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Fiberglass creek rod

Fiberglass 
12K views 67 replies 33 participants last post by  AquaRedReflections 
#1 ·
I've been thinking about getting a short fiberglass rod for fishing small, brushy creeks. I started out with Cortland and Fenwick fiberglass rods back in the day before going graphite. Anyone know of a company that is still making decent fiberglass fly rods that are reasonably priced?
 
#4 ·
If you liked the old Fenwicks, find one on Ebay. For the money, that's as good of a deal as you're going to find.The old Philipson's are supposed to be the cats meow in fiberglass. A little more expensive but considerably cheaper than buying a new glass rod from one of the manufacturers listed above. I fish a vintage 4/5 wt, 6.5ft Eagle Claw Featherweight. From 25-30ft and in, it get's the job done nicely though it's far from being a Fenwick.

View attachment 29706
 
#8 ·
Cortland diamondglass 3wts are nice. They measure 6'6'' if I remember correctly. They're discontinued (2005) so it's an ebay craigslist thing. If you're not married to fiberglass, the bastion 2 wt graphites have a glass feel with a decent finish. You get the 4 piece added bonus with the graphite that makes getting through the bushes to the water a bit easier. Both are my skinny water goto's and are inexpensive enough to make it tolerable if they get snapped in half trying to make it through a pile of blackberry bushes. Personally, I'd like to find a cheap boo rod for this purpose as well.
 
#9 ·
#10 ·
I have several of the Eagle Claw Featherlights. For the low price, they are incredibly good rods. Some of the older models were outfitted with metal or graphite reel seats, but as of this year, they've been dressed up with uplocking reel seats, new style of handle and a good guide spacing. I'm very pleased with the way they cast...I mean really pleased. I've not done much with the 6'6", but the 7' is sweet. There is a new 8' rod out as well. For small stream fishing, the shortest rod would be great...it's a 3/4 as I recall.
 
#12 ·
I've been looking for a 5 wt that'd be used specifically for dry flies, and I'd gone through the usual graphite suspects. None of them felt like what I wanted. After casting a few bamboo rods I realized that they're as diverse, or even more diverse, than graphite rods. Still hadn't found what I wanted. Didn't think about 'glass until I walked into a shop that sells Hardy. I cast it and bought one. Haven't fished it yet, but I'll try and remedy that this weekend. Casting it is really cool; what a great action. I have a feeling that this won't be my only 'glass rod for long.
 
#14 ·
Awesome. I haven't seen or used one of new EC Featherlights yet. Let us know what you think after you've given it a test ride.
 
#16 ·
Good luck finding it. It's a BIG County, don't get Lost. : )
 
#19 ·
Two new developments for 2010 and 2011 for inexpensive but supposedly good-casting glass rods:

Eagle Claw has redesigned their series, and they're THIRTY bucks: http://thefiberglassmanifesto.blogspot.com/2010/06/eagle-claw-featherlight-series.html

Cabela's, out of left field, has a newly-designed series at around $100 that looks promising: http://thefiberglassmanifesto.blogspot.com/2010/09/first-look-cabelas-cgr-series.html

LOTS of modern glass on the market today, and more getting introduced every year.
 
#22 ·
In addition to the old Phillipson there are the old Hardy Sceptre rods. The blanks were often built and branded under a variety of names other than Hardy. I have a Sceptre blank. Someday I'll make a rod out of it.

TC
 
#25 ·
Yep, I have the Scott F2 7'7" 4wt and it is great. It's actually a very unique rod due to some magic in the glass layup of the blank. It's far softer in flex than last year's F, but has quicker rebound when you push it. I wrote a short review here: http://fiberglassflyrodders.yuku.com/forum/getrefs/id/102338/type/0 (look at the next page too...there's a follow-up).
 
#26 ·
Not sure what's considered reasonably priced but the discontinued Scott fibertouch series rods are heavily discounted right now. They're fast for glass but definitely have the characteristics you want from glass-excellent roll casters,great tippet protection with a sensitive feel. I've owned both the 703 and the 764 and recommend them highly. From what I've read, the concensus opinion is that the new yellow F2's are an improvement over the black F series. If so, the F2's must be great rods.
 
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