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 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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
Loudog:
Glass rods are a blast for bass and panfish as well as trout. The Diamondback glass rods are wonderful, but if you want the best glass being made today, get a rod or a blank from Mark Steffen of Steffen Brothers fly rods. He is condsidered by many to be the modern day Russ Peak.
After reading this thread Thursday or Friday, we took our old Fenwick FL109-10 one piece along to the bass ponds this weekend. We used to use this rod a LOT for LM’s and it still see’s duty on many of our albacore trips. VERY tough rod and can withstand “high-sticking”. Also we have a Ferralite 7’6" 6wt that we OFTEN find reason to toss, so glass is NOT offensive for us.
The wind was our constant companion at 20-25mph. We had to contend sometimes with a fence behind us and sometimes high ground behind also. We generally fish a 10wt Loomis at these places for reasons of bug size and pulling piscatorial participants thru the weeds to shore, mostly.
BECAUSE tossing this rod made us CONSTANTLY aware of these hinderances, we were greatly relieved when we changed back to our graphite stick. Useing the stick we are accustomed to operating, returned us to “adjusting” for the “obsticles” as a more unconscious effort.
This ain’t to say either is right or wrong, or one is better than the other. Just that maybe time is required to realize the benefits of each.
…lee s.
P.S. - The LM’s responded quite slendidly to top-water this w/e.
Picked up a Glass Lamiglass 6 Wt 9 foot rod a few years back at a antique store for a whopping $8. While I fish newer rods most of the time, there are just times I love to pull out and fish that old well worn rod. There just something about the slower action once in a while and even though I do not know the rods history it always kind of fun to wonder about it.
Also since I did not pay much for it, I rarely worry about leaving it in the truck for quick fishing fixes after work. It has been used for everything from fishing for Pan fish, Bass and Trout in lakes and streams to chasing Coho, Sea Run Cutts, Flounder and Sculpin in Puget Sound.
One of these days I hope to find a glass rod around an 8WT is size at some garage sale or something for a good price to keep on the boat for a back up rod that I do not have to worry about breaking as easy as the newer rods.
ChuckS,
You missed an 8’ 7wt. wonder rod two weeks ago on Ebay…went for 5 bucks…was going to place a bid but missed it by 2 min…
“I’ve often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before” A.K.Best
I have an old Herters glass rod which I guess is about 45 years old. The label is Herter’s RB6H20. Can anyone tell me what weight it is from that description? It is 8’-6" in length.
Also we have a Ferralite 7’6" 6wt that we OFTEN find reason to toss, so glass is NOT offensive for us. 