This morning, my good friend G. Buckley Juhasz (of Angler's Mail and Sceptre fame) got a chance to test drive a new production rod on the Mad River. It only arrived a few days ago, so it's hot off the press, and I believe this is the first notice anywhere about it (I think--don't hold me to that).

We got out on the water about twenty minutes after sunrise. Here's Buckley wading the Mad River as the fog starts to lift in the early a.m.



We took turns testing the rod, and were both impressed with the "feel" of it. I loaded it with a 3 weight line and a Bill Ballan reel, which nicely balanced the whole rig. We had no trouble casting to the numerous rising trout we saw, and it handled some tough casts accurately, or at least as accurately as I could make it -- Buck was dead on, of course.

I was reminded that casting on the water is always different than casting on a lawn; after all, there are so many more things to get in the way, and there's the entire matter of those pesky fish. They did not want to cooperate this morning…not that we didn't see rises all day. Here's Buckley with the new rod in action in what turned out to be a lovely photo:



The specs on the rod are that it is a really delicate 3 piece, 3/4 weight, seven-and-a-half footer. And it's beautiful, of course, as befitting a company with a pedigree like Tycoon.



It is a classy green and white, with a blank rolled and finished out by Mike McFarland, per the specs provided by Tycoon Tackle.



One of the classiest things about it is the legendary logo:



Yes, this was the first production glass rod from Tycoon Tackle Company, the same folks that built the rods used by legendary anglers such as Hemingway, Kip Farrington, etc.

I've been helping the Tycoon people develop some cool stuff, and I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot about it in the coming year. The forthcoming "Top Secret" prototype glass fly rod will blow your mind, and this production rod is pretty incredible, too.

Buck and I are not done testing the rod out yet, so more on it later. There are also some other production Tycoon glass rods floating around out there, so hopefully we'll get some posts about the other sizes of rods (I think there are now three models).

But if first impressions are important, I'm smitten!

-- Dr. Todd

Thats quite a handsome rod there, can't wait to see what the top secrete one turns out to be can you at least give us some hints? is it lighter weight or heavier weight then the one you posted? I really like the reel as well, one of my favorite ballan models. I've been meaning to eventually get one of the midge sized version of that reel.

I don't think the Tycoon Glass Rods are on the web site yet, but I was told they're scheduled to be released very soon. You can email Tycoon's president Tim O'Brien (great guy--some of you met him at the Glass Rod Expo), I'm sure he can give you more details and maybe get one before the public release. I'll call him and see if he will post on this thread so you can PM him directly with questions.

For those who don't know, Tim's father Frank O'Brien (recently elected into the IGFA Hall of Fame) founded Tycoon Tackle back in the 1930s. Frank built some of the most iconic rods in history, which still have a huge following today (just google Tycoon rods to see what I mean). They were the first choice of every important saltwater big game angler for four decades. He patented the laminate strip method of constructing bamboo rods (Tycoon recently launched a line of contemporary laminate strip cane rods, too, which they haven't made since 1940!). They made some incredible glass rods after they merged with Fin-Nor in the 1950s and 1960s, so they know glass well.

Here's a link to the video the IGFA did on Frank O'Brien back when he was elected.:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDk79SSjdTI

Tim is working to honor his dad's memory by creating incredibly attractive fish catching machines, just like his dad.

I think they plan on having a proprietary line of glass fly rods all the way up to saltwater sizes. .. so a bass rod 6/7 is something I'm probably more interested in than anything else, as I fish more bass with a fly rod than anything else. I'll check with Tim on that and get back.

As for the TOP SECRET glass rod project. .. well, can't reveal any details yet. But I will say three things. I've been working on it for five years, it's in the hands of the rodmaker now and should be in prototype stage within a few months, and absolutely no one anywhere is building fly rods like it. I hope it turns out as cool as I've dreamed it will be!

And the great people here will definitely hear about it before anyone else. ..

-- Dr. Todd

Is that tape on the stripper or thread? If not tape can we get some pics of the stripping guide and ferrules

Thanks, I sent you a P.M.

Yes, this company is one to watch. I will be taking delivery of a 9' 8wt next week. This rod was built for Steelhead on the Erie tribs. Fall and winter steelhead season is my time to fish.Pics and several anglers reviews of the rod to come.

Hi Tim--

Great looking rod. Are you planning to offer blanks?

Like to see it!

That's really nice! Very classy looking. How dies it fish?

Thanks Chris, I did have it to Erie on Friday but I did not get to fish it. Everything was running very high and muddy. The fish in the pics are from the mouth of TROUT RUN.These are BLOCKED from going upstream. It's nothing to see several hundred Steelhead and Browns in a stretch of water of about 100 feet. I have lawn cast the rod a few times. This rod will do very well with 12# tippet for big kings in Michigan and will also protect the 4# tippet for the Erie trib. Steelhead.It is a tip heavy rod but when I asked Mr O'Brien to build it I was expecting it to be. The reel I have on it now is a pretty good balance.and the fighting but is a must for such a long powerfull rod.I will be able to dead drift small nymphs and eggs in the creeks and also launch big streamers down at the mouth. Monday or Tuesday I'm going to hit Erie again.

I made a commitment to post several reviews/observations of this rod and to date this is only my first one. I let some people and myself down so here is what I want to do. Wednesday I will be back from fishing. I would like anyone who would like to fish this rod to get in touch with me. I will pay to ship it to you. You fish it for a while and let me know what you think and we can get some info out on this rod.