Kinni Mini Clave

Conclave [kon-kleyv] Definition: 1. A private or secret meeting. 2. An assembly or gathering, especially one that has special power, authority, or influence. 3. Sometimes shortened to "clave".

You don't hear the word conclave very often in life. Unless, that is, you are one of the special kind of people who, for reasons that nobody else seems to understand, has a special affinity for fiberglass fly rods. If you are one of those kinds of people, you are bound to hear the word conclave on a daily basis. "Coulee Conclave"; "Carolina Conclave"; "Montana Clave"; and now the newest addition to this list, the "Kinni Mini Clave".

The first annual Kinni Mini Clave occurred this past weekend, and it was a hoot! The brainchild of three crazed local fiberglass fly rod aficionados, it was a chance for other like-minded fiberglass nuts to get together, cast rods, tell stories, eat great food, and then cast more rods. Some people, including a lot of other fly fishermen, would probably think we were insane for standing around and casting our fishing rods on grass, but it was an awesome time! Even a little bit of rain didn't make us question ourselves, or our sanity.

Unlike other, weekend-long conclaves happening around the country, the Kinni Mini only lasted a few hours, hence the "mini" part of the name. The "Kinni" part of the name was used not only for its rhyming purposes, but also because our meeting place was a park that sits high above the confluence of the Kinnickinnic River and the South Fork of the Kinnickinnic River in River Falls, Wisconsin. The main Kinni is one of the highest quality trout streams in all the Upper Midwest, and the South Fork, while tiny, is home to a huge number of brook trout. I believe almost all of the Clave attendees spent the evening fishing somewhere on one of these two trout streams...

But enough about that! Let's talk about the rods that were there! There were dozens of rods, including one or more from almost every rodmaker imaginable. Old rods. New rods. Custom rods. Factory rods. Rods made in America. Rods made outside of America. Fast rods. Slooooooow rods. Rods that cost less than $40. Rods that cost a whole lot more than $40. If you wanted to try a certain brand of rod, it most likely was at the Kinni Mini Clave. Here are a few that stood out:

No secret ballots were cast or anything like that, but from listening to some of the murmurings coming from the Clave attendees, I would say that two rods really stood out to people. First was a Scott F754/3, which is one of the older black glass rods that Scott made in the 90s, if my memory serves me. Second was an even older Hardy Fibalite 7'6" 5wt. I don't think many people had cast an old Hardy before, so they were surprised by its smoothness and power. Oh, and a lot of people liked the new Fenwick Fenglass FG704-3, too. All three of those are sweet, but there were a lot of other great rods at the Kinni Mini, as well.

Two of my favorites were an old Heddon Pal Pro Weight 7' 5wt, which was like a buttery rocket launcher, and an apple green custom rod built on an Aventik blank by my friend's teenage daughter. She did a great job on the build, and the rod was a sweet caster! I had never tried an Aventik rod before, but they seem to be a great low-end option.

This will put a wrap on the first annual Kinni Mini Clave. It was a bigger success than we were expecting, so look for the second one to happen sometime next year. Maybe it will be on the Kinni or maybe it will move to another river. I guess we'll all just have to wait and find out! If you're a fellow fiberglass fly rod fanatic, we'll see you there!

Editor's note: I would just like to end this by thanking everyone who came out to the Clave, and especially to my two cohorts, Peter Davis and Greg Olson, who did an awesome job taking my crazy idea and running with it. Can't wait to put together another one of these things with you guys!