Ryan Kral Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 Hi again. So, I currently have a reel with 3wt line on it, with no rod. I broke my 3wt rod, and have been interested in the fiberglass. First, are glass fly rods more durable than graphite? I usually ty and buy rods with lifetime warranties, but am heavily considering the Cabelas CGR rod for only $79 online. Second, as a spring creek rod, would you go with a 3 or 4 wt glass rod. It would be nice to use the 3wt line I already have, but its a WF line, which I have read are not the best for glass fly rods? Any help, what would you do? Thanks, Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colt Johnson Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 Hi again. So, I currently have a reel with 3wt line on it, with no rod. I broke my 3wt rod, and have been interested in the fiberglass. First, are glass fly rods more durable than graphite? I usually ty and buy rods with lifetime warranties, but am heavily considering the Cabelas CGR rod for only $79 online. Second, as a spring creek rod, would you go with a 3 or 4 wt glass rod. It would be nice to use the 3wt line I already have, but its a WF line, which I have read are not the best for glass fly rods? Any help, what would you do? Thanks, Ryan Ryan, I was just about to post on here that Cabelas was offering their glass rods on sale (on line only) for $74.99 each. See Here: http://www.cabelas.com/product/Fishing/Fly-Fishing/Fly-Fishing-Rods|/pc/104793480/c/104721480/sc/105573780/Cabelas-50th-Anniversary-Custom-Glass-Rods/1167634.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ffishing-fly-fishing-fly-fishing-rods%2F_%2FN-1102568%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_105573780%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104793480%253Bcat104721480&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104793480%3Bcat104721480%3Bcat105573780 Here are some great resources (and reading material) for you to digest and help you make a more informed decision as to which CGR rod you may prefer: http://fiberglassflyrodders.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=15602&hilit=cabelas http://fiberglassflyrodders.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=38168&hilit=Cabelas+CGR http://thefiberglassmanifesto.blogspot.com/2011/06/cabelas-cgr-series-review.html There are some great reviews on the above referenced links. Hopefully these will give you some further insight as to the differences between the models and the capacities of the different weights. To answer some of your questions (keeping in mind that I have not cast the CGR rods) I think that generally glass tends to be more durable than graphite. Someone may be able to correct me, but my understanding of low modulus glass (say 10 million modulus) vs. high modulus graphite (say 80 million modulus) is that the lower modulus materials are less brittle yet less sensitive. Whereas the really high modulus graphite rods far exceed the sensitivity of a low modulus glass rod...but the sacrifice is brittleness. Also, those ugly stick commercials that show people shoving a rod into the garbage compactor....well those rods are glass rods. On another note, I have found that glass is more prone to taking a set than graphite. So in that sense, glass is not more durable than graphite. I would not recommend leaving your glass rod fully assembled in your car on a summer day (even a spring day for that matter) unless you want a curved rod. Similarly I would not leave your glass rod fully assembled and leaning against the wall in the corner of a room. Over time, a glass rod (like bamboo) will develop a set. Graphite tends to be less prone to sets (from my experience). I can say that glass will flex deeply and I am much more willing to bend a glass rod to a parabolic arch than a graphite rod. For example, check out this photo: As for the preferred weight rod for a spring creek, I think a 3/4 wt. would be just fine. Personally, I like to use as light of a fly rod as possible for any given situation. The 3/4 will bend deep with just about any fish, but the mass of the line will still allow you some flexibility to fish the kinds of flies you want and contest with mild winds. Certainly if you think you will need to deal with a constant breeze, I might consider bumping up to a 4/5. For me, if I were choosing amongst the CGR rods, I would put some emphasis on the length of the rod as well. The little 3wt. they offer is less than 6' long. There are dueling philosophies when fishing small water. Some might prefer a longer rod so they can reach out to spots that are difficult to cast to, and others want a really short rod to keep their loops low and unobstructed from tree branches. I personally think if you are fishing the WI spring creeks, one of your main obstacles might be tall grasses and brush alongside of the creeks. For that (again my preference) I would use a longer rod to try to keep my loops higher above the grasses and brush. And since they don't really offer a longer rod, I think my choice would be the 7' 4/5 wt.rod. Although the inner ultralight guy inside me would be pushing for the small 3wt. Just my two cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronk Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 I have 2 rods for the Driftless area streams,a 7'9"4wt I use in Spring before the grasses appear & an 8'9" 3wt once they do come summer.The longer rod by pointing it out over the water on the pickup makes picking up a fly fished along the edge of the bank your on less likely to catch the grass as you pick it up.I love short rods & while you can go with as short a rod as you can manage in Spring a longer one is a benefit later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Kral Posted February 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 Alright, I went with the Cabelas CGR 4wt. I really wanted the 3wt, but I didnt want that short of a rod. I'm assuming the glass 4wt will probably still be more fun than my Graphite 3wt? I read a couple reviews that said you could use a WF 3wt line on the 4wt model, but that a 4wt double taper seemed best. So, for the mean time, I will try using my 3wt WF line I already have on my reel until I feel like spending the money on a new line! Thanks for all the info on this topic, and the other Fiberglass topic I posted. Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colt Johnson Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 Alright, I went with the Cabelas CGR 4wt. I really wanted the 3wt, but I didnt want that short of a rod. I'm assuming the glass 4wt will probably still be more fun than my Graphite 3wt? I read a couple reviews that said you could use a WF 3wt line on the 4wt model, but that a 4wt double taper seemed best. So, for the mean time, I will try using my 3wt WF line I already have on my reel until I feel like spending the money on a new line! Thanks for all the info on this topic, and the other Fiberglass topic I posted. Ryan Ryan, I don't think you will be disappointed with the 4wt. CGR. Your rod will be more capable of handling a variety of conditions as opposed to the shorter 3wt. which is really more of a specialty rod at that length. The conditions in which a sub 6' 3wt. glass rod performs well is limited. If you decide to fish some terrestrials (probably an important consideration when fishing the driftless area in the summer) the 4wt. will do a much better job than the short 3wt. Same goes for small nymphs or battling a slight breeze (again a possibility if the stream is exposed in an open field). Compared to your graphite 3wt. (I'm not sure which graphite rod you have/had) you will likely notice how slow the glass rod seems. It will likely bend deeper and feel much more like a willowy tree branch than a rigid walking stick. Will it be more fun???? That will be up to you to decide. Graphite has its merits....but I know that I like to fish a good glass rod from time to time as well. Colt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Kral Posted February 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Yeah, I hope I'm happy with it because it is going to be my go to rod for spring creeks. I could fall back on my graphite 5wt if need be, but I dont enjoy fishing that wt much on the spring creeks. My 3wt had plenty of backbone bone to land the driftless fish quickly, but my 5wt is my go to trout rod for out west by my family in Montana. I'm just hoping my cabelas Prestige aluminum reel fits under those slide rings without having to shave down the cork. Thanks again for all the info. Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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