Posts tagged: fly rod

The Emergency Escape Stream (And A Word About The Orvis Helios 2)

September 16, 2012, by Tom Chandler 39 comments

There are days you need to get out of the office, and not solely because of work. Friday I needed out before the phone rang again and one more depressing piece of news came over the transom.

A friend facing surgery. A family member facing heart surgery. An infant facing the aftereffects of malnutrition.

I wanted to cry.

So I did what any thinking person would do.

I ran.

But not just anywhere. I ran for my nearby Emergency Escape Stream.

In the event of emergency, break the glass on your Emergency Escape Stream…

Everybody should have one. It’s the place you go when you don’t have time, but sanity suggests you don’t have a choice.

Unfortunately, it’s been hot, and I feared the water temperatures in the Underground’s Emergency Escape Stream might have crept up near the 70 degree mark.

Which is too warm if you’re a trout.

Making it too warm if you’re a responsible trout fisherman.

Then again, things had become dire enough at TU/Man Cave World Headquarters that warm water wasn’t going to stop me; I’d just cut the bend off the hook and fish anyway.

Happily, the thermometer delivered the day’s first good news; the water temperature was a cool, trout-friendly 58 degrees.

Fish away, gloomy boy.

And I did.

To the tune of eight pretty rainbows, only two of which exceeded 9″ — a number guaranteed to draw the bare of minimum of “where?” inquiries.

This is a very small stream filled with innocent trout, but the water was low and the trout aren’t pushovers. And no fly fishermen wants to see trout fleeing like torpedoes, which is what happens when my reflexes come between me and reality.

Initially, I bypassed the tails of pools in favor of the whitewater plunges. Because, you know, when it’s hot, they’re in the oxygenated water.

Fortunately, I’m an expert at this small stream stuff, so I only had to spook four fish out of “dead” water before the dim fluorescent bulb flickered to life.

The Wonderdog Rises

Wally the Wonderdog’s been on a slow downward spiral, courtesy arthritis and his anti-seizure medicine, which offered up all kinds of unpleasant side effects (gluttony, dopiness and significant liver problems).

We got fed up watching him slide, raided the vet’s office, stamped our feet, held our breath, and found out another medicine existed — one largely without side effects.

Thanks guys.

It’s even just gone generic, so it’s only about 2x as expensive. The vet, interestingly, didn’t say anything before because he thought the cost was prohibitive.

What?

We’re not even fully transitioned to the new stuff, but the Wonderdog’s already noticeably perking up, so I did what I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing just a week ago.

I took him along.

Man’s best friend (assuming “Man’s” not a fisherman). Wally the Wonderdog Just before launching himself into the fishy part of the pool…

Arthritis still exerts a powerful hold on his back legs — and a couple hours after spending two hours climbing up and down a rocky streambed he’s already feeling it.

But I guarantee you he’d do it again tomorrow.

So would I, though the fly fisherman in me would think twice; the Wonderdog’s enthusiasm makes my heart soar, but once he sees a fish rise (or eat a fly), he’s basically headed for the deep end of the pool in the hopes of catching that long-gone trout.

Which means you’d better enjoy that fish you just caught, because it’s the last from that particular pool.

Simply put, he’s a pain in the ass, but he’s also sheer joy on the hoof, and the trade was worth it. For at least a little while, we get our dog back.

You’d make the same deal.

We Talk (Briefly) Helios 2

To this tiny, low-tech stream I dragged an expensive, high-tech fly rod, proving that overkill isn’t restricted to the military world.

Orvis sent one of their not-yet-released Helios 2 fly rods out on loan — an 8’4″ 2wt that Tom Rosenbauer’s apparently fishing on smaller stuff but also casting over picky, flatwater fish on larger rivers (he’s using braided leaders and very long, fine tippets).

Not yet available, but already on a stream near you: the Helios 2.

I fished it with a 3wt line, reasoning that at short ranges, the heavier line would load better, a theory helped along by the fact I don’t own a 2wt line (notice how neatly science fits into the real world when you’re me).

I only fished for two hours, so this isn’t a full review. I will say the rod flexed nicely and yes, the little fish put a nice bend in it. And — combined with the [Name Redacted] short leader, it’s damned accurate.

This 8’4″ 2wt is a mid-flex rod, and like so many modern, high-end ultralight fly rods, it fishes and casts like you’re holding a toothpick, yet it has the reserve power of a 4wt.

The “standard” trout rod used to be a 6wt. Now it’s closer to a 4wt, and these little rods suggest that standard may slip downward over time.

