Fly rods

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Any rod, properly cared for, will last years and years providing the same level of service as when it was new...

 

What has changed quite a bit over the years are the materials and sophistication that manufacturers put into their rod blanks and the hardware that comes with them.... The difference between a 30 or 40 year old tarpon rod  and a new rod for instance is very noticeable in weight, stiffness, etc. and as we get used to newer rods - the older ones (still quite useable) seem heavier and slower by comparison... I've been building rods since 1971 - and still have a variety of rods (both fly and other types) that I built back in the seventies (I actually started building rods when fiberglass was all we had - "graphite" , called carbon fiber now by outfits wanting more money... didn't come along until the mid to later seventies....).

 

An older rod in good condition will still get the job done - it's our perceptions that have changed over time... in my opinion.

[Iroc_Jeff 0]

I decided to put my reel on the old fiberglass fenwick 8wt on Saturday and leave my Lefty Kreh Pro Series 2 rod home. I honestly preferred the older rod. Had to slow things down a bit casting wise but was way more accurate with the old rod. Even caught a smallmouth on the morirsh mouse along the shoreline. 

[SilverCreek 0]

On 6/16/2020 at 6:07 AM, Capt Bob LeMay said:

What has changed quite a bit over the years are the materials and sophistication that manufacturers put into their rod blanks and the hardware that comes with them.... The difference between a 30 or 40 year old tarpon rod  and a new rod for instance is very noticeable in weight, stiffness, etc. and as we get used to newer rods - the older ones (still quite useable) seem heavier and slower by comparison... I've been building rods since 1971 - and still have a variety of rods (both fly and other types) that I built back in the seventies (I actually started building rods when fiberglass was all we had - "graphite" , called carbon fiber now by outfits wanting more money... didn't come along until the mid to later seventies....).

Older rods are heavier since they were made with either fiberglass or lower (less stiff) modulus  graphite fiber. So for the same rod action, they weighted more.

That means that the older rods have greater mass distributed along the length of the rod. Therefore older rods have greater inertia, which means they have a greater resistant to any change in their position and momentum. So they have to require more force to cast and they have to react more slowly because they have greater mass. If they did not, they would break Newton's first law of motion.

They seem heavier and slower because, for the identical rod action (rod action is HOW much the rod bends in response to a force and not how FAST the rod bends), they are are heavier and slower to respond.