There are some really nice rods in that collection. I had spent the entire morning casting fast graphite and just to make matters worse, right before I met up with Dusty I had been casting a Loomis NRX 6wt. That rod is fast, but I sort of liked it. Maybe I'm cresting on my 7 year graphite cycle
I cast 3 of his glass rods 3wt, 5wt and 6wt. As well as two graphite rods (Dusty, they graphites were both 5 wt rods, correct?)
The 863 3wt is a really neat rod. The taper on this rod is fantastic for general purpose 3wt work. I normally wouldn't consider fishing wets or nymphs with a 3wt, but this rod would handle sz 16 and under nymphs with ease. For dry fly work this rod is a dream out to 45ft. After that it is still fishable but I started to loose some of the presentation you would expect from a 3wt. It casts well in close, but the length makes really short casts like you would make with a 7 rods more of a dap.
The 866 was a nice rod, but it was harder for me to cast after coming in from a NRX 6wt. I was able to get fishable casts out to about 60 ft. After that I ended up forcing the rod.
The 865 is a rod I am looking forward to casting again when I am in a more leisurely mood. It has a bit of swing weight to it. I might have to spend some time with different lines on it, but the taper was really nice. It has some of the stickyness of the Japanese glass rods with a bit more power in the butt. I hope to have a chance to really spend some time with this rod.
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I cast two graphite rods. Both 9' 5wts (Dusty, correcty me if i'm wrong) . A fast and slow model. Dusty is still making some adjustments to the fast model, but it is really promising as a rod that will cast from 10ft to 70 ft). The slower of the rods is a very nice presentation dry fly rod. Capable of doing more as a 9' 5wt, but a really nice rod for relaxed casting.
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The workmanship is very good. They are not overly decorative, but the low build wraps, hiqh quality compoents with beautiful wood reel inserts make these jump out without anyone thinking the rods are art pieces and not fishing rods.
Carl