John S.
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I’m relatively new to fiberglass, but have quickly found it to be superior over graphite when casting in tight quarters.
Many of these companys just keep pumping models out every year to turn stock by making models seem obsolete. They must have to every few years at least or folks would lose interest.
Agree entirely.
Might turn out that you don’t like tarpon fishing, and then you’ve invested an awful lot of cash . . .
Good advice!
While somewhat of an infomercial, I thought the following youtube clip provided interesting facts on the Sage One in particular, Sage rods in general and also information on modulus, scrim, etc. used in graphite rod making.
Great video that represents a great company that makes great rods.
Think I need to pull the trigger on the 7’7″ 4wt F2.
But . . . . . . does this mean Sage fans get a new rod and Scott fans only get a new video this year?
I floated the South Fork of the Snake last year for a full week in late August using mostly hopper-dropper rigs.
I’d have to put Mass. on this list if flyfishing for Striped Bass, False Albacore, Bonito or Bluefish from the surf is your thing.
George tested the Scott G2 in his previous 5wt shootout.
It came in 4th using a GPX line.
It’s interesting they used a SA Trout line on the Tom Morgan and TFO finese rods, but a GPX on the G2 and everything else for that matter.
While George Anderson tends not to either like or sell the rods I fish most often (Winston BIIT and Scott G2), I still enjoy reading the results of his “shootouts”.
Happy Birthday!
Flyfishing in your 30’s is a special time . . . . established enough in your career where you can afford to travel where you want to, but still young enough to take on any hike-in DIY trip . . . . nothing short of euphoric.
Enjoy every minute of it!
John S
John –
Yes, quite a lot, and componentry actually has less to do with it than you might think. The main factors are the amount and type of resin in the blank, the type of scrim (which is the reinforcing material) wrapped into the blank, and the actual shape and size of the flag that’s cut. Cheaper rods tend to have fiberglass scrim, which is much heavier than the graphite scrim which is now common on top end rods. That’s probably the biggest weight factor. Cheaper also rods are also cut in less complex patterns, which result in wastage around the edges being wrapped into the blank, which adds weight. Cheaper rods often have weaker glues, meaning you have to use more of it, which adds weight. Finally, I am not certain on this but I am pretty sure that low modulus graphite is inherently heavier for a given amount of tensile strength than higher modulus graphite, and cheaper rods use lower modulus graphite.
Zach
Thanks Zach.
That says a lot about what TFO has going on “under the hood,” because you can’t hide weight. Meanwhile, and this really surprised me, but the Sage TCX 9′ 5-weight weighs 3 and 5/16ths ounces, which in percentage terms is quite a bit more.
Zach, since you’ve spoken with rod designers in the industry is there anything in blank technology that really contributes to one rod being lighter than the other?
It seems that the majority of rods that are listed as lighter (Helios, BVK, etc.) all tend to have the following things in common:
1) Recoil guides.
2) Graphite reel seats.
3) Porting the slide bands on the reel seats.I’m curious if most of the weight savings of these very light rods comes from the choice of components rather than improvements in blank technology.
