need help picking out a new fly rod

[BilletHead]

7 minutes ago, tjm said:

Fenwick FL84-5.  was  sold as a blank 84" long for a #5 line.  Equivalent to their factory FF7o or later FF705 it should be about 3oz. 

            Thanks. I did try a 5wt modern line on it also, but I am sure it is sized higher for modern rods. I should order a 406 in 5wt to try. Heck it might throw better. So I have a 406 in a 3 and a 4 might as well have it in a 5 😀don't ya think?

[tjm]

 The difference between the line load of  a #4 to #5 or from #5 to #6 at normal fishing distance is about 4' more line out. The 20 grains over 30' totals about the mass of a business card. So a line down or a line weight up isn't going to have a great effect on the rod load. A dropper fly would probably change it just as much. 

The other thing is there has never been an objective way to rate rods for lines and there is no standard for rod rating. So, someone at the factory tries a few lines on a given prototype, finds a line he likes on it, guesses how much better caster he is than the "average"  user and gives that prototype a line rating that he thinks will match most users ability. I take rod ratings as a suggested starting point and with a helping of salt. Knowing how my Fenwicks cast I might like that one with a #6 better than with a #4, although I commonly underline my rods. Some of our WF4 lines might be #5s on a scale, there are a lot of over weight WF on the market.

[BilletHead]

34 minutes ago, tjm said:

Fenwick FL84-5.  was  sold as a blank 84" long for a #5 line.  Equivalent to their factory FF70 or later FF705 it should be about 3oz. 

      Ok another question. So we know this is a Fenwick blank. The other rod I shared and found last summer we decided it was a Fenwick blank non marked. I showed a guy who said both rods had the same Fenwick color of thread wraps. Was this just a popular color wrap? Or would Fenwick sell kits for diy? Note these two rods were hundreds of miles apart. Any other companies using Fenwick blanks for their resale?  The newest accusation is very translucent while the first one is more opaque. .

[tjm]

They and most others sold blanks alone or as kits. But they didn't make the thread, and probably it came from Gudebrod, I've read that Brown, Chestnut and Gudebrod 396  were very close matches. You could also buy the woven thread tape used in the diamond butt wraps.  The grip and reel seat on this rod are probably homegrown, or at least I haven't seen one just like that and the rings seem narrow to me. And if they give you trouble or you have any concern about them slipping off just grab a couple of rubber O rings and work them onto the reel foot outboard of the metal rings to keep them in place.

At one time all the Fenwick blanks were yellow so that they couldn't be mistaken for factory rods and could come cut for ferrules or one piece, and at one time they supplied factory spigots for the yellow blanks. All before I started fly fishing in the late '70s, so I just know of them from reading and internet posts. Fenwick made a zillion of everything they made though working two and three shifts, I've read. Thousands of rods per week.

[tjm]

What a factory Fenwick cork seat looked like in  '71 about the time of your rod

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, BilletHead said:

            Thanks. I did try a 5wt modern line on it also, but I am sure it is sized higher for modern rods. I should order a 406 in 5wt to try. Heck it might throw better. So I have a 406 in a 3 and a 4 might as well have it in a 5 😀don't ya think?

I don't know if any of this info is useful to ya, but I just happen to have it, so...... 

 

 

[kjackson]

10 hours ago, BilletHead said:

              It really is Imo Glen. It's a thing though. seen more like it in the web and @kjackson showed me a pic of one of his like it.  I tried more than one reel on it. Some of the older fly reels had a thicker foot. I put a narrow piece of craft foam under it and it fits fine. 

I can't say how the rings will work on a heavier rod, but on my 5 wt Orvis FullFlex, they were a good match.  I matched the rod with a Sci Anglers' reel. It has a tapered foot that increases in thickness the closer it was to the center.  I used and abused the rod on a lot of really nice browns on the Clark Fork, and it never gave me a bit of trouble. Interestingly--to me anyway-- the rod I built for my wife had wider rings, which probably was a matter of what was available in Bob Ward's at the time.  

FWIW, I built the rod over 50 years ago, and it still does a good job of holding the reel.  

[jdmidwest]

I find myself fiddling with reel seats during a day of fishing whether I am using a spin rod or a fly rod.  The only ones that I never have move seem to be on bait casters.

Its the physics of the line being away from the plane of the winding surface I assume, torquing it somewhat. 

[ness]

On 12/30/2023 at 5:54 PM, Big Mike said:

Well I ended up getting a 5wt 9ft rod.  Went the the river this morning right at daylight with no luck.  Decided to go to the park to practice casting.  I threw wooly buggers exclusively and caught around 10 and best color was black.  I had way more bites but it took me a while to get the hang of it.  I tried different retrieves but most were caught on a fast retrieve in the middle of the water column.  I did catch a few letting it bounce slowly along the bottom.  I think I’m hooked:)  here a few of my better fish.  

You’re a 1 percenter! Congrats!😀