A Pair of 4 wt Fiberglass Rods

I have just completed a pair of 4wt fly rods. The 6'11" and 7'5", both 4 piece. They are built using imported S-fiberglass blanks, with some tweaking. 

The shorter 6'11" rod uses single foot guides from the spot where the blank flexes up (starts just below the tip section). The longer 7'5" rod model wears all traditional dark snakes, while both rods have vintage Allen carbide strippers, both oxidized to match seat hardware. Rods are wrapped with Japanese Clover silks in honey and rust, and have traditional style sliding band reel seats with cork inserts, and flor cigar grips turned on blanks. 

Both rods are fantastic casters with prescribed lines... very, very smooth. The shorter rod features a snappy dry fly action, while the longer rod will also take a 3wt line for more delicate presentations.

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Milenkovic 5113-4

Small stream 3wt prototype glass rod-just completed! Perfect stick for that hidden and overgrown brook trout stream.

It sports pale yellow Clover silk wraps/rust accents, dark Ti-snake guides, short Garrison grip, homemade rust colored micarta spacer and NOS Struble aluminum cap and ring, for lightness. Super deft and precise, easy casting 3wt. Length is 5'11". (Pictured below with Hardy Featherweight and Forbes Aerial reels, for scale/comparison.)

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Handle For Small Stream 3wt Glass

Just completed...More about the rod soon!

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Glass Rods and Brown Trout, Serbia

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Short Story About Two 6-footers (Part 1)

I have been working on two 6-footers recently. This is the first of the two builds, a 6' 3/4wt just completed on the imported 3pc blank. Pretty much a standard build, with ventilated 5.5" Ritz grip and a downlocking seat. The little rod has a quick, dry fly action.

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Trout Glass Rods or "The Magnificent Seven"

My personal collection of currently used trout glass or hybrid glass/bamboo rods, L to R:

6'6" orange S-glass 3/4wt 3pc, quick dry fly
7'3" Paradox Hybrid phenolic glass/bamboo 4wt 2/2, parabolic
7'4" Unstructured Prototype E-glass 3/4wt 3pc, med-fast progressive
7'6" orange S-glass 4/5wt 3pc, quick dry fly and streamer
7'6" Unstructured "Old Empire" E-glass 3wt 4pc, semi-parabolic
8'1" Hybrid phenolic/S-glass 3wt 5pc, dry fly fast parabolic, regressive butt taper 
8'2" (250cm) Unstructured Prototype E-glass 4.5wt 4pc, dry fly progressive

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Milenkovic 813-5 DF: Phenolic/S-glass Hybrid 8'1" 3wt 5pc

 

This is my latest build, a Hybrid-construction 5pc pack rod, which utilizes phenolic fiberglass butt section and S-glass for the rest of the rod. Using this approach, I was able to significantly slim down the butt section (thicker walls), and achieve linear to regressive taper in the butt: something you don't see very often among contemporary glass rods. The rod has a very fine tip (under 4/64ths), while thin butt section transmits the feel into the casting hand really well. The color among blank sections was adjusted to achieve a flamed-cane look and blend well together.

The rods dampens as good as any glass of modern construction or better, as any "dry fly" designated taper should! I used the tip-over ferrules for lightest possible weight. Thin wire blued snakes, blued Mildrum Belmar-style stripper, Powell-inspired flor handle and reel seat w/figured maple spacer. The thread wraps are in brown silk with tan accents.

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Off to Driftless...

For some testing of Paradox 734. Will pack a couple of more 4wt rods for comparison and change of pace. L to R: Paradox 734, Retrograph 904-4 and DF 250-4.5-4

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Back From Rod Testing Lab

Here's the obligatory rod/fish photo from my trip. For more photos of Driftless Area limestone streams see my latest photo essay.

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Gone Fishing!

I've just finished a rod for personal use. The blank is a Dry Fly taper prototype (250cm #4.5) based on my 8'3" #5. This one-off build features uplocking sliding band with tobacco fiberglass insert, ventilated Ritz grip and all titanium hardware. Guides are thin wire Recoils. I'll be fishing it on Driftless spring creeks later this week.

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