Master angler Tim Rajeff of Vancouver, Washington, lands a monster rainbow in Strobel Lake, Argentina—image Tim Rajeff.
Modern fiberglass fly rods could be the off-ramp into the neighborhood of elevated angling enjoyment
By Skip Clement
Although we may have started without you, it all began with bamboo. If you’re not familiar with bamboo, you might feel like you arrived too late to the conversation. However, if you know about bamboo, you likely witnessed its evolution into fiberglass, which graphite swiftly replaced.
Bamboo
From a craftsmanship perspective, bamboo fly rods reached their peak long before fiberglass appeared on the scene. Today’s bamboo fly rods have advantages over those made by earlier generations, but these improvements come primarily from the chemistry of resins and adhesives. The craft of building a bamboo rod and the performance characteristics of different types of bamboo seem challenging to improve further.
Fiberglass
The fiberglass we’re discussing originated in the 1930s and gained prominence during World War II. Think of communications: antennas on jeeps and tanks in Europe and the Far East, as well as on destroyers and aircraft carriers. Eventually, fiberglass made its way into fly rods, boats, and surfboards, and today, its components are found in thousands of products.
The early glass technologies included S-Glass (Structural), E-Glass (Electrical), and SE-Glass (Owens Corning). These did not all emerge simultaneously; their initial uses were primarily driven by military and later industrial specifications.
Clarity
Interpreting old performance criteria and test data about fly rod reactions to casting a fly line can be challenging. For more information about the intersection of glass technologies and fly rods, visit the North 40 Fly Shop or Swift Fly Fishing Company.
The big three. Illustration by award-winning watercolorist Thom Glace.
Modern
Today’s fiberglass fly rods are not entirely made from the original S-Glass and E-Glass. Instead, modern glass rods have been modified for performance, either rolled to a specific specification and assembled at the rod builder’s facility or provided as components by a fiberglass fabric manufacturer and other vendors.
Fiberglass fabrics are laminated in a specified orientation using flexible adhesives (resins) that bind the fabrics to create a new, desired flex capability for the fly rod. Flexible adhesives (resins) that bind the fabrics to create a new, desired flex capability for the fly rod.
It still requires designers
Each rod designer has a signature—the performance characteristics based on their interpretation of the “best” assembly of chosen fiberglass fabrics, resins, and other additions, making the finished rod react a certain way when loaded with a fly line and in the hands of an angler. That, of course, with a semantic change, could be said of a graphite rod, graphite/boron rod, or any fly rod build.
So, what are the differences, and why is Glass in its new, modern clothes so unique?
Here’s a clue. Graphite rod ad copy will always claim (usually first mentioned), among other things, how well a rod casts in close. Well, that’s pure late-night political Tweeting because the most challenging casting assignment for graphite fly rods is earning an accurate, quality delivery of a fly up close and personal.
If your rod is graphite and advertised as fast or medium-fast action, you won’t be able to “comfortably “deliver a fly the way you want to at 30 or fewer feet unless you’re Lefty Kreh or skilled. It’s an awkward cast with the best graphite rod, no matter who you are.
A large percentage of sight fishers for the trout, bass, bonefish, redfish, snook, stripers, and other flats and shallow water pescados get hooked at surprisingly short ranges (ask any guide)
You can, of course, retrieve a fly to any distance, but if a trophy brown is sipping at 30-feet away, or that behemoth female tarpon has spun out the daisy chain, retrieving a fly to its feeding window and getting an eat is not going to happen. More likely, it is scaring the Hell out of it because Ephemeroptera and bait fish do not attack predators in the animal kingdom.
What about big ocean animals?
The “fake news “about Glass has been that it’s not a good rod choice versus a tarpon, Chinook, steelies, or significant anything because it’s a buggy whip casting tool. Unfortunately, that postulation is not entirely true.
Many of the best tournament billfish anglers use glass fly rods. A teased marlin has to be cast at about 30-feet or less, and the fish has to discover the 8-inch long lead-headed fly when the teaser it has been following gets yanked away. The rod has to “fake it,” and sometimes a graphite rod cannot, especially “THE GUNWALE.”
The big issue with a fly rod in the billfish game is lifting and turning; a reel that can slow runs is a significant partner. A 300-pound marlin requires a rod that can bend and keep bending while still exerting pressure. Graphite would not hold up, and so far, it has proven it cannot.
Carl McNeil left, and Jeanie Ackley directors of The Swift Fly Fishing Company of Wanaka, New Zealand. Image The Swift Fly Fishing Company.
Are glass rods just outdated compared to modern fly rods?
