Pocono
Moderator
I've been pleasantly surprised by the feel and performance of some fiberglass rods that I've been casting recently and wondered if anyone else has had the same experience.
Here's the genesis of this query. I've been fishing graphite for the past year and a half. I like the action on the rods (mostly fast action rods, with an occasional medium/fast) and probably wouldn't even have cast a fiberglass rod if I hadn't been looking for a rod to help someone else have an easier time of feeling the line during her cast. I posed this situation to the forum early this spring and one of the respondants suggested that I get a 7'6" Eagle Claw 5/6 wt. fiberglass rod; which, with it's slow action, would allow the other person to get a better feel for the loading and unloading of the rod and, at the same time, would slow down her casting rythm. Well, it did both, and very well, so that was a great suggestion.
However, having a $16.95 rod hanging around caused me to take notice of it myself. I figured, this has to be an inferior product and it probably won't cast worth a tinker's damn. I was wrong. This rod, fitted with a WF 6 wt. line, is a very reasonable casting tool. I have no problem getting casts of 60+ feet out of this rod; which is more than I need for fishing small streams; which, in general, are not more than 30 feet across at their widest point. And, in terms of feeling a fish take the fly, I think that the fiberglass rod is at least the equal of the graphite rod in this department. Casting accuracy, well that's where the $16.95 makes itself apparent with a lot of tip wobble, but you can compensate a lot for that simply by getting used to the rod.
I followed this experience up with a Diamondback Diamondglass 7'6" 3 wt., fitted with a shortened Rio WF 3 wt. line on a Sage 3100 reel and, again, the performance was much, much better than I expected.
Yes, the two rods are dramatically different, the Diamondglass being in the $300.00 category. But I've been surprised at how able both of these glass rods are at streamside, compared to their graphite equivalents.
Will I stop fishing graphite rods; never! There's just too much that's good about them. But, I do now often times find myself packing one of these two glass rods with me when I'm headed for sub-15" fish on a small freestone creek.
Anyone else out there with positive fishing experiences using glass rods?
Here's the genesis of this query. I've been fishing graphite for the past year and a half. I like the action on the rods (mostly fast action rods, with an occasional medium/fast) and probably wouldn't even have cast a fiberglass rod if I hadn't been looking for a rod to help someone else have an easier time of feeling the line during her cast. I posed this situation to the forum early this spring and one of the respondants suggested that I get a 7'6" Eagle Claw 5/6 wt. fiberglass rod; which, with it's slow action, would allow the other person to get a better feel for the loading and unloading of the rod and, at the same time, would slow down her casting rythm. Well, it did both, and very well, so that was a great suggestion.
However, having a $16.95 rod hanging around caused me to take notice of it myself. I figured, this has to be an inferior product and it probably won't cast worth a tinker's damn. I was wrong. This rod, fitted with a WF 6 wt. line, is a very reasonable casting tool. I have no problem getting casts of 60+ feet out of this rod; which is more than I need for fishing small streams; which, in general, are not more than 30 feet across at their widest point. And, in terms of feeling a fish take the fly, I think that the fiberglass rod is at least the equal of the graphite rod in this department. Casting accuracy, well that's where the $16.95 makes itself apparent with a lot of tip wobble, but you can compensate a lot for that simply by getting used to the rod.
I followed this experience up with a Diamondback Diamondglass 7'6" 3 wt., fitted with a shortened Rio WF 3 wt. line on a Sage 3100 reel and, again, the performance was much, much better than I expected.
Yes, the two rods are dramatically different, the Diamondglass being in the $300.00 category. But I've been surprised at how able both of these glass rods are at streamside, compared to their graphite equivalents.
Will I stop fishing graphite rods; never! There's just too much that's good about them. But, I do now often times find myself packing one of these two glass rods with me when I'm headed for sub-15" fish on a small freestone creek.
Anyone else out there with positive fishing experiences using glass rods?