I’ll leave the full review until after it’s been put the wringer, but if you’re wondering what’s different about the “2″ version, heres what Orvis had to say:

Featuring all-new tapers fine-tuned to transfer energy along a smoother curve, the Helios 2 offers unrivaled tracking and additional lifting power while maintaining tippet protection. Built with a proprietary material integrated into the tip, the Helios 2’s impact strength and dampening have increased, and the swing weight has been reduced by 20% from the original Helios.

Interesting.

Like Sage did with their ONE series, Orvis is suggesting you’ll enjoy more accurate “tracking” from their new rod (Sage touted accuracy, Orvis touted tracking; it’s the same thing).

It’s a tough one to sell. Fly fishermen naturally assume the odd piece of brilliance is the product of their genius. Who’s going to say “My talent never would have made that cast; thank goodness the fly rod was here to make it for me.”

You see the problem.

Unfortunately, Orvis has also been infected by the hypervirus sweeping the rest of the industry:

The Helios 2 is a featherlight war club that defies the laws of physics and has the backbone of an I-beam. Lighter in hand and stronger than any rod we’ve ever developed, it transitions energy directly from your brain to the fly and casts with the precision of a laser pointer.

C’mon guys. It’s a fly rod, not a particle beam linked to your cerebellum.

See you on your Emergency Escape Stream, Tom Chandler.

The Friday “Getting Out of Town To Chase Brook Trout With a Fly Rod” Post

August 19, 2011, by Tom Chandler 7 comments

This morning I stepped into my manly-man-of-action fuzzy slippers, and got stung by a bee.

On my foot.

Bees hiding in my slippers? Really?

I told the L&T this was scientifically valid proof that my feet smell like honey, but in keeping with the TU’s PG-13 rating, I’m not going to print her reply.

Instead, I’m going to clean a little house, shoveling a few links your way before they overrun my desk, especially as I’m packing goodies for my Weekend Brookie Trip.

Jamming a few flies and some tippet in the new backpack is easy; deciding which rod to fish is the tough bit. The 8.5′ 4wt Diamondglass? The 8′ 4wt Superfine? The 8′ 5wt Phillipson bamboo fly rod?

The weight of fly rod selection weighs on heavy on any angler...

Sometimes life just feels so heavy, you know?

Starting Another Rod Test

I recently dug out the wallet to finance a new fly rod, though (remain calm), it’s a relatively cheap one — an 8′ 5wt fiberglass rod from South Fork Rods (built by Margot and Dave Redington, whose last name might sound familiar).

Naturally, I don’t need another 8′ 5wt (I’ve got several brilliant 8′ 5wt rods already), but the 8′ 5wt is my fly rod equivalent of Chili Verde; a baseline food that I use to compare new Mexican restaurants with those I already know.

Thus if a new Chile Verde (or 8′ 5wt fly rod) is brilliant, it’s possibly (likely even) that the rest of the menu (or fly rods in the line) are also brilliant.

(While the rest of you are out fishing, I’m creating ISO 9000-level processes for making the world a better place.)

First glance? It’s nicely made but looks a little clunky, and like so many rod builders these days, the grip doesn’t exactly overwhelm. For an 8′ glass rod it’s surprisingly strong (it says “5wt” on the website but “5/6wt” on the rod), which is either a useful thing or an odd performance characteristic for a rod you’d say was probably going to be fished at close range.

More as I fish it.

Russell Chatham Goes Broke in Montana

I read this article on the SF Gate site about Russell Chatham abandoning Montana after overinvesting in real estate, losing his shirt, and deciding he couldn’t take a 40th Montana winter.

He’s back in San Francisco and painting to pay the bills (at least his paintings still fetch big dollars), and the whole thing feels timely now because I also recently took delivery of a couple books from his just-revived Clark City Press publishing imprint.

I bought a copy of Silent Seasons and The River We Bring With Us, but — embarrassingly — forgot to also order a copy of Chatham’s seminal essay work about fly fishing the west coast in the 60s and 70s (The Angler’s Coast).

I plan to rectify that in the near future, but in the meantime, I believe his publishing house is run by his daughter, and if you ever wanted to own any of the classics in their backlist (or their new titles), then hurry on over.

A Fever-Driven Essay About Bamboo Fly Rod Builders (or, Why You Should Own a Beasley, Thramer or Raine)

January 17, 2011, by Tom Chandler 19 comments

I just hung up the phone after a lengthy conversation with bamboo fly rod builder James Beasley, and I realized I haven’t been talking to enough rod builders lately.

That’s because bamboo fly rod builders are a uniformly odd bunch (though not in the sense that you’re afraid to give them your phone number), and in a sport like fly fishing, you don’t want to lose touch with the happily odd characters that make it richer than the fishing might suggest.

After all, bamboo fly rod builders are driven to do a sometimes tedious thing, and – once you calculate the hours and tools vs the money – do it rather cheaply.

