I'm happy to share with the forum I have decided to start selling my fiberglass fly rods. Over the past few months I have received samples from four different vendors of import fiberglass fly rod blanks and they have run the gamut from terrible to outstanding. In doing this I ended up building over a dozen new rods, once I eliminated the blanks that I could just look at and tell I wouldn't be happy with them.
I ended up with two models, a 7'6" 4wt 4pc and an 8'0" 5wt 4pc. I wasn't really looking specifically for a 4pc blank as most of my glass rods are 3pc but it just worked out that way which makes it very easy for travel and backpacking.
My desire is to build quality products, using the highest quality materials but still be able to price them to compete with the current offerings that are made overseas. My rods are priced at $265/285 which includes a cotton rod sleeve, but no fancy tube. I'll pack the rod in a PVC tube and USPS Priority Box to ship.
In my hand the rods are a solid medium action, the 5 is a little faster than the four weight, but again everybody has a different judge of what is slow-medium-fast. I have been fishing both rods almost daily and have found the best match to be 406 Fly Lines WF4 and WF5.
I'm a stock builder, so I'm not going to be taking custom orders, but of course if you have something specific don't hesitate to contact me. I just want to build at my pace, when you see a rod you can't live without, let me know. I don't want to get into the mess of deposits and taking weeks or months to deliver a product.
I have completed my first batch of five rods and have them listed on my website:
http://www.clcrumbliss.com I will start a thread in the classified forum when I have some time in the next few days.
As a way to introduce the rods I'm offering a free 406 Fly Line to the person who buys the first 4wt and 5wt rod. I know as a new builder I'll need to gain the trust of this community. I'd like to especially thank the builders on this forum that have reached out to me and offered help and advice. I'm happy to answer any questions on this thread.