Fenwick Fenglass Rods

[Mark K]

Any opinions?  They sure look cool.  I was fondling one in BPS, felt pretty good.  Probably be fun to fish with.

https://www.fenwickfishing.com/fenwick-fly-rods-fenwick-fenglass/fenwick-fenglass-fly-rod/1371883.html#start=2

Do any of you guys use glass rods?

 

[Rob G]

Mark, I know our own John L. uses glass in heavier line weights for bass.  I have a couple 4 wts. that I will occasionally use when fishing for bluegill, red ear, and crappie. 

Btw, the first fly rod that I as a young boy  purchased for myself was a Fenwick Fenglass rod around 1971, an 8' 5 wt.  paid for with my paper route money.  It was so light  weight compared to the heavy bamboo fly rod my father started me on.  So wish I still had that rod.

[asherman]

The only fiberglass fly rod that I use/own is a 6’9” Echo three weight.  I use it for trout fishing in in small streams.  This rod works well for that purpose, but it limited in what it can do.  It works best in small, overgrown streams when there is minimal wind.  It is fun to use the rod for pond bluegill fishing but it is too limber to pull a big bluegill or bass away from the weeds.   I prefer longer Graphite  rods for most situations. 

Casting and fishing with with fiberglass rods, especially with heavier weight rods, is very different than using graphite rods.  It takes some practice and patience to slow down your casting stroke to use a fiberglass rod effectively.  I have test cast  and have tried fishing with  seven and eight weight fiberglass rods and they just felt wrong to me.   

My experience with test casting fiberglass rods is that the more expensive new rods are much better casting tools than less expensive fiberglass rods.  If I did a lot of trout fishing, I would seriously consider a  7 1/2  foot four weight Scott fiberglass rod or a custom fiberglass Rod for small stream dry fly fishing.  

 

[John Loebach]

I use both old & new glass. Not familiar with the current Fenglass. It does take some getting used to but they are easier to learn on. Most of the new S glass are similar to graphite just not as fast. That works out to easier to feel the rod work & more forgiving if your timing is off a little. Come to the Cast & Compare in September I always have some of the better ones there. Lets hope by September we can gather more than ten at a  time. BTW the Orvis Superfine glass 8' 8" 8wt is the best modern bass rod I've handled.