Not glass but the Sage BASS II 390 stick tosses an 11 line very well. The rod measure 7'11" and is in 4 pieces.

Yeah, CTS.

That's the one that's on my radar (especially since they can do one with an 11wt butt, and a 9wt tip)....& spendy.

Out of curiosity, what are you targeting with this?

https://www.mudhole.com/custom-rod-buil ... rod-blanks

Not exactly a glass rod, but it does have a glass scrim.

I have the BAG Quickshot 10 wt and I wouldnt want to overline that rod or fish Tarpon and GT with it.

Never fished Tarpon so I don't know about those other that I've read that 11 wt are suitable. I have fished, and caught, GT's and I know that I don't want to chase those with a 10 wt.

I had Shane Gray build me an 8' 10 wt. 4 piece glass rod back in 2014 for Peacock Bass. I believe it was a CTS blank - he could tell you. Used an 11 wt. Rio Outbound Short line on it and it cast great. Guides loved it.

Tom

What does the rod do and what does the reel accomplish? I’m thinking if you can get the necessary fly to them with the rod, then the reel with the line capacity needed is a big part of the equation, the line and backing out provides a ton of drag on its own. Maybe GT are a special case. Any big, strong, running fish around a reef or other obstacle is trouble. I guess with heavy enough tippet, way beyond what’s considered fly tippet, and rod, hook, and a decent reel, etc, probably almost any fish can be turned if the strength of the individual fly fisherman is there. I’ve read GT require massive tippets. Is that about them often being near reef or for some other reason?

Any 10 weight fiberglass rod is going to be one tough rod to break, graphite not as much. That’s one thing the bigger Tarpon tend to do is shatter graphite, even 12 weights (I’ve seen the photos), with explosive and sudden lunges and leaps that the fisherman can’t react to in time. But that’s normal not the M/O of GT or is it?

I always like when folks figure out how to go after fish with a little lighter than what maybe the herd decides is the set up to go with. And that doesn’t mean they are unnecessarily killing fish, just that they are figuring out what to do when.

My other GT rods are now 11 wt's. Used 12 wt's before but thought 11 would be fine. Like you say, not much of the rod is used fighting the fish. However, I also fish the BAG Quickshot 10 wt and I don't feel it is strong enough in the butt section to do this with confidence. I can't really fish a rod I don't have confidence in. And that kind of answers the question of 10 vs 11. Maybe other 10 wt's have stronger butt sections, I don't know, but if I can find an 11 wt there's really no point in finding a 10 wt I think.

what blank did you end up with?

8'8" 10/11/12, really an 11/12 unless you want it ripping fast with a WF10F. Peter, I think you'll be really happy with this blank.

I appreciate Peter's deference.

It's faster than the 2pc 12wts I've built (McFarland and Seele). This is a GT/tarpon blank through and through, far easier to travel with. I've now built 3 of the 2pc 12wts (7'9", 8'2" and 8'3"), and the 2pc 12wts are true 12s if a bit more moderate in action that this 4pc blank. Underlining the 12s yields poor casting results. This 4pc blank will tolerate many 10wt lines, every 11wt line I've tried, and even some 12s. I think it's probably of better overall utility for the frequent traveler. I do think the 2pc 12wts are outstanding tarpon rods, though, and wouldn't hesitate to fish for big sharks with them. The 4pc 10/11/12 isn't as much of a niche taper - more suitable for bull reds, tarpon, big stripers, big pike and musky, large kings, GT, big jacks. Difficult to describe but the 12wts will, as needed, handle larger flies.

Likewise!