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Post 23 Aug 2019, 20:07 • #26 
Sport
Joined: 06/23/19
Posts: 83
Location: US-CA
[quote="bulldog1935"]

I've also never met a cane rod over 8-1/2' that I liked, though that length in 4/5-wt cane completely fills my trout fishing niche. tailwater and western.

Try an E. C. Powell 9.5’ 6-7wt. You won’t believe how light in the hand and perfectly balanced the rod is.


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Post 14 Oct 2019, 11:27 • #27 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/24/11
Posts: 1144
Location: Belgium
If the purpose is swinging flies then I suppose the length could be pushed quite a bit. For an all around rod that can execute quick hook sets I think 8'6" or 8'9" (depending on reel seat and grip design) is pretty much the limit. A downlocking cap and ring seat and gripping the rod way down next to the reel adds a couple of inches of effective length compared to an uplocking seat.
My workhorse medium to large water rod is an 8'6" 4/5 wt built on a very fast CTS custom blank with downlocking cap and ring. It casts like a graphite rod with a bit of a weight penalty but it is much more effective fighting fish of any size.


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Post 30 Sep 2020, 22:58 • #28 
Sport
Joined: 09/21/13
Posts: 71
Location: US-VT
I'm a fan of glass and grass, but over 8'6" I tend to go for graphite in single-handed rods.

I find 7'9" to 8'3" to be a sweet spot in rod length design where bamboo, glass, and graphite are all useful for creating superior products.


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Post 01 Oct 2020, 06:04 • #29 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/07/18
Posts: 382
Location: Reston VA
Just for the record, ARE -- when it was still in active business -- also made or ,better, bought somewhere glass spey blanks and rods up to 12' long.


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Post 15 Oct 2020, 20:28 • #30 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/09/05
Posts: 2524
Location: US-CO
My vintage rod experience has shown me that glass from those earlier times turns a corner for me at about 8 ft. I have a couple of glass rods longer than that (8'6" Shakespeare and 8'3" Fenwick) but I have not kept any others for the trout and stream fishing that represents most of my fishing. I particularly like the 7 1/2 to 8 ft, 5 and 6 weight rods from those days. I know there are others who have 8'6" vintage glass rods that they swear by for their fishing, but they are generally not for me.


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Post 16 Oct 2020, 19:32 • #31 
Master Guide
Joined: 10/07/11
Posts: 692
Location: SE MA
My 9' glass fly rod experience is limited to the Fenwick FF90-3 6/7 weight. Balanced with the right weight reel it is actually an enjoyable tool for long casts over big water. At 4.3 ounces it's actually lighter than some of my graphite rods. Fishing the FF90-3 gets to be a workout, and so I usually pair it with a shorter rod on the days I take it out.


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Post 17 Oct 2020, 08:43 • #32 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 09/18/09
Posts: 5561
Location: Relocated to the Drought Stricken West.
I think we haven't pushed the limits of what glass can do, but it is clear to me that as you get longer, graphite is a better fit.

In vintage rods, 8' is the limit for med-fast action rods and 8'6" for medium to slow rods.
In modern rods, those numbers get a bit longer (McFarland s-glass to just over 9' in a single hand rod), and I think they could go longer, but going to graphite makes the job easier, and you can produce a 9' med-slow action rod in graphite. The McFarland 'Vintage' and 'Emerger' are good examples, as are the early vintage Graphite HMG and Orvis Graphite rods.

In two handed rods, I'm still trying to get the feel for what glass can do. I feel they are decent Skagit rods but are not well suited to Scandi, but maybe I just need to work on my casting.

I think the longer glass rods that are out there today (8.8"-9'3") are the limit.


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Post 17 Oct 2020, 10:09 • #33 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 11/06/17
Posts: 2498
Location: South of Joplin
We will reach the limits of anglers to use the rods long before we reach the limits of the material.