Perhaps in terms of market trends, but that doesn’t reflect where effective angling truly happens. The real appeal of modern glass fly rods lies in their feel. Compared to graphite rods, using a fiberglass rod provides a better sensation of the fly line loading.
Fast-action rods tend to be stiff and less sensitive to loading the line, which can make it more difficult for beginners to grasp the essential element of casting—feeling the fly line load the rod. This sensation of enjoyment while casting becomes a bonus for those of us in the septo and octo years of life.
Fiberglass rods enhance the learning experience and make it easier to learn how to cast
A fiberglass rod excels in casting beautifully over short distances, typically feeling comfortable up to about 50-feet or so, depending on the rod’s weight and construction. Can an experienced caster achieve a 100-foot cast with a custom glass rod? Absolutely, but does it truly matter?
What advantages does fiberglass offer you?
It provides benefits that a graphite rod cannot. If you’re a part-time angler or feel a bit out of practice, you’ll find that a fiberglass rod will usually allow you to cast well right from the start. Beginners will instantly get a sense of how to cast properly; those who may not be as fit anymore will find they can recapture the casting they once enjoyed; seasoned experts will rediscover the pure joy of casting and gain a heightened awareness of when a fish is on.
Anyone who has used a fast graphite fly rod—especially in saltwater weights of seven and above—knows that casting for even an hour requires considerable physical effort. The energy needed to propel a fly line using a fast-action graphite rod vastly differs from that of a so-called “ast” action glass rod. Thus, comparing the two can be misleading. With a fast-action graphite fly rod, the angler must supply more than half the energy required to launch a fly.
In contrast, a fiberglass fly rod contributes more than half the energy needed for casting. Additionally, a glass rod provides better protection for the tippet by acting as a cushion during head shakes and bursts when a fish is on. It also tolerates bending and abuse better, making it more durable.
In New Zealand, the water is as clear as the air. If you don’t fly fish in New Zealand, you’re sheep. Image by Stone Fly Lodge—click on the image to visit their website.
The producers
It’s not easy to pick out the top glass fly rod producing companies because there are so many small companies that have, over the years, been the leaders in developing the technologies that have vastly improved the performance of Glass. Likewise, we have avoided listing some of the best boutique builders because it’s too difficult to identify them since many do not have a web presence or have such a poor site that it’s a turn-off. Often, these craftsmen and women only build on demand to personal specifications or only address angling regional fisheries, or both. I encourage you to search.
Clarifier:
We do not include companies that build one or two glass rods or offer only significantly narrowed choices.
NOTE: Cameron Mortensen, the publisher of The Glass Manifesto, is the default fiberglass ” fly rod industry spokesperson. His website is your source for those exceptional boutique sources we referred to above.
NOTE 2: You can also search the major rod builders for the niche rod you’re looking for. Your local fly shop is the best source for test drives.
Here are the fly rod companies we found that are committed to Glass and offer outstanding “off-the-shelf” options.
Dave Redington
MacFarland Fiberglass fly rods
Phone: 814.742.8577
Tim Rajeff
7500 NE 16th Ave Suite 1C,
Vancouver, WA, 98665
Phone: 360-694-2900
Fax: 360-694-1950
Editor’s Note: Tim Rajeff’s unmatchable energy drives Echo Fly Rods. He is a consummate promoter of fly fishing, and like his brother Steve, chief rod designer at Loomis, he is a noted rod designer and world fly casting champion. Tim’s glass rod selection is easily the broadest of the big leaguers. In single-handed, Echo fly rods offer Glass and Bad Ass Glass, and in two-handed, Glass Switch and Glass Spey.
Mark Steffen
11475 Homestead Ln
Flagstaff, AZ 86004
Phone: (928) 522-0617
Email Steffen Brothers Fly Rodssteffenflyrod@gmail.com
Editor’s Note: Steffen Brothers Fly Rods was founded in 1980 by Mark Steffen. Mark has a degree in Fisheries Biology from the University of Idaho and is actively involved in sports fishing stewardship. Mark is the primary rod designer and developer. Their glass fly rod line is not limited to their brochure offerings.
21 Reece Crescent
Wanaka, 9305
New Zealand.
Ph (+64) 03 4431350
Editors ‘ Note 2: Carl McNeil and Jeanie Ackley own and run the company. Carl is an IFFF Certified Master Fly Casting Instructor. Carl served as an associate editor for the IIFFF’s fly casting magazine, the Loop, and is a recipient of the President’s Pin award for services to fly casting. He is also a recipient of the IIFFF’s conservation award.
NOTE: Featured Image by J. Stockard Fly Fishing / Paul Beel . . .
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