That smacks of obsession with craft instead of obsession with money, and given my daily exposure to the marketing world – where the latter is the only accepted measure – there are times I’m happily reminded the former still exists.

I profiled Beasley on my blog years ago (Part I here, Part II here), and still own (and fish) five of his bamboo fly rods.

A James Beasley Bamboo fly rod (8.5' 5wt)

That's my 8.5' 5wt Beasley, taken on a 2.5 year-old alpine trip (click to read that story)

He wanted to know how my life as a parent was working out, and we talked about 2010, which was his slowest year since he started building full time.

That only means he worked twice as hard as a retired Methodist Minister probably should (in a typical year, he works four times harder than is smart). It also meant he finally had more time to experiment with fly rod tapers.

If you don’t know Beasley, he’s famous for his adaptation of the Paul Young Perfectionist taper – an astonishingly sweet 7.5′ 4wt rod that became so popular, at one point it represented almost 3/4 of his annual rod output.

A classic fly rod dealer still has a standing order for every Perfectionist he can build.

You’d think that kind of demand would gratify a rod builder, but Beasley – like a lot of fly rod builders – is an inveterate tinkerer; he’d rather muck about with new tapers than simply churn out copies of an existing model, so an insatiable demand for a single model isn’t the blessing you’d think it was.

In fact, he once related it was something of a drag.

Originally – on a tip from a friend in the Southeast – I called and talked to him about the Perfectionist (this was in the mid-to-late 1990s). Halfway through the call – despite my attempts to play it cool – I couldn’t take it any more and ordered a Perfectionist over the phone, breaking a rule I’d instituted after getting stuck with a few below-par rods.

When I did it, I noticed he groaned just a little.

That led to the story about the number of backorders for the Perfectionist, and the news that I’d have to wait a while for mine.

Frankly, I wasn’t sure how I was going to scrape together the money, so a little wait wasn’t a problem.

After the rod was delivered (ahead of schedule), I discovered it was actually better than the hype, which led to another series of phone calls.

One thing led to another, and on my next trip to Tennessee, I found myself in Beasley’s backyard, which is when he handed me his version of the Leonard 50DF.

I’ve been largely indifferent to the Leonard tapers, my limited experience suggesting the value of the original Leonard rods was due more to nostalgia than fishing quality.

I expected little, but distinctly remember going “ooofff” when I first cast the thing (love at first backcast), and I ordered that on the spot too.

Beasley’s rod cast beautifully (mine still does; I fished it this fall), but the choice of thread for the wraps was beyond awful, and the reel seat would have impressed only if it was a prototype can opener.

When I ordered mine, I – gracefully, I thought – insisted he wrap it with his normally elegant, sweetly restrained colors, which is when he told me the story of his Maker’s Rod; the 50DF he kept building for himself, only to have someone come by, cast the thing, and insist on buying it on the spot.

In a fit of reverse marketing, Beasley built one for himself, but wrapped it in colors so awful that no angler – even those who had fallen under the taper’s spell – could possibly buy it on the spot.

After you hear a story like that about a builder, you begin talking to him more regularly, and – because I was more interested in the rods he wanted to build than those he was churning out – went to the head of his growing waiting list when I asked him to build me an experimental 8.5′ 5wt (based on a just-postwar Orvis taper) and his interpretation of an 8.5′ 6/7wt Payne Canadian Canoe taper.

Along the way, I picked up an early Beasley that was based on a Walt Carpenter taper (a sweet 8′ 5wt with a swelled butt that was oddly marked for a 6wt), and while I haven’t bought a bamboo fly rod in several years (a kid tends to alter your priorities), I still felt that familiar pull on the phone when he described his in-progress alterations to the storied 8′ 6wt Paul Young Para 15 taper.

He was modifying the Para 15 in the same way he’d modified the Perfectionist, and while Paul Young fans will probably send me white-hot emails for suggesting it, he’d improved the Perfectionist in pretty much every way, and appeared to be turning the sometimes-clubby Para-15 into a lithe, graceful 5wt.

I had a long-term flirtation with semi-parabolic tapers like Paul Young’s, though I rarely fish them any more (in addition to Beasley’s Perfectionist, I still own rods built on Para 15 and Para 14 tapers).

They all cast wonderfully on the lawn, but perform less reliably for me on the water. It’s a poor workman who blames his tools – and the problems were clearly the product of a defective fly fisherman, not defective fly rod tapers – but when the fishing got tense, I tended to react in ways my paras didn’t appreciate.

To quote Dirty Harry, a man’s got to know his limitations, and one of mine, apparently, is casting semi-parabolic rods during hatches.

Still, I caught myself chatting on the phone while my mind calculated the number bills vs incoming cash flow, and it didn’t get any better when he mentioned his 6’8″ FE Thomas 3wt – a taper that almost everyone admits is the nicest in its class, and is probably even better when built by Beasley.

