Completed New Saltwater 8wt Graphite Fly Rod

The new rod is completed. Slightly faster than my old trusty 8wt...(I made a side by side photo.) It will be a nice stick for stripers, bonito and albies!

Ritz composite/cork grip, Fuji seat, EVA butt, non-tangle black strippers and TiCH single foots. Carbon grey wraps with red silk tipping.

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Fiberglass 6wt - Streamer Special

Just completed... This is an 8'6" 6wt streamer and sight-casting fiberglass rod. Medium-fast taper, S glass, 4-piece. Light in the hand, with excellent power in the butt. Downlocking saltwater aluminum body/composite hood seat, Struble rubber button, black EVA Wells grip and tiered check. Single foot TiCH guides and no-tangle TiCH strippers. Clover silk olive windings, tipped red at the handle and the tip. Ready for action, with that 1970s charm!

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New Streamer/Sightcasting Fiberglass 6wt Rod

New/old work in progress... Glass streamer/sight-casting rod in 8'6" #6 configuration. Pictured with my Conquistador 868/9-4. You will notice a similarity, and also some differences. Both made from the original batch of green blanks, just different shades.

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Striped Bass and Conquistador Glass

First week of striped bass fishing in 2020, under COVID-19.

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Retrospective

Current builds (on the left) vs old builds from twenty years ago (on the right.) Those were built in 1999, on G. Loomis Mega-taper saltwater fly rod blanks. Caught plenty of fish, but still in pretty good shape.

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Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays and tight lines from Rod Catalog!

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Big Guns-Conquistador Glass Fly Rods

The saltwater season in New England is under full swing and it is time to dust off the big guns. Conquistador Glass tapers (L to R): 9' 10wt, 9' 9wt, 8'6" 8/9wt. I am contemplating building another batch of Conquistadors, so stay tuned. Photos of striped bass (top) and myself courtesy of Dave Skok. Dave took those during the prototype rod-testing, in Fall 2015.

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Latest Works

 A pair of 8'6" 8/9wt "Conquistador Taper" glass rods.

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Conquistador Taper 868/9-4 Fiberglass Fly Rod

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Conquistator Taper meets False Albacore

Just got back from Martha's Vineyard, chasing false albacore with my Conquistador 9wt and 10wt prototypes. Modern big glass fly rods are lots of fun with fast and strong fish, and also very forgiving for jetty angling. I posted few more photos from the trip in my other blog.

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Unstructured Fiberglass 2015 Rods

After a long wait, the 2015 blanks are here! I will offer a limited number of following models for this year:

8' 4wt 4pc (watercress green glass) -  This is the same taper which started the Unstructured Glass series...a "do everything" spring creek rod. This year it is offered in translucent light green glass.

8'3" 5wt 4pc (white currant yellow glass) - When you need little more reach and little more power. An all around spring creek travelling fiberglass fly rod with a progressive taper in E-glass.

8'6" 8/9wt 4pc (seaweed green glass) - An allaround saltwater rod for travelling fiberglass flyrodder. Built on the edge of Atlantic Ocean, this rod has some serious saltwater karma embedded in its fibers. "Conquistador" taper will work well in both sight casting and blind casting situations, depending on the line choice. Dedicated warmwater anglers will also like this taper!

The prices for this year's models are $525 for trout rods and $599 for saltwater rods. Insured US shipping is included in the price.

I still have few 7'6" 3wt 4pc "Old Empire" blanks available. Semiparabolic taper in red glass, very similar in feel to a light Perfectionist taper. Limited builds are still available for $499, US shipping included.

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Conquistador Tapers

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