Fishing Forum

[]My question is not about the virtues of one over the other, but what you think! How you feel about the differences.

Your first impression was what? IE: Heavy? middlle weighted?
Was it good, or better....?
Have you changed your mind?
Did you even notice any difference?
Do you still feel like there's no difference?

If you were going to buy a good rod for a valued friend or one of your parents, who are experienced fishermen, which would you get them, Fiberglass or Graphite?
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[cool][font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Well before fiber glass we were using metal rods. When fiber glass came along I thought that it was the best thing since sliced bread. Now graphite puts them all to shame. Lighter definately. Flex can be placed any where on the rod. Is it stronger. Better feel of what is going on at the other end. Don't know as I had never broken a rod of any material. At least that I can remember. By the way my golf club shafts are also made of graphite. Never broke a club either. I do have a boo rod but it is for display purpose only. It was my Dad's and is probably around 80 yrs old. The first fly rod that I purchase was graphite, however great strides have been technically in the composition of this material. Lighter, stronger etc. Pretty soon the manufacturers are going to be advertising the weight of their rods in grams instead of ounces.[/size][/green][/font]
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There is a big difference with then and now. Even in glass, bamboo and graphite.
The old Boo's and glass where heavy as heck, with a much different taper.
Graphite you have the choise of Fast, Med/Fast, Med, Med/slow, and slow. Materials they use now are lighter (Boron)
A glass rod is going to have a much thicker butt section due to the material.
Bamboo rods today are thin light and in no way resemble the older ones. Some are even fluted (hollow) to make them even lighter.
Also in the old days 6wt to 8wt rods were the norm. Reels were very heavy also so they balance out nice.

I have several graphite rods (different line weight, length, flex and the rod weight it's self). I love new stuff (not in the brand new sense, but new to me) The ol man built me a Lamiglass glass rod this year. Full flex, I mean it is a noodle. Very fun to use. Very close in feel to my bamboo, but ALOT less money so I can let others use it or throw it in my car with out worrying about hurting it.
Windy days I will still take graphite, also when throwing big bugs.
My thought is, you like it, it feels good, it improves your casting ability....BUY IT![cool]
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[cool] My impressions are so distorted!

I had F/glass rods for years. One Bamboo, a gift was lost in time somewhere.

My best Was a Fenwick 9. I didn't know any better.
But it was the smoothest rod I've owned to date. Equal taper, and the tension is provided was progressive from the tip to the butt.
I loved that rod.

Then I was given a nice 5/6 Graphite. It's always exctiing, gearing up for a new Rod.
I got the S.A. lines and a nice reel with extra spool.
But when I went to practice with all the new stuff, the rod had a heaviness I wasn't used to.
It also had the action in the middle of the Rod, instead of out at the tip.
It worked well but always felt a little strange.

So (this week) when I figured out I dont have that Little 5/6 any more, I wondered if I was missing anything, and should I find another Fenwick, or old Eagle, in the smaller line sizes.