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Post 17 Oct 2020, 10:37 • #34 
Master Guide
Joined: 09/23/18
Posts: 614
Location: Eastern Wa
I purchased the Echo glass switch/spey rods when they were on closeout from a Portland retailer for $139 a few years ago. I ended up with the 10’6 4wt, 11ft 6wt, and 12’7” 7wt. I use the 4wt with a vintage automatic reel and Teeny T200 for big water deep streamer fishing casting one-handed and it is wonderful but i dont fish it skagit or skandi style. I fish the 6 wt with a mix of double and single handed and feel it is perfect for large trout rivers fishing deep where i have to fish double handed because of the brush/trees. The 12’7” 7wt is killer but i havent fished it much, just cast it off a dock a bunch of times. I use a 540gr floating spey line on it (Gaelforce) and it is pure fun to play with and very easy to make an inexperienced spey caster feel proud. I have a Burkheimer 7134 and can cast better with the Echo. If i was a better spey caster i might think differently. I definitely dont feel i am sacrificing anything over graphite with the 6 and 7 wt echo rods.

I think that at 11 ft with the taper Echo went with on the 6wt i feel it is the ultimate big water fiberglass trout rod.

My preference for fishing vintage now trump my desire to fish with these more “effective” tools and nostagia is what im looking for over quantity. I need to pull these back out of the closet and play with them more.


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Post 17 Oct 2020, 14:54 • #35 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 12/31/15
Posts: 1238
Location: Northern Rockies
My ********* YS Glass 9’ 6-weights is one of my favorite rods. It’s E-glass, and only weighs 3.7 oz fully built.


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Post 17 Oct 2020, 16:29 • #36 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
In this thread, let's stick to length of single handed rods, "light" line of the conventional AFFTA standard. 'Glass spey rods might make a fun separate topic but both "long" and "light-line" are of a different order in discussing them.


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Post 02 Nov 2020, 11:25 • #37 
Guide
Joined: 12/05/18
Posts: 134
Location: US-MN
GlacierRambler wrote:
My ********* YS Glass 9’ 6-weights is one of my favorite rods. It’s E-glass, and only weighs 3.7 oz fully built.


RIGHT! The YS is a unique exception perhaps. Get the 4wt, you will have another favorite.

Admittedly, other than my YS 9’ 6 wt and 4 wt, I’ve not cast any glass longer than 8’6”, can fully appreciate the previous comments that the sweet spot for single hand glass is under 8’6”.

As craftsman like Dusty innovate in design and length it’s certainly worth taking note (and supporting).


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Post 03 Nov 2020, 14:10 • #38 
Guide
Joined: 12/20/18
Posts: 204
Location: Yorkshire
Are the ********* YS rods not hybrid glass/ carbon? Sorry if I have got that totally wrong.


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Post 03 Nov 2020, 16:50 • #39 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 11/25/09
Posts: 2319
They are a combination of the 2 but I only reinforce with graphite. The vast majority of these blanks are glass and when I averaged the modulus of the combined materials together it turns out to be close to uni s glass. They feel like glass and have the durability of eglass but are rolled on graphite tapers.


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Post 03 Nov 2020, 17:03 • #40 
Guide
Joined: 12/20/18
Posts: 204
Location: Yorkshire
Thanks Dusty, cool.


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Post 04 Nov 2020, 01:01 • #41 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 12/31/15
Posts: 1238
Location: Northern Rockies
Swedish_Fish218 wrote:
Get the 4wt, you will have another favorite.

Admittedly, other than my YS 9’ 6 wt and 4 wt, I’ve not cast any glass longer than 8’6”, can fully appreciate the previous comments that the sweet spot for single hand glass is under 8’6”.

As craftsman like Dusty innovate in design and length it’s certainly worth taking note (and supporting).

I have a 4-weight blank on the way! I'm excited to build it out this winter.

But I would agree in general. 8'6" seems to be about right for most glass rods, and it certainly performs well for me.


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