Hi Folks,

I'm fishing two Echo glass rods at the moment, along with a couple other graphite pieces. One of my Echo rods is a 9' 6W, and the other is a 10'8" 4W Switch.

The owner of the company I work for was cleaning house at the shop, and had a bunch of older rods he was ready to throw in the bin. I was fortunate enough to save a Betts 26S, with a sliding reel seat. It's perfectly fishable, except for some missing decorative winding, right next to the connection. Other than that, it looks almost brand new! It's a wet noodle, but I'm going to try it out during the week.
I also saved an old, warped Shakespeare cane rod that will make a nice wall-hanger. This rod was wrapped in a very old Hardy's fabric sock, but I couldn't find a date.

Thanks for the add, and I look forward to exploring the site.

Longtime lurker, first time poster.

I truly enjoy the website and love the spirit of helpfulness that is seen throughout the interaction.

I live in No. Illinois and enjoy wading for smallmouth in the Fox and DuPage rivers and never grow tired of finding subdivision retention ponds with bluegill & largemouth.

Have cycled through about a dozen plus classic and modern glass rods but have landed on mostly 2 piece Fenwicks in the 7' and 7' 6" lengths.

I have been learned a lot from everyone, thank you.

Merry Christmas, folks! Reckon I’ll do the obligatory member intro today as I finally have some free time. Also a nice way to welcome in a new year coming and all the surprises it may bring.

At this time, functionally glassless in Indiana for fishing purposes, but I might as well introduce myself anyway as this situation is going to change in the near future. Got some blanks and accumulating supplies where product stock is conducive to such endeavors. Lifelong angler, flytyer, and rodbuilder who fishes mostly warmwater species in local region. Been a while since I’ve last fished with a fiberglass flyrod, in fact the horizontal automatics were still kind of a thing back then and not at all unusual looking on a flyrod. First flycasts and catches were ‘gills with Grampa from a 12’ cartopper in a Northern Indiana lake amongst flooded willows in mid spring. I still remember my thoughts upon finally getting to witness what flyfishing was. Times have changed, but back in the 70’s there was never much flyfishing on TV (in Indiana) and we didn’t have films of anyone doing it so just exactly how this worked and what it looked like was a confounding mystery despite repeated explanations. Already a young fishin’ nut, yet clueless in this area of tackle. All started about like this when witnessing the demonstration on the water…

Oh, Wow! That’s like…really loud casting for fishing tackle, at least compared to the maroon Shakespeare spinning reels we use. I did not expect this (but then, it is an awfully fat line). And fast moving, too! Maybe even kinda dangerous depending on how good or bad you are at this. He can actually cast right out into and through all those brushy willow tops and hit that little opening out there. Miss a fish? Whip it back and put it right back on ‘em. Cannot believe what I’m seeing, but that awkwardly long rod works very nicely for arguing such a large ‘gill right back to the boat despite the odd method of hand-pulling the line in. LET ME TRY IT NOW!

Reads strange for a first experience, but that’s how it went as a lived revelation. I still remember the day and it’s the anticipatory energy, assumptions, and what my impression of flyfishing was at the moment I first witnessed it. From there it was what I suspect is the typical learning curve with messy tangles, willows snagged (fore & aft), and choice words of reprimand after the umpteenth whipcracked backcast & lost foam spider. But I did indeed catch some nice bluegill with some so big even the grown man instructing me had trouble fitting his hand around them.

Aside from the attributes of fiberglass and general glass rod actions grooving with my evolved preferences in tackle, it also seems kinda fitting I should gravitate back to such a material after so many years. This’ll be an interesting rodbuilding journey to embark on and will likely take some unusual turns. Everything I do does at some point even when it appears to come full circle in other ways.

Anyhow, the above is a bit about me and why I’m here. Nice place, BTW, I’ve read much here and looking forward to reading much more in both the forums and FM blog.

Good afternoon,

Very happy to be a part of the forum. Very excited to get into fly fishing. I have a few things that were my grandfathers and I will be getting a setup of my own soon. Already seeing great information.

-Tim

Looking forward to my Vintage glass journey! Glad to join the forum.

Hello my long time fishing pal Chris.
Good to see you here.

Many answers can be questioned here.
And vice versa.

Hi,

Thank you for accepting me on the forum.

I have built two fiberglass rods a 8'6 5Wt and a 7' 3Wt, love fishing them and want to learn more about glass rods.

I joined to learn more about fiberglass rods, and to make an educated/ budget oriented decision regarding my first rod and reel purchase. You can tell this place is a treasure trove of information, and members seem eager to share. I love the retro look and feel of fiberglass and don't think I need the latest and 'greatest' equipment to catch fish around here or when visiting my cousins in Montana.