Prior to this year, a 6’8″ 3wt is a rod I’d have said I didn’t have much use for, but now I can actually see as to how I’d fish one on a regular basis, which meant temptation is once again my constant companion.

It’s also true that bamboo fly rods may come without warranties, but unlike mass-produced graphite, they often come attached to an undeniably personal history of their builder.

Beasley’s rods may arrive in the angler’s hands garnished with the story about his intentionally ugly Maker’s rod, or his dry, humor-in-slow-motion references to all the Perfectionists he’s built, or the laid-back Southern enthusiasm that shows through when he dives deeply into an explanation of a taper modification.

In the same vein, I can’t pick up a Thramer without thinking of his hovering-a-few-inches-off-the-ground energy; or fish a Raine without remembering the day he casually mentioned sinking a wad of cash into building a computer-controlled mill of his own design (I simply asked where he planned to live after the divorce).

Lately, I’ve read a few comments on the Internet suggesting that fly fishing really is all about the numbers and size of the fish you catch, a perspective foreign enough that I re-scanned the text for the “nots” or “nevers” I’d surely missed.

It may be true (which once again leaves me far from the mainstream), or it might simply be another sign of the attempted extremeification of the sport, but it’s difficult to see how much room it leaves for intangibles like tiny streams, Maker’s Rods or bamboo fly rod builders who will build you the same rod they build for everyone else, but would rather you asked them for something a little less ordinary.

See you on the river, Tom Chandler.

The Top Five Signs Your New Fly Rod May Have Been Designed By Apple iPhone Team

July 15, 2010, by Tom Chandler 12 comments

#5: You waited in line to buy it – even though it’s exactly the same as all your other fly rods

#4: Rod casts great in the morning, but loses all casting power halfway through the day

#3: Instead of hiding purchase from wife, you cast rod whenever anyone’s watching – even at work and in car

#2: Rod label says “5wt” but manufacturer says label faulty – rod may randomly become a 2 weight

#1: Hold rod by cork grip and every fish is disconnected from your line

Friday’s Fiberglass Fly Rod Gossip (And Real News Too)

March 18, 2010, by Tom Chandler 15 comments

The Undergrounders know of my love for low modulus fly rods – namely bamboo and fiberglass.

Of the two, fiberglass is far more accessible; it’s light, affordable, tough, and requires about as much maintenance as your average doorstop.

That’s why news in the fiberglass fly rod industry piques our interest (nay it excites us).

First, the Juicy Rumor

An Alert Anonymous Undergrounder tells us Cortland *will* return selected Diamondglass rods to production, courtesy not their overseas plants, but a USA-based builder.

Regulars will know of my love for the 8.5′ Diamondglass 4wt – a rod I told everyone to buy when they could, because – like many discontinued-but-classic fly rods – they’d miss it when it was gone.

Today, I see used Diamondglass 8.5′ rods selling for full retail, and should they once again become available, I predict solid sales of both rods and blanks (you can never have too much fly rod goodness).

More as this glass news happens.

Glass Goodness From the Left Coast

Larry Kenney – longtime industry stalwart and former Scott rod biggie – announced he’d completed development of his own fiberglass fly rods, and was commencing production.

The Fiberglass Manifesto site ran Kenney’s announcement – including a list of rods (the 8’3″ 4/5 sounds tasty, as does the 7’9″ 3wt) and prices ($580-$595).

Unfortunately, he’s (so far) limiting himself to 25 rods per year, but hey – they’re still hundreds less than high-end graphite.

And because your fly rod happiness is all that really matters to me, I’ll speak freely of things heard on the downlow.

One extremely well-versed fly rod tester test-cast Kenney’s prototypes some time ago, and was impressed. And when he’s impressed, I’m impressed.

See you at the fly rod rack, Tom Chandler

The Fly Rod ‘O Rama (or, Dragging Out The Fly Rods – And Their Memories)

March 15, 2010, by Tom Chandler 11 comments

The Rod ‘O Rama is a fly fishing staple – an afternoon where pretty much every fly rod you own ends up leaning against something in the back yard, lines strung, loops formed, actions evaluated.

A stack of fly rods leaning against the rail - the inevitable result of a Rod 'O Rama

Naturally, a good Rod ‘O Rama involves more than one person, and in extreme circumstances, disagreements over rod action or desirability may be settled with dueling pistols.

Mostly, a simple “you’re a clueless bastard” is enough.

During a really epic Rod ‘O Rama, you can dig out rods you haven’t seen in years (I don’t want to own any rods I haven’t fished in years, but have to admit I do), and – in rare instances – you may unearth fly rods you forgot you owned.

In this case, I found two rods I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen before, though I finally solved the mystery on one.