I didn't know a rod could be weighted in different places.
I'll have to get out my Sage #8 and see what it's like.
This could be a good weekend yet!
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[black][size 3]Hey Dryrod,[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Metal ? Holy moley ! I bet that was one heavy stick. [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]What were you fishing for with a lighting rod ? Is that where your handle (Dryrod) comes from ? That would make sense. [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]You must have been rich or grew up in the bronze age. I remember bamboo and fiberglass when I was a kid - but my parents were just regular folks. We didn't have no fancy metal rods.[/size][/black]
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[cool][font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Well you were half right. I am from the bronze age. Fiberglass rods were introduced just after WWII around 1947. I think that it was introdued by the Shakespeare Co.[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][#008000][size 3]My Dad had a steel bait casting rod. I had a cane pole. I still have a wooden pole and a fiberglass casting rod in my collection.[/size][/#008000][/font]
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I inherited a metal flyrod from my father that he purchased in about 1947. I do not remember what brand it is but it was a high end rod at that time. I think I remember him saying he paid about $30 for it. Of course gas was $.20 a gal. then, too. I fished with it and then my son fished with it until it broke. I repaired it with a ferral (you can't find them anymore as graphite allows for integrated ferrals that continue the action of the rod) and I could still fish with it but I think it is destined for a wall someplase. Anyway, to get to the point, It was a very fine rod. It performed every bit as well as my bamboo rod did ( probably better). It was no more heavy than the bamboo rod but compared to modern graphite rods it is a bit heavy. Graphite is definitely the way to go for me as I am getting older and the light weight of graphite and magniesium reels keeps me on the water a little longer. As has been mentiioned with graphite rods the flexability or ridgidity can be custom built into the rod. (moderate, moderate fast, fast, fast plus actions, Ect.
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I too have an ol' metal rod, but it is telescopic and a fly rod at that. Very heavy, very stiff.
I would think that you could find metal ferruls on the bamboo sites. Bamboo still uses metal ferruls.
I like to use glass rods with my new students. Teaches them to wait for it and you can feel them load up.
I do believe they can make a good caster better and a better caster great[cool]
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[font "Bookman Old Style"][black][size 3]Old glass rods. Cheap old glass rods[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Bookman Old Style"][black][size 3]Old upper end glass rods. New upper end glass rods.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Bookman Old Style"][black][size 3]Today we have E-glass, and S-glass.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Bookman Old Style"][black][size 3]Faster and lighter than glass rods of the 50's and 60's & 70's (there are a few exceptions)[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Bookman Old Style"][black][size 3]Most people equate glass rods with Fenwick,South Bend, Eagle Claw etc. Bought at $5- $15 back when. there are still a ton of them out there.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Bookman Old Style"][black][size 3]You find a Fisher blank, Lamiglas, Phillipson (Orvis, LL Bean), Winston, etc. you'll find lighter and possibly faster glass rods that were made back in the 'old' days. They commanded a higher price too.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Bookman Old Style"][black][size 3]Today you have Diamondback's Diamondglass, Steffan Brothers, McFarland, T&T Heirloom that are all fantastic rods. Different from bamboo, but you still have to slow down and smell the roses. [/size][/black][/font]
[font "Bookman Old Style"][black][size 3]I have noticed (it may be my imagination) that in the year and a half I've been using bamboo or fiberglass for 90% of my fishing, that when I use a graphite rod, my casting distance has improved remarkably.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Bookman Old Style"][black][size 3]I think it's learning (or re-learning in my case) timing is everything. On a cheap rod a few weeks back, I was teaching some young kids how to cast. At the end of the session, the youngster that I had completely , asked how far can I throw a fly line. I told him I honestly didn't know. I usually try for accruacy. I then stripped out the line until I was about 15' into the backing. Like Dryrods Swedish FF pro, I shoot line out on the backcast. Two false casts and I had stopped the line because it had shot out into the backing. Stripped it in the line and did it again. The only thing I can contribute it to is learning to fish with slower rods. [/size][/black][/font]
[font "Bookman Old Style"][black][size 3]Like I said, stop and smell the roses. Timing and hauling.. [/size][/black][/font]
[font "Bookman Old Style"][black][size 3]Oh and to get back to the questions in hand-What are the virtues of one over the other. For me it's personal preference. Graphite has it's place. Glass has it's place. I use graphite more on stillwater and glass and boo on moving waters.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Bookman Old Style"][black][size 3]p.s. I'd rather have a good new fiberglass rod than the low budget, Chinese made bamboo that has recently hit the shores. [/size][/black][/font]
[font "Bookman Old Style"][black][size 3]Your other question, on buying a rod for someone. You say experienced fishermen, but experienced with what. Spin fishing, trolling, worms, fly fishing. What. It will make a difference.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Bookman Old Style"][black][size 3]If I was going to get a rod for a good friend or relative (that wasn't a fly fisherman), I'd take them shopping and see what feels good to them. A 9' 5w graphite. Medium fast. It will cover 90% of the fishing they will do. .. Not to expensive, in case they didn't like ffing.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Bookman Old Style"][size 3]I hope I could answer your question. Good luck.[/size][/font]
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Hmmm....well.

I had an old Square F/glass or maybe even plastic rod, and I'd had two of those short Metal Bait casting rods.

My first impression of a Fibrerglass fly rod, it was a Fenwick, was immediatly pleasure.
I bought it right on the spot!.

Later on a freind gave me a Graphite #5. I spent all the money and time getting used to it. The normal thing to do.
I took it up to Paxton lakes and the Creek and caught Grayling till I was fairly used to using it. It was my very best day ever with the dry line.
I never actually had to cast with it, just fish with it.
A person's lucky to have a 'learning place' like that. Full of fish.

When I was fairly used to it I got a couple of large Rainbows on Wet flies.
I still think the slow even tapered Fenwick was better for wet line fishing.

