Fiberglass Fly Rods

I don't know what the future holds for the fiberglass rod market? It seems to me it has softened from the "fever pitch" of popularity I was observing five years ago. This fiberglass fly rod market has a lot of custom rod builders these days and there are many sources who are rolling blanks...I'm beginning to think the market is becoming a bit saturated. 

One of the challenges for the fiberglass fly rod market is with graphite rods being so light with high performance properties, materials, and build quality, it's hard for a fly fisher like me not to walk into a stream with one in hand. Add to that another competition to fiberglass is bamboo for those who like a traditional action, and the rich history of the bamboo rod makers in America. It's a competitive market, indeed.

It seemed that back around 2014, fiberglass rods were all the talk among fly fishers and it making a comeback to be valued once again, as a material that should have never been forgotten. Small rod building shops popped up all over the country to provide custom glass rods to a hungry market wanting to jump on the band wagon...I was one of them. But for me, I wasn't interested in a custom rod from a boutique glass rod builder. My preference was to acquire a rod from a major rod company with a history of building fiberglass rods. And after much research and discussion with others, I decided on a couple of rods from Orvis and Winston...

Winston Retro Glass fly rod - this rod is so good, I have no interest in adding another glass rod to the quiver. It's a 6"6" 3wt rod that is a blast to cast and play a fish on a tight line. My wife gave this rod to me as an anniversary present about four years ago and it is an absolute beauty. The rod has a factory custom sliding band reel seat that makes it pretty special. When I'm in the mood to fish with glass, this is the rod that usually gets packed into the truck. There are two streams up north that I find are perfect for this little retro rod. I can't wait to load the rod into the truck along with some camping gear when the weather warms up in a couple of months.

 

Orvis Superfine Glass fly rod - this is a 7'0" 3wt rod that is built with s-glass technology and is nothing like the fiberglass rods in the old days...no wimpy action with this one.  I bought the rod the first year Orvis launched the series in 2014,  and it has been a workhorse on a couple of streams for me. Orvis discontinued this 7'0" 3wt model for some reason and replaced it with a 7'6" model and I'm not sure why? All I know is there is no way I would trade my rod for the longer model...it's that good and practical on small mountain streams!

This Superfine has always been the designated rod for a certain canyon stream that I've been fishing for many years. At my age, I don't know how much longer I'll be hiking down into the canyon, but for as long as I do, this rod will be going with me. This stream holds only wild brown trout and the average catch is 8 to 12 inches. My largest catch here is 14 inches and there are stories of much larger trout hunkering down in the deep pools of the stream's box canyon section.

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