The Sixes - 2023 Style

As you can probably tell from my previous posts, a majority of my fishing is done with 4- and 5-weight rods. I haven't fished for muskies in about 15 years. I keep thinking I will head over to fish for lake run trout and salmon some Fall, but I haven't done that in about 15 years, either. I fish for carp about once a year, and smallmouth bass less than 5 times a year. 99% of my fishing is for trout and panfish, so therefore a vast majority of my rods are built for those fish. But I do occasionally have reason to fish a larger rod, so here is my small batch of sweet 6-weights.

When I first fell in love with fiberglass rods, the best way to do it was find some fairly inexpensive vintage rods, so that's what I did. And when you find vintage glass, it's almost always a 6-weight or higher. Back in the day, they didn't have time for light line weights. Or maybe they didn't have the technology to make light line rods. Whatever the case, almost all rods were 6- or 7-weights. Or bigger. 5-weights were rare, and 4-weights were almost unheard of. So, I acquired a bunch of 6-weights from various vintage manufacturers.

I have owned 6-weights from Wright & McGill, Phillipson, Fenwick, Garcia, Berkley, Cortland, Heddon, Shakespeare, and on and on. A lot of them were good, serviceable rods, and I have caught a lot of fish with them. But I moved most of them on, since I would rather fish with a 4- or 5-weight. But I still have a few, which get fished every once in a while. Here they are, from shortest to longest:

7'6" Vince Cummings River Rat. Vince Cummings rods are fairly rare, and seem to have a mystical aura about them. Not sure about all that, but the ones I have acquired are all wonderful casting tools. I owned two of these at one point, and sold the other one for probably way too little. Oh well. This one can throw a 6-weight line a mile. I love it.

7'6" Berkley Shadow S-Glass. One of the few glass rods that I have not owned or even waggled is a Berkley Stream Specialist, which is supposed to be one of the best glass rods ever manufactured. I am still looking for a Stream Specialist, but in my searches I came across this vintage S-Glass Berkley rod. Since the vaunted Stream Specialists were purportedly built out of S-Glass, this rod got me to wondering if maybe it was built on the same blank, only with less expensive accoutrements, like Berkley was known to do back in the day... Not sure, but this rod is sweet! Nice and crisp action, almost fast. I can boom casts all day long.

7'6" Scott PowR-Ply. This is a new acquisition for me. I have only had it out in the yard so far. Like all Scott glass rods, it's a bit tip-heavy in the hand, but it is so smooth when casting. It will be a perfect streamer, nymph, and all-around rod. 

7'9" Sage 679SFL. All Sage glass rods are on the fast side, and this is no exception. And it is nice and light in the hand. This is a perfect smallmouth rod. I can cast Clousers and Buggers all day with this thing. I think I should do that more often this summer...

8' Berkley Para-Metric. This is the glass rod I have had the longest. I got it as part of a lot of four or five glass rods on ebay when I was first getting interested in glass. It's the only one from that lot I still own. Most Para-Metrics have the famous Berkley sleeve/spigot ferrule. This one is just a normal spigot ferrule. It feels extremely light in the hand, and it casts beautifully. I still am not sure what Para-Metric really means, but this rod is great. It seems that most 8' Para-Metrics are designated as 7-weights, but this one has "Recommended Line No. 6" written on the blank. It's a beaut! And look at the original medallion, still intact!

8' Fenwick FF806-4. I love this rod! I have had a bunch of vintage pack rods over the years, and this is the only one I have kept. It is a wonderful rod; it can handle any size fly I might want to use during a day of trout or bass fishing; it has a nice crisp action that casts beautifully; and I have caught a ton of fish with it! It will never leave my side. I love it.

OK, that's all my 6-weight rods. My collection is kind of slim compared to my 4- and 5-weights, huh? Well, if you thought the rods were slim, you should see the reels! There are just three of them, and two of those are the same reel! I have two Martin MG-7s, and both are filled with some sort of SA WF lines. These reels are perfect for vintage glass. They hold lots of line, they are ventilated so they are pretty light as far as vintage reels go, but they are heavy enough to balance nicely on most rods. They are a perfect 6-weight reel, in my opinion. Along with those two Martins, I also have a Redington CD 5/6 reel, spooled with some sort of AirFlo 6-weight WF line. The Redington weighs a little more than the Martins, so it balances well on a couple of the heavier rods, namely the Scott PowR-Ply.

OK, that's it for 6-weights. Check back in a week or two to read my even-shorter write-up of my 3-weights.

