Just got back this weekend from the Midwest Flyfishing Expo near Detroit and had a chance to cast some of Mike McFarland's rods. They are amazing!! The Spruce Creeks are gorgeous and a pleasure to cast, but the one that blew me away was his graphite Vintage Series! WOW! Slow, smooth, delicate. The only time I have ever used this term to describe a graphite rod - ALIVE. Truly incredible! An 8'9" 3wt blank is definitely on my wish list and Mike is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. Was my Pick of the Show!

[oldschoolcane]

Leo~

Thanks for sharing the info on McFarland rods, beautiful rods!

Any discussion of fiberglass rods should also include Steffen Brothers Rod company, heres a link:
[url=http://www.steffenbrothersflyrods.com/fiberglassrods.htm:91474]http://www.steffenbrothersflyrods.com/fiberglassrods.htm[/url:91474]

Tim

[Rich Pomponio]

Leo, Very nice work. I also enjoy using glass and have several I use.

[dleo6446]

Thank you, I appreciate the comments. They really are sweet casting rods, getting the second McFarland started next week sometime. They are almost as addictive as the bamboo.

You are so correct Journeyman...Steffan rods are not only beautiful, but great casting rods as well. Could we be looking at another Russ Peak or so as we look at these rod makers?

[oldschoolcane]

Leo,

What I like about the McFarland rods is that they kind of have a understated simple elegance to them. You mentioned Russ Peak, are you familar with Dennis Franke and the old GlasTech series of fiberglass fly rods? I threatened to buy one from Dennis and never did, then he decided to build cane rods. But, the rods had a really great looking blank with beautiful but simple components on them. The Mcfarland rods remind of these rods. Looks like I 've been bit hard by the rod building bug once again. Yep, your rod is beautiful....nicely done.

Tim

[This message has been edited by journeyman (edited 30 March 2006).]

[Gardenfish]

excepting my Sage SLT, which is a sweet a rod as I can imagine , I can also imagine switching all of my rods from graphite to fiberglass. Perhaps when I make my first million and then I will have one of each.
Paul

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"Give me ambiguity or give me something else"

[oldschoolcane]

Leo,

I took a trip to McFarlands website and didn't see any blank pricing, does he normally seel his blanks or was the blank you purchased a special situation?

Thanks

Tim

[dleo6446]

Tim, just give him a call and he will be more than glad to hook you up with whatever you like. His pricing is moderate, and his service is spectacular. He sold me the blank, his presentation grade hardware and grip all in one package and would have sold me everything had I not laready had the other items.

[oldschoolcane]

Thanks Leo,

I'll call about the blank. What are your thoughts on those that will tell you that a graphite rod with the right action will fish the same as fiberglass or cane? Doesn't fiberglass have certain applications & excel in small stream fishing?

Tim

[dleo6446]

I would say that they are probably exactly correct and that was a very true statement. But I would also say that for those that like to fish slower action rods that offer very delicate presentation most graphites cannot meet that order. Most graphites offer a faster action and while you can get a delicate presentation out of them, the action is still a fast action. There are a few that will for sure. I have talked to many fly fishermen that like the soft action of shorter fiberglass rods for small streams and as a matter of fact, I am building 7 of them right now. I have 3 6' 2 pc in 3 wt, (Lamiglass) 1 6', 2pc in a 3 wt (Scott), 2 6'6", 3 piece in a 4 wt (Lamiglass, and a 7' 3 piece in a 3 wt (Lamiglass), and all of these are going to people that want them for Cherokee, Abrams, Little River, and smaller mountain streams in the Smokies, so I guess there must be something to them being well suited for that type of fishing.

As far as ME identifying what rod is best suited to a particular type of fishing, I dont really feel qualified to do that but what I would say is that from what I have seen, there are a lot of people fishing short glass and bamboo in the mountains these days, but at the same time, I see a lot of graphite there too. I always tell people to fish what they feel comfortable with, and if its a 9 footer then cest la vie...