It was a Raine bamboo rod tube containing a butt and mid, but – puzzlingly – no tips.

It was a model I’d never owned, but realized later he’d grabbed it out of his shop by accident when we went fishing last fall, borrowed my spare rod that day, and then forgot to retrieve the tube from my truck.

I’m wondering what a reasonable ransom looks like.

The Theme of The Day: 6 WTs

A Rod ‘O Rama theme is useful, and in this instance, Older Bro was loooking for a 6wt, which means he got to cast everything from an decades-old Orvis Superfine 6wt to sweet 14 year-old Sage DS – right up to Raine’s saltwater 6wt and the high-tech Orvis Hydros that replaced my much-missed Zero Gravity.

Initially, you try to limit the madness to one type of rod, but eventually the words “if you like that, you’ll love my XXXX” are heard, and suddenly, you’re casting four and five weights too.

Before it’s over, you’ve got everything from a 60 year-old Phillipson to a two-month-old graphite leaning against the rail – every one of which is loaded with some kind of memory.

You find yourself ankle-deep in the snow still covering the yard, false casting a fly rod, adjusting the loop size, and the memory of a rainy day on a lake washes over you.

You may or may not remember how cold and wet you were, but you do remember dropping the rod in the shallow water because you were holding a 17″ rainbow, and that its strawberry lateral line lit up the rainy, monochromatic, steel-grey environment you’d come to accept as normal.

Later, I found myself casting a 7.5′ 5wt Fenwick glass rod – the factory equivalent to my first fly rod, one I built in the mid-70s from a blank.

While the original rod met its end in a Santa Clara garage, the replacement feels similar enough that casting it reminded me of the bluegills and crappie I caught from a muddy, weedy lake better than 30 years ago.

Putting Them Away… Sorta

Ultimately, Older Bro’ found a rod he liked, and since I had a similar rod, sent him home with it.

Yet, when I put all the rod tubes away, I noticed a few – like the Fenwick – ended up a little closer to the front of the pile.

It’s not spring yet – there’s still snow on the ground and the alpine trails are months away from opening – but we’re seeing the signs.

The blue jays who nest under the front eaves came back today, and temperatures could run into the upper 50s all week.

So while I can’t fish the small streams yet (not legally), I can set aside a few rods that haven’t been fished in a while, and imagine creating new memories with them over the coming season.

See you when the streams open, Tom Chandler.

Perhaps The Best Way Yet to Activate Your Fly Rod’s Lifetime Warranty (So Far This Week)

January 27, 2010, by Tom Chandler 9 comments

I can’t remember if I covered this before, but Alert Underground Reader Ron (who blogs endlessly about cycling gear here) alerted us to the existence of probably the Single Best Way To Activate Your Fly Rod’s Lifetime Warranty: The Bike Fishermen Rod Holder.

Faster than you can say "about my lifetime warranty..."

Frankly, nothing says “lifetime warranty” better than a fly rod – only inches away from the Spinning Spokes of Doom – sticking straight up into the air.

The Bike Fishermen folks even offer a “Fly Pole Adapter” which allows you to carry your fly rod (reel in place) in two pieces, as if nothing could go wrong when you’ve pointed two 4.5′ pieces of extremely fragile graphite straight up.

The whole Bike & Bug thing isn’t exactly new, but I humbly suggest I’d feel a lot safer riding my mountain bike up a twisted, tree-lined trail to that alpine lake if my fly rod was still in its protective tube instead of sticking straight up in the air.

There’d be little amusement in arriving at that pristine alpine lake, spotting dozens of fish casually sipping midges, and turning around in the saddle – only to find two splintered stumps where your $700 fly rod used to be.

And while I hope these folks don’t lose their shirt on this one, I’d suggest they retain the services of a copywriter, who presumably would have pointed out the dualistic nature of their slogan, which seems to suggest it’s better to break rods the modern way instead of the old fashioned way:

Break your rods the modern way?

As always, Undergrounder participation is encouraged – especially if anyone has created any cool “cast & roll fast” rigs the rest of us could see.

See you on the trail, Tom Chandler.

Too Small To Copy (or, Why No High-End Fly Rod or Fly Reel Knocks Offs?)

December 26, 2009, by Tom Chandler 5 comments

Every major designer fashion brand has its counterfeiters – fake knock-off products designed to look like an expensive product. It’s not unusual to find fake Rolex watches or fake designer clothing being sold as the real thing.

It’s even happening in the shooting sports, where expensive Leupold rifle scopes are being knocked off – and the factory folks aren’t happy:

The Outdoor Pressroom: Leupold issues counterfeit riflescope alert

Optics maker LeupoldÂ® has posted a customer alert on its Web site regarding bogus Leupold products that are apparently being illegally imported from the People’s Republic of China. According to the posting, counterfeited Leupold Mark 4Â® riflescopes have begun to arrive with increasing regularity at the firm’s Beaverton, Oregon, headquarters for service in recent months.

