ffftroutbum wrote:
Gregg, Doug has a 8’8” Rodon 4 wt. that the late Paul Brown made from a blank. It’s an interesting rod but is far to light in the tip for my tastes. I have never seen one of the shorter rods. I wonder how Ted’s current bamboo rods compare in action to those old boron/graphite rods?
Interesting - I have an 8'8" 4wt Rodon boron/graphite that Simroe made. The late Marty Goldberg bought it at the NJ store that the late Ron Kusse ran - this was back in the '80's. It is demanding with your casting stroke, but when I put myself into the right mood, it does have its own charm.
It makes sense to me that the late Paul Brown built up Doug's 8'8". There are a few of us who are able to tune into these kinds of slow smooth sticks, and I sure treasure the original Fenwick World Class series that I've scavenged up over the years. In addition to the couple 903L's I started with, I've got among others a 902 and 901.
Right now the recent Montana Brothers Rodworks 904L has the same design philosophies and I need to do some comparisons on the water.
Hal Bacon decades ago had the East Branch series, which were in the same vein. As for glass with similar actions, I suppose the original Winston Stalkers were reminiscent of these actions. More recently, I got a 7' 3wt glass from Art Weiler - he calls them Willow, and that's apt. I assume the white blank came from Japan.
All of these are in the opposite realm from the zippy, often soul-less four figure graphites.
tl
les