6.6 or 7’ Models?
Opinions asked.
Still trying to get my feet wet on 'glass and these might fit the bill.
I assume you are talking about the fiberglass yellow rods? I have one of each and love them. They have HUGE guides on them with a SLOW action. I have tossed weights from 2wt-7wt on them. Works best for me with a 4wt-5wt rocket taper. Just remember to slow down that casting stroke. These are great rods for bluegills, bass and trout. Parabolic, lightweight and plenty of power. Great price too so what’s not to like?
These rods, to me, are fun to fish.
Yup, the yellow, 'glass ones…all I hear is good things…should just do it BUT we all know how a small purchase tends to lead to others…
Have a couple small water s in mind for them…thinking the 7’ and throwing a 6 on it or the 6 6 and a 4
This rod definitely has some fans. Here’s a thread from another board discussing it:
http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8380&mode=linear
Troutlet.com sells them. There are lots of reviews of the rod there.
I have a couple, they don’t cast all that great, but they are great for small brushy areas where you might have a concern for a good rod.
I use mine for deep nymphing because I don’t have to cast.
I don’t think they are the best example of fiberglass, but they can be fun.
If you want to get into glass, you might want to raise the cash a little, but for $14.+ bucks what the heck
They bend good
If you don’t like the rods just know that they are a poor example of fiberglass fly rods. A thirty year old Fenwick FF70 (you can throw a 5 or 6 wt. and depending on the line a 4 wt as well) that only cost $60-70 will put the Eagle Claw to shame. That said, the cheap price is surely attractive. I fish fiberglass way more than graphite and have sold most of my graphite rods.
AND in a 6 weight, check out the W.W.Griggs Vinatge. It is actually a combination of both materials so faster than “S” glass, but what a nice action.
I have even picked it up over my JWF on allot of occasions;)
I like these slow blanks/rods. They’re fun and you can control them easily. They make you slow down and you can actually feel the pole load. I’ve said this before, and will continue to say it, but most all different blanks can be fun and have their own personalities. With a few minutes of practice, you should be able to cast it just fine. And I think that if you’re new, these slow ones are even easier to learn on. Good luck.
Ron
Hackleman, Assuming you are still talking Eagle Claw, I agree that SLOW action is the best to learn as you do learn to wait for it and feel the ROD load.
But, you have to admit, the SIZE of these guides and the NUMBER or LACK OF, that the Eagle Claw is not a CASTING stick. Oh it can be done, but I have also had newbie students get frustrated BECAUSE, they don’t load up great. Plus they HINGE.
I would recommend one to an experienced cast, because they are a BLAST!
Did I mention…I love the bend!
FG, I agree with you about the size and number of guides. But we can always fix that if you like the blank.
Ron
I thought about that also, but it DOES hinge and the guides won’t help that.
Ron, so if I send you a $14 Eagle Claw to put on new guides, how much we talking? Postage, guides, labor?
I had the $14 Eagle Claw. Read the hoopla out there on it, so I decided to pick one up. After all it’s not going to break the bank. It’s not, (like FG and Rockthief mentioned), what you could call one of the better glass rods in production. These rods are cheap. Nothing to write home about, hinge horribly, are a very poor example of fiberglass rods. Chinese built, and I’ve even seen some with different sized guides- #3, #3, #1, #3 for example. Very inconsistant in quality control- if there is any.
Adding extra or new guides on it, is the same as putting lipstick on a pig.
Now if you want to get your feet wet using fiberglass, keep checking ebay and garage sales. Save the $14 on the EC and for under $100 there are a lot out there that are real, glass rods. Fenwicks, Shakespeare Wonderglass, Heddon etc.
Check with boarmountain. Let him build you one.
If you like slow rods, you’ll like glass.
I have a 1963 6’6" Wright&Mcgill Feather Light…
The rod calls for an HEH (DT5) line but I fish it with a WF4 or even a DT3.
It’s one of my favorite rods… a smoother caster than the modern ones
Really good in tight places
I can cast sidearm, with the reel held behind my back. Two feet of line loading rod out of the tip top
I have one. Was 20$ at walmart and I needed a quick fix short rod. 7’ 5/6wt with a nice slow action. Good all around, but I’ll be replacing it, and making the eagle claw a backup.
Dudley, I guess what you describe is what I am striving towards BUT I do see you are casting an older model, though I picture myself this spring on the Farm River (just north of East Haven) throwing that cast for a little Brookie.
I think I’ll save the cash now, if I see one in person, I may nab it but no mail order for now…hate the sound of the hinge…pretty much retired one 5 wt due to a hinge and a very weak tip.
Hacklman, I was thinking the same with rebuilding but again, probably holding off for now…dunno why i don’t just order one of your 33 mil modulus Forecast set-ups…just seem to have 'glass on the mind
Sorry but I have not noticed any “hinge” or at least any more so than some of the higher priced rods being discussed here. I think some of you are confusing “hinge” with “parabolic”.
Then again, it could just be me. I am a firm believer that the majority of what is bad about any given rod is caused by the person holding the rod, not the rod itself. Look at it this way. So you spend $14 bucks plus shipping on the rod and don’t like it. Donate it to your state’s free tackle program, send it to the Baghdad School of Fly Fishing or give it to a neighborhood kid. A few bucks well spent.
You couldn’t be more wrong…we aren’t the newbies here You have three different people (and I don’t know the other two from Adam) saying the same thing. There are inferior rods out there and it is NOT the caster.
$14. MAN what does that tell you?!
I have Steffen, Lami, McFarland, Fenwick, and even the Griggs…NO HINGING!
OH and a couple are PARABOLIC. That has nothing to do with hinging.
I never said anyone was a newbie here. I am also not daft! Neither am I saying this rod is anything more than what it is, an inexpensive rod. Take it or leave it, I really do not care.
I do know one thing though. I do not need to come on here and be insulted. FYI I count myself as one of the WORST fly casters ever.
Hi Eric. The newer Eagle Claw rod is not parabolic. This rod hinged when I cast it. You can feel it right at the ferrule. Put your rod together, string it up and put some weight on the line. You’ll see it bend at the tip section. That’s a progressive taper. A parabolic taper has a stronger tip section, the middle section is stiff and when you put more weight to it (casting or fighting a fish), it starts to flex deep in the butt section. A parabolic rod isn’t for everyone. A lot of people don’t like them. It casts differently than a progressive tapered rod. IF you really push it, you can collapse your cast. You just let the rod do it’s thing and it can become a cannon.
Face it, a $14 rod is just that, a $14 rod. And there are some pretty bad rods out there.
I do like what you mentioned about donating any rod you don’t like, whatever your preferred favorite ‘charity’ is, give someone a chance to learn to fly fish.
I don’t see any insults. The newbie was just a statement, nothing personal and not directed at you.
The part about it not hinging anymore than the higher price, That is where I feel you are mistaken. It is NOT a Parabolic.
It is more like attaching an antenna to a pool stick. Very stiff bottom section and a noodle tip section.
The guides are big enough to pass a large rope through, not to mention on several, they have the guides all mixed up with bigger guides in the middle.
This effects the way it casts…so it is not the caster.
It is a beater rod. I would feel bad sending it to the boys over seas personally, but that is just me.
I am not attacking you Nighthawk, I respect you too much for that.