Naturally, the Underground sees a business opportunity has got to ask: Why not counterfeited high-end fly rods or fly reels?

How hard would it really be to knock off a high-end Sage or Winston or Orvis fly rod? Anything with distinctive, limited-availability hardware would likely be difficult, but since most graphite blanks look fairly similar, I wouldn’t think reproducing the overall look (guides, wraps, grip, etc) would pose a challenge.

If a decent reproduction could be crafted on a low-cost blank, would we see the knockoffs popping up on eBay and on less-scrupulous online sites – “bargain priced” $750+ rods selling for $100 or less?

My guess? The market’s simply too small.

The worldwide market for a Rolex knockoffs is huge. The worldwide market for high-end fly rods or fly reels is really pretty damned small.

And yes, most rod sales still take place via fly shops, which would presumably know the difference (and most of their rods come straight from the manufacturer).

Still, will the day come when some trenchcoat-wearing guy steps out from behind a tree on your favorite river, opens the coat to reveal a half-dozen rod tubes and says “pssst… buddy – you looking for a great deal on a brand-new Helios? Only $50…”

See you on the river, Tom Chandler.

fly fishing, fly fishing rod, fly reel, fly rod, fake fly rod

[Advertisement] Chris Raine Bamboo Fly Rods… Available Immediately

July 21, 2009, by Tom Chandler No comments yet

[Ad Supported Post]

Chris Raine Hollowbuilt Bamboo Fly Rods: Rods Available for Immediate Purchase

I’ve been building my hollowbuilt bamboo fly rods two at a time (instead of singly), and have created a small stock of my most popular models – ready for immediate deliver (contact me at 530.235.4058 or chris@hollowbuilt.com for more information)

Model: â€œSimplicityâ€ an 8 Foot Staggered-ferrule 2/2 for a 6 weight. Hollowbuilt. Serial 204hb.

Gold toned cane, triple tempered. Pale yellow translucent wraps on guides with dark brown wraps on ferrules. Reams style grip 5 3/4â€ long. Down-locking slide band reel seat with redwood burl spacer. Blackened ferrules. Linen rod sock with aluminum tube, brass caps. In addition to being hollow built, the ferrule is lower down on the rod, giving an even lighter feel while casting. A fine rod for casting in the wind, while still having the sensitivity of a lighter lined rod. A great candidate for fishing Silver Creek, earlier in the season.
$1495.00 plus tax/shipping

Model: â€œFinâ€ an 8 foot 3 inch 2/2 rod for a 4 weight. Hollowbuilt. Serial number: 201hb.
Gold tone cane, triple tempered. Pale yellow translucent wraps on the guides with dark brown wraps on the blackened, truncated ferrules. Reams grip 6 1/4â€ long with beautiful spalted maple uplocking reel seat. Truly a light in the hand, powerful 4 weight rod capable of throwing 50 plus feet of line effortlessly. A full flexing rod, with the backbone to turn good-sized fish. A bamboo fly rod for the true afficiando! Comes with linen rod sock, aluminum tube with brass caps.
$1995.00 plus tax/shipping

Model: â€œFinâ€ another 8 foot 3 inch 2/2 rod for a 4 weight (as above). Hollowbuilt. Serial number: 200hb.
$1995.00 plus tax/shipping SOLD

Model: â€œUpper Sac Specialâ€ an 8 foot 2/2 for a 5 weight. Hollowbuilt. Serial number: 199hb
A great do-everything trout rod. Gold toned cane, triple tempered. Pale yellow translucent wraps with light brown wraps on bright nickel silver ferrules. Reams style grip 6 1/4â€. Spalted maple slde band uplocking reel seat. Linen rod sock with aluminum tube, brass caps. Excellent choice for a first or do-everything bamboo fly rod. Roll casts with ease, plenty of reserve power when needed and a complete joy to fish!
$1495.00 plus tax/shipping SOLD

Model: â€œAntelope Creekâ€ a 7 foot 2/2 for a Â¾ weight. Hollow built. Serial number: 197hb
The ultimate small stream rod! Gold tone cane, triple tempered. Pale yellow translucent wraps over guides with brown wraps over blackened ferrules. Cigar grip, 5 3/4â€. Upgrades: McCoy agate stripper, and deluxe uplocking slide band reel seat with cork insert, maple spacer. Linen rod sock with aluminum tube, brass caps. A fine rod for smaller streams, and a first choice for alpine brookies. Elegantly appointed, great to look at, even greater to cast!
$1595.00 plus tax/shipping

