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Post 13 Oct 2017, 18:21 • #1 
Sport
Joined: 09/20/17
Posts: 28
Location: US-MA
So....I've been thinking about a shorter streamer and bass fishing rod for a while. The only glass rod I own is an Epic 480 that I got for dry fly fishing last year so I don't have much experience with other glass rods but I really enjoy fishing this one. I'm not too concerned with tippet protection fishing big bugs but I really like that the glass rod loads well without much fly line out. It's also a hell of a lot more fun to fight fish with, and fighting a largemouth bass with a stiff graphite 7 or 8 wt. just isn't that exciting.

Anyway, why a parabolic? Well, I'm not entirely sure that it is more practical. Honestly, I just think it could be a fun tool for the purpose. My spey rod has a regressive taper and I've played around with a few bamboo rods with parabolic tapers. The spey rod I speak of is pretty snappy and shoots line like a rocket but it's a graphite rod so perhaps a glass rod with a soft butt section wouldn't share that property. Anyway, I guess I just enjoy the feeling of the rod bending all the way down into the cork and that's really it.

Does anyone use a parabolic or semiparabolic taper for bigger flies? Thoughts on its utility versus a progressive taper? Does anyone even make blanks that could fit this bill?


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Post 13 Oct 2017, 22:36 • #2 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 05/19/14
Posts: 3925
Location: USA - Illinois
You say shorter - what length are you thinking? Most parabolic rods I have any knowledge of are at least 8 footers (bamboo). Chris Barclay makes his p rods, but ~3,4,5 weight. There may be some para glass rods for 7-8 wt. but I don't know of any. Others here might. Parabolics can sure be powerful rods.


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Post 14 Oct 2017, 05:07 • #3 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
Oh I suppose it would work fine. But I wouldn't overthink it. In 'glass, a plain old 8' 7 weight medium action rod, a common type of the glass heyday, will be fine. I don't see any utility in a more complex design, but as you said, it could be fun nevertheless and thus worth a try.


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Post 14 Oct 2017, 06:27 • #4 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
para tapers respond best to smooth short arm movements combined with haul, load like a bow and blast out line.
I've mentioned before my Fisher Sterling combo makes an 8'10" 5/6wt progressive rod with four pieces - the top two pieces with a different handle make a 6'9" 6-wt para, and either combo will cast the same distance. (though the longer progressive rod is a magic wand for fly placement)
The guy who has probably spent more time than anyone else playing with para tapers in both cane glass is my buddy Rob Sherill, TXTrout on this forum. Rob is a student of Don West and Paul Young.
I recommend contacting him for ideas, and he probably has a half-dozen glass rods for sale.
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not glass, but here is a 7'10" 5-wt para streamer rocket built by another buddy, Floyd Burkett, a taper he named The Guadalupe
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I will add fishing with buddies one day I began with this rod in a famous streamer hole - did well, and followed them upriver where we found a dry fly hatch in riffle water. This was the wrong rod to have, While I landed a fish there, most strikes were either missed or broken off. Made up for it next time with my super-progressive dry fly rod, when I took the tally.

My go-to salt rod is a Japanese para taper. Sage RPLX and TCR are both para graphite - they don't call them that.
The South Bend 469 combo rod is a 7' 7-wt para, and many people have rebuilt these as fly only and use them in the salt.


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Post 14 Oct 2017, 13:07 • #5 
Master Guide
Joined: 01/05/14
Posts: 689
Location: North Alabama
Right up my alley, I use a 7ft 6wt from Chris barclay for almost all of my bass and trout needs in small waters...using big bugs. It's a unique rod and has a bit of parabolic feel to it. I would look into the taper....its the 70LS


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Post 14 Oct 2017, 20:42 • #6 
Sport
Joined: 09/20/17
Posts: 28
Location: US-MA
jhuskey wrote:
You say shorter - what length are you thinking? Most parabolic rods I have any knowledge of are at least 8 footers (bamboo). Chris Barclay makes his p rods, but ~3,4,5 weight. There may be some para glass rods for 7-8 wt. but I don't know of any. Others here might. Parabolics can sure be powerful rods.


Ah, ya, I should have specified. I'm still largely in the world of graphite so I'm still used to thinking of anything under 9' as short. I figure for this application something in the 8' or 8'6" range is ideal. I'd like to have something that can cast longer distances and throw big mends when needed, though that won't likely be too common.


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