The Fives - 2023 Style

In my last post I wrote about my 4-weight rods and reels. This time let's talk about my 5-weight rods and reels, shall we? I don't have quite as many of these as I do 4's, but I would still say I have a good assortment, and they fill every niche that might pop up around here in the Great White North of Minnesota...

I have 5-weight rods that go from 6'6" at the shortest to 8'6" at the longest. Unlike my 4-weights, not all of my 5-weights are fiberglass. See if you can figure out which one isn't...

6'6" Cortland FR-2000. This is my shortest 5-weight rod. I got it several years ago, thinking I would use it to fish for carp or smallmouth bass or whatever happened to be swimming in the smallish warmwater creek that flows near my house. I did fish there once with this rod, but the lack of fish caught or seen that day made me not go back and try again. But I may at some point in time... Even if I don't, this is a fun rod to fish with, anywhere.

(I couldn't find a good pic of the short Cortland FR-2000, so here is a pic of a small bass that makes me happy)

7' Wright & McGill WaterSeal. This is an interesting rod. It is probably the most rare W&M rod you will ever find. And possibly the best casting. I have owned several W&M Featherlight rods over the years, including a tiny 5'6" yellow one that got me interested in glass rods in the first place. This WaterSeal was made from "3M Patented Fibers", and is nice and slow, but it has quite a bit of oomph built into it, too. I have owned it for a couple of years if not more, and I am still trying to figure out what I think about it. It's an interesting one, that's for sure!

7' Phillipson Registered Epoxite. At one point in time I owned three Registered Epoxites in various lengths, but this is the only one that incorporated a spigot ferrule into its design, making it the rarest of the bunch, as far as I can tell. Admittedly I have not had this out on the water very often. It's got a different feel than the other Phillipsons I have owned, I am sure because of the ferrule. I like it very much!

7'6" Cortland FR-2000. I like old Cortland rods. Especially FR-2000s and the old poop-colored Pro Crests. Every one that I have owned has been smooth and powerful. This is pretty much a perfect trout/bass/panfish rod.

7'10" Chris Barclay Progressive Series. This was from Mr. Barclay's original series of rods. I have heard a lot of people make the claim that this model was very slow, even using the term "sticky" on occasion. Maybe I got the oddball of the litter, but I have never found this rod to be slow at all. I think it has a lovely crisp action. But what do I know...

8' GlasTech. GlasTech rods are about as rare as a fiberglass fly rod could be. They were made by Dennis Franke in Mt. Horeb, WI, on blanks that were custom rolled by Mark Steffen. As far as I can recall, this is the only one I have ever seen listed for sale anywhere, although I have seen pics of others that weren't for sale, on Forums and such. This one is a little tip heavy in the hand, much like my beloved Scott glass rods. It can bomb a line, that's for sure! And it can present a fly nice and delicately at short distances. It is sweet!

8' Sage 580SFL. I have been lucky to have owned most of the fiberglass rods that Sage built, at one time or another, and this 580SFL is in the worst shape of all of them. Not that it is in terrible condition or anything, it just has a few cosmetic scuffs here and there. That enables me to not feel bad about fishing it! Like all the Sage glass that I have cast, it's a cannon. 

8' Scott PowR-Ply. This is another great rod, which I have written about several times. It rocks!

8'3" Larry Kenney 835. This mocha-colored rod is another great one. One of Larry's most popular tapers, it handles all casts with aplomb...

8'6" Sage 586LL. Hey, it's the only graphite rod I own nowadays! And it's the one I will never part with, as it has oodles of sentimental value. Plus, I have caught over a billion fish with it (estimated), so I don't want to get rid of its good juju.

Those are the rods. As far as my 5-weight reels go, they are very utilitarian, much like all my other reels. I have an assortment of different brands running from light in weight, to balance on my shorter rods, to a little heavier in weight, to balance on my longer rods, and a few others in between. Balance is the most important thing to me. Whether that makes sense or not, it is what works for me. Here are my reels:

From left to right, starting on the top row, and in order of weight from lightest to heaviest: Martin LM56, Ross Evolution #2, Lamson Velocity #2, Ross Gunnison Platinum #2, and the ol' trusty Lamson LP2. 

Come back in a couple of weeks to check out my lineup of 6-weight rods! I have a few nice ones!

The Fours - 2023 Style

The last time I wrote about my 4-weight rods was about a year and a half ago. You wouldn't think much would have changed in that short timeframe, but that's because you don't buy and sell fly rods with as much fervor as me! Few people do...