Model: â€œFinâ€ a special built 8’3″ 3 piece (3/2) for a 3-4 weight! Hollow built. Serial number: 202hb
A real 3 weight over 8 feet, that still has a nice smooth action, with plenty of reserve power! Flame cane, with ammonia toning. Reams grip 6 3/4â€ with uplocking slide band reel seat with redwood spacer. All blackened nickel silver with java brown wraps. Linen rod sock with aluminum tube, brass caps. An elegant rod, with superb casting qualities. Travelling to that special spring creek? This may be the rod to take with you! Aerial mends and light presentations make this rod unique for its length versus line weight. A true joy to cast.
$1995.00 plus tax/shipping

To inquire about any of these rods – or to order another rod from our bamboo fly rod catalog – please contact us at:
Chris Raine
530.235.4058
chris@hollowbuilt.com

Visit my Web site: hollowbuilt.com

Underground Fly Gear Review: The Redington RS4 Fly Rod/Rise Fly Reel Combo

July 6, 2009, by Tom Chandler 7 comments

The Redington line of fly fishing gear is what a marketer would call a “value” brand – fly fishing rods, reels and gear that don’t compete at the very high end of the price range, but (theoretically) offer more “value” than premier brands.

In the past, “value” was often synonymous with half-assed gear, which is why – when Redington offered up a fly rod and reel for review – I was a little hesitant.

Early Redington fly rods (prior to the company’s purchase by the same corp that owns Sage and Rio) had a reputation for wildness; one taper would be brilliant, yet another would be awful.

That was a decade ago, but the downside to testing gear is that you should actually use it (at least, some of us prefer it that way). That can be a joy, but other times you’re stuck on the river, fishing a piece of crap and wondering why you’re bothering.

Happily, this test turned out largely crap-free.

First Look: The Redington RS4/Rise Reel Combo

Rod, reel, line and case - $410 MSRP

First things first; I’m happy to note the RS4 fly rod and Rise fly reel combo came fully rigged – the backing, Rio Mainstream line and leader were already knotted and on the spool.

Thank dog. (Underground pet peeve: Fly rod/reel combo sets that require a novice fly fisherman to learn four arcane knots before they start casting.)

Because Singlebarbed and I were jointly testing this combo (and I’ve got a thing for 6wt fly rods), we tumbled for the Redington RS4/Rise Reel combo in a 9′ 6wt (4-pc).

That way, I could abuse it with streamers, fish with it dries, try it on the Rogue (where steelies are always a possibility), and maybe fling some sinking lines – while Singlebarbed could fish it on his beloved brownlines.

So what happened?

The RS4 Fly Rod

Modern fly rods tend towards speed, a basic truth which means I often fish older rods.

And while I was expecting more of the same from the Redington RS4, I was pleasantly surprised.

The picture's a little off; the RS4 is an attractive olive color

After fishing it for a half-dozen trips (my first couple trips with it saw me flinging streamers, dry flies and yes – the dreaded split shot rig), my reaction was “This is nice. This is OK.”

It is relatively fast, but lacks the pool cue demeanor that has marred so many other modern fly rods.

After using it a while, I was tempted to simply declare it “a nice fly rod,” but after catching fish on everything from dries to streamers on the thing, I realized it only qualified as “nice” by the loftiest of standards.

In other words, this is a very fishable rod – one that surprised even the Tupperware-averse, bamboo-loving Dave Roberts into saying “I’m impressed. It’s a good rod. It feels pretty nice when you cast.”

Wayne Eng (another frequent Underground Lab Rat tester) found it wholly fishable on several fronts, and Wayne fishes more different fly rods than just about anyone I know).

“This is pretty sweet” he said (in his typically aw-shucks, laid-back Wayne demeanor, like he was the first Chinese person to grow up in Mayberry).

In truth, it wouldn’t be too many years ago that the RS4 would be considered a high-end rod; it was strong, yet progressive enough that it retained a lot of “feel.”

I fished it with sinking lines and big flies, and never ran headlong into that messy zone you used to hit with fast-tapered fly rods, where the tip is too light to handle the stresses, but the butt’s too stiff to allow a little feedback to make its way to your casting hand.

The RS4 kind of sneaks up on you – you’re just fishing and the right things happen, and you realize it’s a better rod than you thought it would be for the money ($250 MSRP). Here’s the Redington pitch on the RS4:

More RS4 Details:

Moss-colored blank made with high-end 51- million modulus Toray graphite

AAA grade Portuguese cork handle

Pac Bay Aluminum Oxide stripping guides

Laser engraved machined aluminum with moss colored graphite insert (Handle A) and laser engraved anodized machined aluminum on saltwater models (Handle B)

Alignment dots with length and line designations labeled on each section above ferrule

Three spey rod models are available with a 15″ fore-grip

2-piece and 4-piece outfits come with the new Moss RISE reel, prespooled with backing, knotless leader and RIO Mainstream fly line in a durable black carrying case.

