Colt Johnson Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Here's a Steffen 7/8wt. 8'6" 4pc. rod I just finished: REC Recoil stripping guide; Snake Brand Universal Guides; YLI Chestnut Silk Thread; White tipping; Lemke Seat. I turned around what would have been an uplocking seat to make it downlocking. To do this, I simply installed the inletted hood into the fighting butt instead of the rear of the cork grip. This allows my 4.6 oz. Abel TR3 to balance a fairly large glass rod. I have not cast the rod yet, we have about 12" of ice right now, but I greatly look forward to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Colt, you do a great job. Setting aside the color, the spiral markings on the blank remind me of my Wonderods. I am so glad I kept them seeing the glass revival that is ongoing. The old glass rods had pretty much the same weight and action as the bamboos they replaced. Their contribution to evolution was in strength and durability. Bamboo and glass had a self loading characteristic that I missed a lot when I switched to graphite. I swear they gave a little tug when the rod was fully loaded on the back cast. Unfortunately, when you felt the tug, it was a little late to start the forecast. But after a few casts, you could anticipate the tug. It was great for getting timing back in order after you changed to a bulkier or skimpier fly. Who wouldn't like that? So do these neoglass rods have that characteristic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colt Johnson Posted January 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Mike, Thanks for the compliments. Your description of glass is very accurate. I tell people that graphite rods tend to have better sensitivity with respect to what is going on with the fly when it is in the water, but a fiberglass rod better telegraphs what is going on with your line when it is in the air. So I agree with you that fiberglass (and bamboo) have a self loading characteristic that communicates with the caster. I have also found that fiberglass roll casts much better (for me) than graphite. And I love that glass rods bend deeply with a fish on. However, I will admit that glass tends to be heavier than graphite and graphite has the ability to shoot line further. These are all generalizations, but for the most part, I find these observations to be pretty universal. So to answer your question, yes, these neoglass rods have the same characteristic. I should take a photo of the flex profile of this rod so you can see that it is very deep bending compared to a modern graphite rod. The one difference that I would say this Steffen would have over a classic like your wonderod is the physical weight. Steffen uses an S-Glass material and his tapers are extremely refined. I would say he offers some of the lightest (physical weight) glass blanks on the market. Again, the above rod is going to feel heavier than a similarly configured high modulus graphite rod, but it is lighter than the older generation glass rods. Colt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colt Johnson Posted January 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Mike, You mentioned that glass contributed to the evolution of strength and durability. Here are a few interesting shots of glass bending beyond the point of comfort: I am not sure if this will work, but here is a link to Orvis testing the "break strength" of their new Orvis Glass series along with a couple photos of Epic 6wt. glass rods. http://vimeo.com/79529221 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Colt, I am glad to hear that that trait is not completely bred out of the line. You covered the tradeoffs well so no one will think glass is the silver bullet. I have some pictures in a book written by John Alden Knight (the Solunar Guru) in 1940. He published widely on fly fishing. BW Pictures show him casting a 7.5 ft bamboo IEI weight rod that has the flex you may be referring too. I may wait till you get your pictures together before I scan them or maybe I won't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rich mc Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 never gave any thought to the reel seat and how it would effect balance . shows you got the details down stay warm rich mc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Beautiful rod Colt. Good info too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 Mike, You mentioned that glass contributed to the evolution of strength and durability. Here are a few interesting shots of glass bending beyond the point of comfort: I am not sure if this will work, but here is a link to Orvis testing the "break strength" of their new Orvis Glass series along with a couple photos of Epic 6wt. glass rods. http://vimeo.com/79529221 DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME KIDS. Especially Don't do it with your daddy's Sage or even Grampa' s Wonderod. Yes that looks like the classic full flex action AKA parabolic action much touted in early fiberglass days. Under casting load the entire rod flexes right down to the grip. Now IOU a picture from the 1940 Knight classic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikea Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 Colt you definitely have some skills, I always marvel at rod building projects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted January 26, 2014 Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 And here's the picture. I think you can see the full flex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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