Bamboo rods for flymphs

[swellcat]

. . . the casting was strangely soothing. Very relaxed and as I had just finished a casting lesson with my fast, light graphite 9-5wt, the rod seemed to know what to do with less help from me. Just a real pleasure.

That's pretty much how I feel about fiberglass. While a guy is saving up for bamboo, he can still be feeling the feeling with say, a 1960s Fenwick FF70.



Thanks to the likes of Jim Green and Tom Smithwick, there's no need to muddle through with overly stiff, brittle graphite.
_____

[jong4029]

I have an old Fenwick eagle that was made in America. Got all the attributes Tom talks about, and is really fun to fish with. Only problem I also have a granddaughter with her eye on it She doesn't want nothing to do with bait and spinners. Even when it's the only thing catching at the time. Good teacher eh. I have a couple rock and roll graphites, one 9ft 6 wt Winston, a 9ft 9 wt Sage, and a 8ft 3 wt Tomas & Tomas. Very fast rods and way different than the fenwick. They all have their places at the time, but will probably succumb to a bamboo sooner or latter. There are others but these are the top players for now.
Fishing is starting off pretty well. I am just grounded for a while. Had to have shots to the back and right hip today, talk about screwing up the giddiup. But should be better in a day or two, and a trip is in the making. Creeks and streams are high now but most are Chek (forgive the spelling) fishing with big stones on bottom and what ever a bit up the line. Several nice 20 plus in. fish showing up on pics. To bad the bait guys will get them sooner or later. Maybe if we educate them well they'll have a chance.
Happy fishing all
Jon

[Tom Smithwick]

If I was not so bamboo obsessed, I would definitely be using fiberglass most of the time. I always liked the slower, but still powerful feel of the stuff. There are some bargains out there in vintage rods to be sure. As with cane, the material lent itself better to lighter lines and shorter lengths in the past. Modern materials and techniques are changing that gradually, and now there are longer and lighter rods available, though they are no longer inexpensive. It's just one example of course, but check out:
http://www.seeleflyrods.com/
I have met both of these guys, and they are indeed two of the best casters in the industry, as their website claims. If you want to give yourself an inferiority complex, watch the first video of Michael Mauri casting the glass switch rod. I saw him give a demo like this a few years ago. He must have talked and cast for 45 minutes, sending the line to every point of the compass. I never saw him miss an anchor point or make a less than perfect cast. His partner, Mike McFarland has been making state of the art fiberglass rods for some time now. Just one example, as I said, of the work being done in fiberglass these days.

[William Anderson]

Tom, thanks for the link. Mike McFarland has been a good friend to the forum as I was looking for a suitable glass blank for a rod we put together for Mark Libertone to lift his spirits while battling cancer and show him how much we appreciated what he built to bring us all together. Mike was just beginning to roll his black S-glass and made available a blank he was not offering for sale but was known to be an exceptional soft-hackle blank. The rod was really impressive and I know Mark enjoyed it very much. I met with Mike in Lancaster this Feb and enjoyed getting to talk with him a bit.

There are just too many good rods. It makes it very hard to scale back.

[Smuggler]

Mauri and McFarland are excellent casters and great people. They really have a nice thing going for the glass guys, that's for certain.

Plus McFarland had great tastes in shirts. Right William?

[jong4029]

Sure would like to learn to switch cast some day. That looks like fun. Folks in my club look at me like I am smoking crack or something when I mention breaking the norm around here. Even thinking about soft hackles keeps me in the back row for now. But that is where I found my mentor, and he is spoken of as the best in the club. Rod making, casting, guiding, and teaching. But he is somewhat grumpy with the club and their direction, so he is in the back row with me. Problem is he expects his students to put in at least what he puts in to the training. He keeps me burried in books.
I do cast all kinds of rods and probably will keep doing so as I am a student of the sport. I want to learn it all and be able to try everything out there. Probably be a long time before I try things like bone fishing but it's out there maybe someday. Keeps me focused.
Got to cast a Leonard fiberglass rod the other day. Along with an 8 wt salt water bamboo. Was shocked when I saw leonards name on the rod, But Steve explained that they were there at the end of their buisiness. I think that one of the best things about bamboo is being able to taper your rod to your exact liking. Something that since I started really getting into bamboo has jumped all around. Think it will be taking many years, or a lifetime for me to find the perfect rod, but thats why I want to do it. Not sure if any of the big names like Marinaro, Leonard, Catanch, and such ever found their perfect rod. Payne has a perfection, but did it hit the spot he was looking for.
Jon

[letumgo]

Jon - Eagle Claw sells a set of very inexpensive fiberglass rods these day that may be a perfect starter rod for your grand daughter. They sell for under 40 bucks and are actually very nice casting rods. I bought one for my nephew a couple years back and have been tempted to buy one for myself. They come in a kid-friendly bright yellow color. You can pick them up on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Eagle-Claw-Feathe ... aw+fly+rod

[jong4029]

So got a question. I live in the southern rocky mountains, and pretty much fish southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico. Question is what Flymphs and soft hackle flies work here. There are tons of soft hackles and flymphs, and it seems most are from England and such, or from the North East part of America. Does anyone on this forum fish the west that could give me a good starting list?? I have found where authers match SH, and flymphs with scientific names, but doesn't help for geographic areas.
Any help would help keep me from tieing so many flies to not have them work in this area.
Thanks for the help
Jon

[hankaye]

jon4029; Howdy;

I'm not much help with the what works and what doesn't out here, night but from all reports
just about most all the spiders and a good portion of the Flymphs do just fine. Like I said,
I'm not much help when it comes to that. But I did stay near a Holiday Inn last ......

To lend a wee bit of credence to Ray's suggestion of the EagleClaw, here's an article written
for FlyFish Ohio by Joe Cornwall;
http://www.flyfishohio.com/Eagle_Claw_F ... L300-8.htm

hank

[jong4029]

Thanks Ray and Hank
Will be tieing the spiders up and have been working on a lot of flymphs. So where do the soft hackles fit in to the equation?? It's tough trying to learn a new fishing fly in a hurry. I am planning to just fish SH, flymph, and spiders this year as much as possible. I just got to egt to where the flies look good enough to not meet the razor blade. I want to make all my flies perfect, and so many get the razor to save the hook. As said in the past post, I have no help in my club as of now. Most of them don't know what a SH is. But thats what forums, and books are for. Funny how one can get a thought in his head, go to a fishing show, meet John Shaner and end up learning the skills from the forum. God sure is good
Thanks guys
Jon