Glass rods

PaulG

PaulG

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Sep 10, 2006
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I drove by a yard sale today, the guy had a bunch of rods, so I stop to take a look. He had three fiber glass rod for sale, so I got all three of them and an old Cortland fly reel, got everything for $15.00. They dont look to bad, all the wraps and the corks look good.

The one rod is a 8' Berkley jetsport

7.5 Howard, I think the other word on is Imperial

the other is a 7' with no writing on it

I tried casting the one rod in the backyard, didn't do to bad with it, it's been a long time since I cast one of those.

PaulG
 
I have a couple of glass rods. A 7' something Ibotson/Herrod "Mohawk" 5/6 weight, not too bad of a rod. I used to carry it along as a back up and the other is a 7'6" Fenwick 6Wt. This is a real nice rod I do carry it as a back up all the time. It came with an old Sears reel on it and I kinda even like the reel. No Palming ring. It's all enclosed perimeter but you can still put extra pressure on a fish if you know how to work the reel the right way. I have always had a thing for Fenwick equipment. Woodstream Corp, right here in Lititz used to have a small little outlet/second store here in town and I used to pick up stuff down there all the time. I like my Orvis/Clearwater 5Wt but I don't feel bad about using my old Fenwick any day of the week.
 
I just started fly fishing this year and my rod is an old glass South Bend with a heddon reel, the whole setup looks to be from the 70s. I don't have any experience with anything else but it's been working out for me. Might upgrade to graphite next year.
 
sounds like some great finds!! I search garage, yard and flea markets all the time for vintage fishing equipment. glass rods are wonderful to fish, easy to feel the rod load,very light in hand. biggest trout I ever caught was on a cortland pro crest 7.6 glass rod. check out the fiberglass flyrodders forum, lots of good stuff. be careful, collecting this stuff can turn into a sickness!!!
 
congratulations paul!you might know i'm a fiberglass rod fan.i think i'm on the fiberglass fly rodders forum more than clarks or here lately.

what kind of reel is the cortland?i have two crown/rimfly reels.i like them.

tristan,i wouldn't consider graphite an upgrade.maybe a step over.nowdays lots of people are going back to glass and bamboo.rods don't become obsolete,just the marketing for them does,haha
 
ristan,i wouldn't consider graphite an upgrade.maybe a step over.nowdays lots of people are going back to glass and bamboo.rods don't become obsolete,just the marketing for them does,haha"


agreed up to a point. 5wt. and 7 foot for me would be the cut off .
 
i like a six,8 1/2 to nine foot for streamers and big wets!i do have a fiberglass 8 foot 4 wt that's pretty sweet though.
 
shakey wrote:
congratulations paul!you might know i'm a fiberglass rod fan.i think i'm on the fiberglass fly rodders forum more than clarks or here lately.

what kind of reel is the cortland?i have two crown/rimfly reels.i like them.

tristan,i wouldn't consider graphite an upgrade.maybe a step over.nowdays lots of people are going back to glass and bamboo.rods don't become obsolete,just the marketing for them does,haha
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Shakey

I do remember you saying you were a big fan of glass rods, on the way over to Spring creek, during the Jam!

The Cortland reel, the only writing I can see on it was the cortland logo. I did try casting the Berkley and was surprise to see how well I did with it.

PaulG
 
Paul: Sound like a great find, old stuff is delightful, also they can be refinished if needed, just like bamboo, but only if needed glass is very very durable, sometimes the varnish just needs polished and waxed
 
Occasionally I will get out my original Wonderrod Professional that I bought in the 50s in Germany, I doubt that I would catch one less trout with that rod than I would with my new stuff, same would hold true for all you guys??
 
shakey wrote:
i like a six,8 1/2 to nine foot for streamers and big wets!i do have a fiberglass 8 foot 4 wt that's pretty sweet though.
Click to expand...

Dear shakey,

I told you about the new in package Shakespeare Wonder rod 7 weight I own. I've let people accustomed to bamboo rods cast it and they all love it and remark how smoothly it casts.

I think it's a generational thing and guys like you and I are between generations so we don't know what we should use at times? The folks before our time used bamboo and were happy to move to fiberglass. Most of the folks from our time used fiberglass and were happy to move to graphite.

Me, I'm just happy!

Last night I was on Penn's for the Green Drake with my Grainger 9050 Victory.

