The Forgotten
There is a huge population of small stream anglers throughout the world that love wading in their creeks and Rios. They’re fishing with light tackle for trout that will fit in one hand. And, they have a big grin on their face. But you wouldn’t know it by seeing the advertisements or checking out the rods on a fly shop’s rod rack. Nope, it's all about the big trophy fish and the rods needed for that monstrous fight to the net.
I admit that I'm being kind of picky here. Of course there are 2wt through 4wt rods on the market these days, many of which are fiberglass rods. However, I'm only interested in USA made graphite rods, and that removes a lot of foreign made rod blanks off the list for me. And, I'm also only interested in moderate action rods for these small streams of mine. So that narrows down the list of available rods even further.
I would love to see the big rod companies do a remake series of rods from their past classics that have remained popular with anglers. Wouldn't it be great to see Winston relaunch a series of IM6 rods using the same mandrels and materials from back in the day? Or, Sage to offer their SLT series and that 376 model again? And, what about Scott relaunching the old black blank F Series of fiberglass rods? I'm telling you, that would cause excitement in the fly fishing community unlike any new rod launch of recent times!
And rod companies, I'm not talking about putting an old label on some new rod with recent high tech materials and new tapers that are moderate fast. No, I'm talking about using the same mandrels and old tech as originally used in those classic rods. The designers back in those days got it right for us small stream guys. Just dust off those old designs and make them....we will buy.
Dead on. There is a consistent market for the rods produced in the mid 70"s to early 80"s. Vintage Orvis, Winston etc. garner big money these days as anglers look for medium action rods. The Redington CT is one of the few medium action graphite rods produced today. The Montana Rod Works gents praised that rod. Of course their rods are also true medium action.
ReplyDeleteYes. Those MBR boys are timing their start up company at a good time it seems...definitely a market void for medium action rods. I talked with Dan on the phone and he had all good things to say about the Redington CR rods. I bought one for my grandson a couple of years ago and it is a nice rod with the action that works well in our streams here in NM.
DeleteMy guess is the rod companies are listening primarily to their Pro Advisors who are Guides that like to push the distance limits with fly rods. They need a process to balance that feedback from the Pros with having a dialogue with anglers who are competent at fly fishing, but fish recreationally. And, include small stream fly fishers!!!