My quiver of 4-weight rods has evolved over the past few months. I think the evolution has made my arsenal even better and more awesome, but that is probably a subjective thought. You might look at the rods I have and think they are all junk. You can have that opinion, you just can't espouse it here on my blog. I'm the blogmaster here; if you have differing opinions, get your own blog. :)
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| The Quiver |
Most of my rods are 4- and 5-weight rods, since most of my fishing is for trout and panfish. In this post I will write about my 4-weight rods, beginning with the shortest in length and moving up to the longest. Let's get this out of the way right from the get-go: They are all sweet rods! Woot!
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| The Quiver, Version 2... |
One of my shortest 4-weight is my recently acquired Phillipson Registered Epoxite Midge EF66. This rod waggles like few others. It is slow, possibly too slow for most people. But it casts beautifully. Love it.
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| Winston 6'6" 4wt |
I have two 7' 4-weights. First up is my green Steffen S-glass. Most Steffen glass rods are a beautiful dark burgundy. This was one of their early green ones. Like all Steffen rods, it casts beautifully.
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| Steffen 7-Footer |
The other 7-footer is my Vince Cummings Superlite, which I have written about before. It is so light in the hand I hardly notice it is there. But it can cast pretty much any sized trout fly all day long. It rocks.
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| Vince Cummings Superlite |
Scientific Angler sold some awesome glass rods back in the late 70s that were built on Fisher blanks. Their System 4 is a 7'2" 4-weight that is the cream of the crop. A great rod!
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| System 4 |
I have a few 7'6" 4-weights, and they are all superb. First up is a Sage SFL476, one of the mystical glass rods that Sage made back in the early 80s. Probably the fastest 4-weight I own, it can do everything.
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| Sage SFL476 and trout |
My black Scott F754/3 is my go-to rod. All Scott glass rods are awesome, and this is no exception.
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| Scott F764/3 |
My Winston Stalker 7'6" glass rod is special to me. It belonged to one of my favorite customers at the fly shop I used to work at, and I was lucky to be able to acquire it when he died. It is both regal and utilitarian. Awesome!
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| 7'6" Winston |
I just got this awesome Scott F794/4, which is a 7'10" beaut. I suspect it will become one of my favorites in no time. Have I mentioned that all Scott glass rods are awesome?
There are a couple of 8-footers in my quiver. First up is a Diamondback Diamondglass rod. These rods developed a cult following amongst glass rod aficionados. This is understandable, as they rock!
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| Diamondglass 8-footer |
Vladan Milenkovic is a musician in Boston, but he also made amazing fiberglass rods for a while. His Unstructured Glass rods are amazing, and somehow I was lucky enough to stumble onto this one a couple of years ago. It is a 4-piece model that Vlad built for the loaner program on The Fiberglass Manifesto website. I don't think it ever got loaned out, though. If it ever was loaned out it didn't get much use. It is an extraordinary casting tool! And beautiful as well!
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| Unstructured Glass 8-Footer |
My last 4-weight is an 8'6" prototype model from the Bozeman Rod Company, which no longer sells rods. The guy who built the rods for Bozeman, Dusty Smith, now sells his rods through his own company, the Livingston Rod Company. He has a reputation as an expert rod craftsman. This is a sweet rod that can cast a mile. I love it!
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| Bozeman Rod Company 8'6" |
So, those are my current 4-weight rods.
My reels that go with these 4-weight rods have also changed over the past year. I am very happy with the options I now have. No matter how light or heavy the rod is, I can always find a reel that will balance it out nicely. My 4-weight reels start with: a lovely green Orvis CFO III Disc, an older Orvis Battenkill 3/4 Click & Pawl, a Ross Evolution 1.5, and a Ross Gunnison 1. All of them purr like kittens, and I haven't had any issues with any of them. Woot!
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