One of the young guns from this board said it felt kind of "clubby" but if a guy could handle a club like that I'd be that guy. I just wish the kid could have cast the rod, the line just sings out of it.

Maybe it's best they don't know and keep searching for the most newest bestest greatest rod of ever? That we we can buy their cast-offs from e-bay and giggle about the great scores we made?

One thing about fly fishing that has been true since the beginning, I'll paraphrase and use an old logging term, "It's never the saw, it's the sawyer."

In simple English, fishermen make the rod.

Regards,
Tim Murphy :)
 
TimMurphy wrote:
I think it's a generational thing and guys like you and I are between generations so we don't know what we should use at times? The folks before our time used bamboo and were happy to move to fiberglass. Most of the folks from our time used fiberglass and were happy to move to graphite.

Me, I'm just happy!:)
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Tim, we're the same age more or less, and I began fly-fishing with one of those fiberglass monsters. As soon as I cast one of the new graphite rods, a Sage LL from Bob's shop, I fell in love with it and never looked back. Different strokes. It IS the sawyer.

Stay happy, enjoy your rod, and enjoy your new home away from home.

Tom
Click to expand...
 
Since we're on the subject of Glass and graphite, how long has graphite been around?

PaulG
 
Graphite is a by-produckt of steelmaking and has been used as a lubricant for a long time as far as rods i'd have to say around the 60's maybe late 50's not really sure.
 
In 1958, Dr. Roger Bacon created high-performance carbon fibers at the Union Carbide Parma Technical Center, located outside of Cleveland, Ohio.

I guess Cleveland was good for something. :lol:
 
I recall graphite rods becoming popular in the late 70's and early 80's. Fenwick was the leader with their HMG rods, and later Loomis rods became popular and Sage started making rods in the early 80's

In the beginning of the graphite era there were a lot of dreadful graphite rods made. The same can be said for many fiberglass fly rods. Now most rods are decent, and some are exceptional, especially when compared to the first models made.

Also IMO, with the exception of the old master boo makers, the production boo rods were not very good, although many guys used them for fishing bait with mono lines in the old days anyway. Today, many of the modern boo makers produce rods that are great casting and fishing rods if you are willing or able to pay the price.

Reminisce about the “good old days” of fly rods. IMO, the best rods are made today whether you choose boo, fiberglass or graphite. Now, if you look hard enough, anyone should be able to find a fly rod that fits their casting style, fishing needs, and budget.
 
I am also of an age to be confused. Over the last year I have gone back to glass rods more often, like graphite in lengths of 10' or more where the low weight of graphite makes a real difference, and have gone old-timey by using pre WWI bamboo and wood fly rods with traditional wets. All methods still take fish.

The slower pace of glass is relaxing to me, and I fly fish to relax these days. The newer glass is good stuff, with high end rods by Steffen and McFarland setting new standards for glass and the old Lamiglas blanks still available for the custom builder. The old favorites, like Fenwick, Berkley Parametric, Scientific Anglers, Phillipson, etc, still deliver a fly softly and provide a bit of nostalgia (for me at least). The slower rods require a timing correction compared to graphite, but when you make the correction casting can be practically effortless.
 
The Fenwick HMG graphite rods were the first graphite rods (at least mass produced production rods) that were any good and didn’t snap in two when a fish hit. If I had to pick a timeframe I would say the HMG’s were introduced somewhere in the ’74 – ’76 timeframe. I still have two (7.5 foot 5 weight) that were bought new and if I recall they weren’t exactly cheap and sold for around $75 each back then.

But all these old, slower action rods are completely useless because you can’t cast a Clouser minnow 80 feet using a 4-weight rod.
 
Love my south bend 290 and granger colorado special 8.5' bamboo rods. Also have a fenwick 8.5' for smallies. Just great rods.

BTW: I heard on the Lost World of Hardy, that Hardy was the first to produce graphite rods and got a patent, but unfortunately for them, they stated No More than 20% Carbon Fiber in a rod. The rod designer felt it would get too brittle and would not allow anymore than 20% of carbon in a rod. This allowed all other manufactures to find out 90% + was actually better with a smaller diameter rod...

In 1967 Hardy Brothers (Alnwick) Limited became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Harris & Sheldon Group Ltd. A severe slump in the industry in the late 1970's eventually resulted in a three day week in 1983. This was the Company's nadir. In spite of the then difficult circumstances, the company survived, with its reputation intact and was the first to patent the graphite fly rod which surpassed fibreglass in performance.
 
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