Hi, I am new member that has been getting deeper into small streams in mid-Atlantic over last few years. Been using a 7'6" Orvis Superfine glass rod and love it, but noticed for some areas really wanted smaller rod.

In mid-Jan. took possession of a new C. Barclay Blue Ridge Special (med-light action), 6'8", 4-piece, 3wt rod paired with a Kineya Model 300 reel spooled with 406 DT-3, which I added Appalachian Mountains Furled 3' leader.

Haven't had to time to fish on appropriate mountain stream yet but next week the stars should line up and hopefully rain abates. Here is pic Chris sent prior to rod going out. I have had out in local pond playing around and this thing is soo sweet, smooth and loads so nice. Chris was great guy to work with and highly recommend him if your looking for custom.

Welcome! I have the three piece model of the 68 and it is sweet. You're going to love it. I can also recommend the 66 2 weight. Even more fun if there's no wind.

68camaro, we spent many years in central VA and I passed many days fishing throughout those mountains. My Fenwick 7' 5 weight was my rod of choice. But I didn't have anything smaller! That set-up from Chris should be just perfect. Post some photos for us!

Where in Central Va? I grew up in Fredericksburg and could point you to a few on the northern end of your area; my dad still tries to fish them. My favorite being the Conway river in the state wildlife area. Some bruiser wild browns in there and the first place I caught a wild tiger trout.

Finally got Chris' Blue Ridge Special out unto a small stream yesterday.

Spent a full day Tuesday throwing big streamers for Brown trout on an Orvis 7F H3, so when I put Chris' 6'8" 3wt rod together it felt like a feather. I don't have a lot to compare the rod to, my only other glass is an Orvis Superfine 7'6" 3wt, but I will tell you on tight streams the Blue Ridge Special (BSR) is simply "fun to fish".

My progression to the C. Barcklay started with a Helios 2 9' 5 weight. This is very nice rod but not for tight water natives, I then purchased a Superfine 3wt and it was a HUGE difference and made fishing so much easier and enjoyable, opened up tons of pockets to target, and being glass was much slower. As I got into small streams more and more I realized I wanted a smaller rod, hence the Blue Ridge Special. Just like the Superfine was huge difference over the 9' 5wt, the Blue Ridge Special was huge difference over the Superfine.

I spent yesterday morning throwing dry's on Chris' rod in morning and switched to the the Superfine in afternoon to compare. Honestly, I doubt I will use the superfine again, not because it is a bad rod but simply the BRS is soo much better and fun to work with on the smaller streams I fish. Going from Chris' 6'8" to the 7'6" is a munch bigger jump than I thought. Switching to the longer Superfine, I spend much more time getting flies/line out branches and overshooting close targets simply due to its length. Also to load up to shoot further I needed quite a bit more space than the BSR and as we know, space is rare commodity on tight streams.

I never knew what slow was until fishing the BRS, it's like throwing darts in slow motion, the rods slowness just makes it so fun to fish. By slowing down the cast you are actually taking in more of your surroundings and at the "moment" it's like time slows down. It also loads up so amazing, you really feel the load, I fished a lot left handed as I used my right hand to steady myself with wading staff trying to get best positions to target areas. Just flicking the wrist put the fly in target zone. When real tight I choked up on rod and holding it above cork a few times and still got all the load and accuracy I needed. With fish on, the give of the rod kept the smallest to the biggest brookie pinned for a nice fight.

Upon approaching some wider areas where I needed to really managing drift on both side of riffles, I found the shorter rod made me think much more of my approach, stealth and how to fish both sides without blowing the run. This actually increased the joy as it added to the strategy necessary to fish the run.

I can't forget to mention how gently the dry fly floats to the water on the rod paired with the Appalachian Mountain Furled leader and short tippet, no more that 2'. Even with the Superfine I noticed the fly dropped harder in many instances due shorter cast room which created need for harder wrist flick to get fly in target. When I needed longer casts the rod delivered perfectly without effort.

All-in-all the rod works great and simply puts smile on your face when fishing it.