Great question! I am a big fan of Mark's glass rods, and have several. My comments were not about his rods any more than any other brands of glass. I'm guessing my honey Lami's would have similar challenges if pushed beyond the intended parameters of use.
It all depends on a few factors. Line taper, tippet, stroke, distance, etc. I was really pushing the envelope of intended fly size a few times last year.
Cut back the tip of the fly line by just enough, and make a steep taper leader, and we're back in business, mostly.
I used the 2/3's for all wisconsin caddis sizes with no problem, but when I put a brown drake on, the bulk challenges the rod unless the setup and my stroke are really dialed in. I also tried it with bigger muddlers, and I'm fine with a dialed setup. With an out-of-the-packet leader, use a 7.5ft 5x and all is ok. When I used longer leaders and tippets, I had some challenges.
Ditto the 3/4 - I made it work with brown drakes, but it took some dialing in of the line and leader and tippet.
Just for yuks I also tried the 3/4 with some big foam hopppers, and some huge foam hex patterns. Um, no go! Air resistance overcame me, generally, but these patterns are outside what one should be doing with these light rods. We're into 5 weight and up (in glass) territory. Different story in carbon fiber.
Tight Lines,
Alistair
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