Glassy Classics

 About fifteen years ago I became curious about glass fly rods. Most likely due to all of the stories I was reading about them at that time. The Fiberglass Flyrodders forum and the Fiberglass Manifesto blog were online sites I visited often (still do). However, it took a couple of years before I actually acquired a glass rod.

I believe it was the year 2014 that Orvis introduced a fiberglass rod series inspired by their classic Golden Eagle fly rods from a bygone era. The launch of those new rods brought much excitement among glass enthusiasts. And for me, their Orvis Superfine Glass video sold me. I had to have one because I was sure this new e-glass rod would be perfect for my little mountain Rio's. Yup, I visited The Reel Life fly shop in Santa Fe, and acquired the same Superfine Glass 7' 3wt rod and CFO reel featured in Orvis's product video. The rod and reel pairing proved to be a great kit for fishing many of my streams up on Rainy Mountain.

I bought and sold a few glass rods through the years, until I realized there was no fly rod, made from any material, that could out fish a Winston WT fly rod. For me anyway. My glass rod quiver eventually dwindled down to three classic models: Orvis Superfine 7' 3wt; Winston Retro 6'6" 3wt; and a Scott F 7' 3wt.  Each of them have their own distinct personalities, and are exceptional fly rods with one thing in common....all are three-piece rods.

While I will always prefer to go fly fishing with my WT graphite creek rods, these glass rods do make it out on some little mountain creeks occasionally each year. They usually get rigged up when I'm in the mood for casual fly fishing on a care free day.