W&m Feather Light--new Vs. Old

[Crippled Caddis]

FWIW:

After buying a new 7' W&M Feather Light last Winter I've suspected that it owed far more allegiance to spinning rod blanks than to W&M's origins as a maker of good quality 'blue collar' flyrods. It's very tippiness suggested that it was designed to cast light lures on light mono rather than a flyline. That the tip collapsed when lightly loaded and the rod required a LOT more weight in order to load down into the mid-section in order to 'get down and work' to toss the sort of flies one expects a 6 wt. to deliver effortlessly only added to my thoughts.

Well yesterday the opportunity presented itself to either verify or give the lie to my suspicians when I acquired a very early short-metal ferruled 'Feather Light' wrapped with proper snake guides and showing only superficial wear. But let me just paste in my note to Dano this afternoon on the subject:

<My back wore out after trying the little 5 wt. Shakespeare and the 7' Heddon Pal and I didn't get to try the older W&M Feather Light. But I just now took the Martin model 61 'tuna can" with the WF6F you gave me off of the modern rod so I could compare flex profiles. As I theorized in a post yesterday the only similarity between the two is the color of the blank! Simply allowing gravity to show up the different flex profiles with the butts held parallel in hand and the tips resting on the floor revealed polar opposites and the spinning rod blank background of the modern version. And goes a long way toward explaining the 'tippiness' of the modern version that causes it to simply collapse under load until it is loaded heavily enough to flex down into the mid-section. The older rod shows a true progressive profile mode while the first third of the new one sags like a hot candle. This 'elder stateman' W&M may yet prove to be a real jewel---can't wait to fish it!>

So----hardly definitive data at this point. But I've been 'foolin' with flyrods long enough at this point in time (well over 50 years!) to suggest that if the opportunity presents itself to compare your modern iteration of the Feather Light to one of the originals with the short, neat metal ferrules and snake guides rather than the current spinning guides equipped version---take it! I suspect you will find it something of a revelation and I'm already giving odds that the old version will "lay the new in the weeds" as a flyrod.

[drew03cmc]

The new ones are indeed the exact same blank as the spin rods. That is why I am hesitant to get one of them. I would rather spend a little more money on an older one and get one designed for a #6 line. I am getting a Martin 62 early next week in the mail and will need a shorter lighter rod for it, and the older one might work great. I don't know though, but your view of the newer Featherlight is exactly right.

[Crippled Caddis]

Drew wrote:

<I would rather spend a little more money on an older one and get one designed for a #6 line.>

A wise choice in light of what I have learned. After writing the above I had an opportunity to fish the older rod. Without getting buried in the details I can tell that it was a delight to ME. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

I fished it with a WF5F line----simply because I picked up the wrong reel. Although I commonly overline a rod the FL accepted the 5 wt. with good grace and I did't feel deprived by the experience, so I think it's probably fair to characterize it as a 5/6 wt. rod depending on individual preferences. At this point I suspect that it shared a blank with higher grade rods in the W&M line-up---possibly with the Sweetheart. But that's pure speculation at this stage.

I suspect I'll be fishing it a lot more in the future as it truly matched what I had hoped the modern version would be.

FWIW I caught some good trout the day I fished it and it handled them with efficiency and aplomb.

I expect it's going to take me fishing tomorrow. ;o) CC

[drew03cmc]

Glad you liked it! I have a feeling I will be adding a rod in the 6'6-7' range for a 5wt in the near future, like a hint to the missus for christmas as well as tying materials.