I haven’t used graphite rods much since the glass bug bit. They have their good features, but I find their fast, tip flex action to lack the fun feel of a glass rod, both for casting and playing a fish
One thing they are is light. Too often, however, the weight advantage is negated by length and the swing weight is no better or worse than the glass counterpart. A glass rod at 7-8 feet offers a nice flex and some self-loading for close in casts which few graphite rods offer.
Recently, I worked casting into my therapy from elbow replacement surgery. I wanted to start with the lightest rod I could find, and looked for a short graphite rod. I found one, a Proberos 7 ft. 3/4 wt direct from China for $27, free shipping. "What the heck, it’s worth it just to see what on earth they send".
The rod came in a couple of weeks, in a sock, wrapped in bubble wrap, no tube, miraculously intact. Decent wraps and guides, good cork and a big ugly solid all metal reel seat. I expected it would actually require a 5-6 wt line, but a first wiggle it had a nice soft deep flex, and really low swing weight. Butt heavy with that reel seat, but it had the light tip I wanted, and worked fine with a 3 wt line. The more I cast it, the more I liked it. No harsh impact like my stiff, fast graphite rods, just smooth, flexy casting. I figured it could stay. At 22” (four piece) it would become a rod to put in my backpack when Tenkara fishing, or taking on the paddleboard, where a short cheap rod is just the ticket.
I liked it enough to check out the 5-6 wt rod. Another $26, this one came intact in a cardboard box. It not only had the same nice flex, more of a 5 wt than a 6 wt, amazingly, it had the same diameter blank as the 3-4 wt rod! I can mix and match to make a 4 wt rod which is more tip flex or deep flex. While I was on a roll, I picked up the 7-8 wt. By then they were up to $39.99 on ebay, and $65 on Amazon. It is has a fatter blank, but is certainly no 8 wt, seems be a 6-7 wt and It will go on the paddleboard for the bass lakes .
As my elbow got stronger, I started casting bigger rods, and two weeks before I was schedule to leave for Argentina, was casting 9’ six weight rods pretty well. I wasn’t sure how I’d hold up casting all day though, so when I packed, I tossed those light compact Proberos rods in my carry-on bag.
I used then a fair bit down there. One day I was resting up the arm for a long day on a raft, and used the 3-4 wt rod on a smaller, willow choked stream. The short rod and easy loading was great for working flies under the branches. Another day I was fishing a small stream with the Tenkara rod and dry flies. After lunch I switched to the 3-4 wt for a change of pace and arm rest. The rod was fine, but when we found some big plunge pools below some falls, it really paid off. In my pack was able to put the Tenkara rod, the Proberos 3-4 rod, and the top three sections of the 5-6 rod. I put it together as a 5-6 and cast a Possie bugger into the pool. That worked rather well:
I thought about posting this in the "graphite rods with glass soul" or "rods for the the back of the truck" threads. What can I say, they are cheap, they are not stiff clubs, they work. I saw a few back on ebay for $27. Hard to go wrong.
Posted: 27 Feb 2020, 15:35 • 
