Before introduction I'd like to thank members here for making this forum a great place to visit for leisure, knowledge and wisdom!
My name is Ron I'm a lifelong Alaskan and cut my teeth fishing fiberglass rods both fly and spin. I'm a family man with 3 sons and an ex :0
My favorite fly rod was a Fenwick pack rod that I learned fly fishing with and was lost during a move....... I've missed that rod for 30 years!!!
Fishing, hunting and spending as much time putting boot tracks in the wilds of Alaska isn't a hobby or pastime it's what I do, my passion.
Fly fishing for trout, char and grayling feeds my soul and my wallet hates that I use a fly rod! I've started to adding fiberglass to the quiver with a CGR 5'9"-3 and a soon to arrive Steffen 8' 4/5 3 piece...... It's hard to explain, but it almost feels like Christmas when I was 7!!
I'm already thinking of putting in another order. Steffen? McFarland?
I have a stash of glass spin rods, 5 Eagle Claws and a Fenwick my Dad built that's so heavy it'll tear your rotator cuff casting it!! You could call them dust collectors as I don't use them, but I think I keep them around because they remind me of the magic of being on the river at 5 am, the smell of Muskol, Pixies, eating s'mores around the campfire with my brothers and the weird 70's....... Still can't believe I liked polyester shirts, bell bottoms and my Afro, yikes!!!!
Good to be here, gotta go check on my load of reds that's in the smoker........

Welcome, Grizzly1! Looks like you're off to a great start (startover?) with fiberglass rods. Don't know how you settled on a Steffen 8' 4/5-3, but you're getting one of the most highly-recommended rods available. I've a blank sitting in my queue, and will build it this fall. Can't wait to fish it, and would like to hear about your experience.

Given Alaska's reputation for having a few decent-sized fish ;-), you might think about a 6 or 7 weight from Paddock, Steffen, McFarland, or ********* Rods. Those are some of the favorites among members here. There are other excellent rodmakers, including those who build on Steffen et al blanks. McKellip, Greywolf, Fine Tackle, Marty Romeo, are some that come to mind. You'll get other good recommendations from members with more experience than I have. Check http://thefiberglassmanifesto.blogspot. ... shops.html
too, if you haven't already.

Enjoy Alaska. I hope to get there someday, with plenty of Muskol of course!

Thanks for the welcome!

Tomah, I decided on the Steffen inpart due to the members on this forum...... ive been giving fiberglass fly rods some serious consideration for the past twelve years or so, maybe longer as I've missed the Fenwick over the years, just thought it disappeared along with time! I worked at a local fly fishing shop here in Anchorage for a few years and one of the guys was into modern glass, that's when I started looking....... It was a long wait and I narrowed it down to McFarland/Steffen and as it turns out, I made my choice by a ho picked up the phone first........ Which may seem odd, but I would be equally happy with either giving a slight edge to Steffen. Now choosing the model was a little more difficult and to be frank I've thought of changing the order to the 5/6. I wanted a rod that would give me better feel when fighting Grayling, but would also be at home on small to medium streams that have chunky Rainbows, Char and smaller Salmon..... Enter Mark, we talked for some time about the merits of each and I was thinking we had settled on the 5/6 and Mark said "I'd just go with the 4/5". A little surprised, I said go ahead and twist it up and had the check in the mail in 15 minutes........ I trust Mark, not only are they his rods, but he's fished up here so has a clue as to what I wanted. Great man to deal with!
For the reel I thought I was going to go with the Galvan Brookie as I have fished Galvan for 20 years starting with the Standard 3.5 and adding OB and several Torque reels all green, but have a soft spot for Abel reels as well and have wanted a TR for a very loooong time, just didn't have the right rod, until now....... I left a message with Robert of Classic Fly Fisherman yesterday not expecting a call until Monday and Robert surprised me with a call today, great customer service. Had a nice talk and ordered an Abel TR2!!!
Now for lines...... Grin!!!

Welcome to the site and welcome back to Glass. Fenwick and Eagle Claw...love those classics as well as the new Glass names...and it sounds like you have the perfect venue to give them a workout...Alaska a bucket list dream of mine.