Lifetime Warranty

It also does what a reasonable 6wt should – it doesn’t fold up when you do something horrifying, yet you really can fish a #20 BWO with it without fear of gifting flies to fish on the hook set.

The reel seat and guides are strictly middle-of-the-road; the by-now-standard woven carbon fiber reel seat and reverse Western grip (which wasn’t too skinny for a change) are reliable, proven stuff.

The rod itself is an attractive olive color (we’re happy the fly rod manufacturers finally discovered color), and the whole shebang comes in a black cordura case with a bulged end (the reel can stay on the rod).

The Rise Fly Reel

If the Redington RS4 rod sneaks up on you, the Rise fly reel stands up and makes a statement right away.

The Rise - especially the burnt orange color - is a style fly reel

It’s one of the current crop of impressively high-tech machined fly reels that runs smooth and quiet.

Again, this isn’t the whiz-bang high-end stuff, but it’s still way more than we need to get the job done. Here’s Redington’s description of the reel:

This fully machined 6061 T6 aluminum Mid-arbor construction reel features a cork on Teflon center drag design, a Koyo one-way clutch and ceramic coated bearings for smoothness and durability.

Redington is running ads describing the Rise as “Rod Candy” and that could be an accurate description. The burnt orange reel is – if the L&T’s reaction to the picture is any indicator – going to sell real well, and the “moss” reel that come with the set we tested looks, well, great.

In truth, there’s not a lot to say about the reel, except that’s impressively built, extremely smooth, and yes – good looking.

Unlike so many reels, the handle was big enough to grip (though I’m always up for something a teensy bit bigger).

And while it’s a part of a combo, if I had to choose between the RS4 rod and the Rise reel, I’d probably pick the Rise as the more interesting of the two (though that’s colored by the fact I already own a lot of nice 6wt rods, but I am looking for a 6wt reel).

Wayne Eng fishes it on a coldy, rainy winter day

In fact, when I pressed the rod/reel/case combo into Singlebarbed’s beefy paws, I told him not to dissolve the reel in any of that toxic sludge he fishes; I might want to buy it.

Whether I do or not depends largely on my mood. The MSRP of the Rise is $159, which puts it in the same range as the impressively engineered Lamson Konic reel and a host of other competitors.

We could argue endlessly about which represents the better value (the machined, stylish Redington Rise or the wonderfully engineered drag of the less-sexy Konic), but it might be best to simply say you don’t have to buy a $500 fly reel to get something that works really, really well.

The Other Goodies

The case the combo comes in is nothing special; the cut-out vinyl window actually sinks to the level of cheesy, though it’s hardly a showstopper.

The Rio Mainstream fly line is the one questionable component of this kit, though it’s likely a good choice for a less-experienced angler.

It’s one of those front-loaded lines designed to make modern graphite rods and clunky split shot rigs easier to cast (it does a passable job on big flies), but like most front-loaded lines, it’s less fun when you’re trying to carry a lot of line and the last of the belly slides out past the tip.

Still, it’s part of the combo, and I sure as hell wouldn’t not buy the whole shooting match because of the line. It works. And yes, it floats and picks up nicely (as all new lines do).

The Final Word

It’s likely the Redington RS4/Rise Reel combo will find its way into a pair of distinct markets. First is the novice fly fishermen who is morally opposed to buying a starter kit of any kind.

Second would be a more experienced fly fishermen looking for a backup combo or even a 6wt to rely on when it’s too windy to fish the 4wt.

The large/mid-arbor fly reel has become the standard.

Either way, the combo is a steal for the money $410 MSRP (I found it on the Internet for well under $400), and the 4-pc 9′ 6wt rod lists for $250 – making it a good choice for the thrifty angler, and a nice travel-sized backup when you’re heading off into the places where a broken rod means you beg your friends to use their spare (not recommended).

Because the rod came to me in the winter – and I’ve been fishing more small streams than 6wt-sized water – I can’t comment on the durability of the kit (outside of the fact that you can apparently smack it against a tree, hold your breath, and not break it).

And yes, it still features Redington’s lifetime warranty – a fact much appreciated by clumsy, forgetful and drunken hard-fishing anglers.

I’m not going to pretend – even for a second – that Redington’s RS4/Rise combo is something that you absolutely have to buy.

Instead, I’m inclined to view it as either a really solid value right smack in the middle of the industry, or a sign that fly fishing gear has come a long ways in the past ten years – to the point that the difference between the great stuff and the “value” stuff isn’t nearly as dramatic as the price would indicate.

See you on the river, Tom Chandler.