What I saw in the Graphite rod, that was different than the F/Glass rod was the Pickup of the line.
The Graphite made picking a wet line up out of moving water so much easier.
I think the Graphite was stiff in the middle, where the Fenwick was evenely tapered all the way to the tip from the butt.

Picking up the line is the 'secret' (if there is one) to dry fly fishing.
One nice clean silent snatch and the fly is way up over your head.
The Graphite was best suited to that.

As far as catching fish goes. The Graphite may have an edge there as well.

Those are my impressions. I'd buy a Graphite rod today. I dont have any bad thoughts on them at all.
I just wondered what others thought.

For now, I'm using my #8 Sage. It's a Graphite I think....
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[font "Palatino Linotype"][black][size 3]Graphite is good. But, I'll lay down a more gentle line with glass or bamboo. Mostly fishing streams or rivers you'll not shoot out more that 40' 90% of the time. I have no problem stripping in a few feet and picking up the line with glass or bamboo. But then again, my graphite rods I have used for streams and rivers are medium flex and I fish all three types of rods the in some what the same style. As in graphite, you'll find different tapers in glass too. I have a old Shakespear WonderRod in 5w that I'm redoing now, that is faster that some graphite rods I have. (Orvis Superfine). My Steffan Bros. glass is a faster glass rod than my Lamiglas. My Fenwick Fenglass 6w is altogether a different animal. Different strokes for different folks or rods.
One thing you said puzzles me is graphite has an edge for catching fish. I couldn't figure out what you mean by that.
Each rod type has it's trade offs. I like the slower action rods, be it boo, glass or graphite like the Superfine series.
I also like the plastic rods. Like I said each has it's place.
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[blush] I once had an Ultralite rod that was so limber I could not set a hook with it.
(beat that for tall tales!)

Each new thing I do seems to bring out a fact I should have been aware of some time in the past.

When I got the Graphite #5, I stopped missing so many strikes!
At the time I was fishing from a boat in a lake.
That lake was a favorite place, I fished there frequently.
I was used to catching one or three fish a night. But with the Graphite rod I started catching a lot more. (flattend Barbs)

That was the background for the statment about the Graphite being better at catching fish.
Maybe! It seemed to me that it was!

OK, saying that, a few years later, when I went to the Little Red up in Arkansas for Five different types of Trout, the guide was constantly yelling at me for missing the fish. The fine Graphite didn't seem to help me very much with those fish.
I had strike indicators too. I guess I expected him to hook hissownself!
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[font "Terminal"][black][size 3]When I fish in the winter, I am using size 30 and 32's. Sometimes I can accually see the fly and the take, but for the most part, I rely on the feel of the take. That is where my full flex boo, glass or trout bum or one ounce come in real handy.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Terminal"][black][size 3]Last year I hooked a 22" brown in the current on my bamboo with 6X tippet, the fact that the boo is full flex was the only reason I landed this fish without getting broke off.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Terminal"][black][size 3]But in the same breath, I landed a 28" Brown on the Madison on a day that was soooo windy, the drift boats were rowing down stream. That day, the only way I was going to get that fly to the hole was with a VERY stiff (fast action) graphite.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Terminal"][black][size 3]Different jobs require different tools.[][/size][/black][/font]
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Young lady, you are just toooo spoiled. You've had the thrill of it all.

Great fish.
My Dad had a Bamboo rod in a case with some flies. It had been stored up in the rafters of his house.
We discovered it when we were cleaning the place out.
I gave it to a guy who collects that stuff.
I'm sure it was not one of those expensive collectors items though.

Since I've never used a Bamboo rod, (other than a Cane pole) I just wont relate to 'full action' but I think I understand.

I'm looking for a small rod now. I miss my #5. This #8 Feel's like a Broomstick.

I got some good news today though. My old Cronies are talking about a trip up to the little Red again. Ahhhh Therapy!
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[size 1]I'm looking for a small rod now. I miss my #5. This #8 Feel's like a Broomstick.[/size]
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[size 1]WOW I bet, an 8wt can be taxing even with a reel that balances it out.[/size]
[size 1]5 in my opinion is a great all around rod. 8'6" to 9' and what ever flex feels good to the caster.[/size]
[size 1]Don't forget that a good line can make a great rod even better.[/size]
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[laugh] Thank you ma'am, and I like your speckled logo.
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Why thank you. A little something I do when the guides ice up in the winter.
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