I love fly rods, and for some reason I have a deep yearning to try every brand of fly rod ever created. Or at least every fiberglass fly rod ever created! As I have mentioned before, I believe the fly rod is the coolest tool mankind has ever created, and if it's made out of fiberglass, it's coolness is multiplied by at least a billion. And if it's a fiberglass 4-weight, the coolness is beyond determination. I love me some glass fly rods!

Since 95% of my fishing is for trouts and sunfishes, 4-weight rods dominate my quiver. A good 4-weight can handle every sized fly I might ever find myself using while fishing for trouts and sunfish. Therefore, I own a large number of awesome 4-weight rods. All of my 4-weights are made out of fiberglass, and range in length from 6'9" to 8'8" in length. Some of my rods are the same as last year, so I won't go into great detail on those. Instead, if you want to read more about them, check out my previous 4-weight rundown HERE.

In order of length, going from shortest to longest, here are my current 4-weight rods:

6'9" Tiemco Fenwick DeLiar. This one literally just joined my arsenal. I have been wanting to get a Japanese Fenwick rod for a long time, but things didn't work out until now. This short 4-weight is super sweet, and a perfect rod for the tight brook trout creeks around here.

7' Vince Cummings Superlite. This is one sweet rod, that is surprisingly powerful for its size!

7' Steffen Bros. Green S-Glass. An extremely rare green Steffen glass rod. This casts as well as their more traditional reddish-brown rods.

7'2" Scientific Angler System 4. A classic, and as sweet a caster as everyone claims it is...

7'5" Chris Barclay 75P. I wasn't sure what I would think of this parabolic beauty, but I quickly became a big fan. Plus, with the ventilated grip, you can feel it flexing!

7'6" Scott F754/3. This rod is so sweet it hurts! It might be my favorite rod of all of them...

7'6" Sage SFL476. This is a fast and powerful glass rod. I recently heard that it was made to also throw a 5-weight line, and I believe it could do that easily...

7'6" Winston glass. As I have written about before, this belonged to one of my favorite customers at the fly shop I worked at, and I feel lucky to own it.

7'6" Hardy Sirrus Sintrix. These rods supposedly have some graphite in them, along with the fiberglass. Not sure, but it is a sweet caster!

7'6" Constable of Bromley Sceptre. This is a new acquisition for me. If you spend any time on the Fiberglass Flyrodders Forum you will hear glowing reviews of Sceptre rods. I have only had this out in the front yard so far, and it rocks. Not sure what I think of the bright yellow wraps, though...

7'7" Tiemco Glass Master. I got this last fall, and had the chance to fish it in October. It is smooth and crisp, and casts beautifully. Plus, the very first fish I caught on it was a big ol' slab of a rainbow, so that was fun.

7'9" Larry Kenney 794. This is another new acquisition. Larry was the first employee of the Scott Rod Co., and he brought all of his rod-making expertise to his own company several years ago. Just like all my Scott rods, this rod is awesome.

7'9" McFarland Dirty Martini. I am not sure if "Dirty Martini" is the name Mike McFarland gave these rods, or if it is a nickname given to them by the masses, but this rod is sweet. I acquired the blank early last year, and my friend Greg built it out for me (or, to be honest, his daughter did all the wraps). She did a great job!

7'10" Scott F794/4. I have a thing for Scott glass rods, and if they are maroon in color, it's more of a lust. There, I said it. 

8' Unstructured Glass. Vlad Malenkovic made some truly awesome rods, and I was extremely fortunate to have this one fall into my lap a few years ago. Smooth, powerful, and beautiful, this rod is a favorite go-to for me.

8'6" Bozeman Reel Co. prototype. Made by Dusty Smith, now of Livingston Rod Co, this was an early prototype rod for the Bozeman Reel Company, which has now gone back to only selling reels and not rods. This thing is truly awesome. Light and crisp, and good looking too!

8'8" McFarland S-Glass. This is one of my most recent acquisitions. This rod comes with a great reputation, and when I took it out in the yard last week, I was booming casts all over the place. It is going to be sweet!

Those are the rods. My 4-weight reels have changed up a bit, too. I now have 6 of them, and my goal when putting together my reel selection was to have light, medium, and heavy reels, as far as the actual weight goes, so that I have at least one reel that balances with every rod. When rigged up, I like the balance point to be on the top half of the cork, or maybe just a little up the blank from the cork, and these reels allow that to happen on all the rods.

From lightest to heaviest, they are: Martin LM45(WF line), Martin LM45(DT line), Ross Evolution 1.5, Ross Rhythm 1.5, Lamson Radius R2, Hatch Finatic 3+.

Come back soon to see my lineup of 5-weight rods!