I have recently been reading posts on the Fiberglass Manifesto, (link to website below) and i was wondering if i should add a fiberglass rod to my arsenal. Does anyone own one? The questions that i have are: whats the difference between casting a fiberglass rod and a graphite rod? And is it worth it to purchase one? I do go fishing a lot and i would probably use it on a weekly basis but i just don't know if it is worth my money.

Fiberglass Manifesto: http://thefiberglassmanifesto.blogspot.com/

Forgot to mention the rod that i'm looking at. its the Redington Butterstick 8ft 5wt 3pc

link: http://www.redington.com/fly-fishing-rods/butter-stick/

I cant speak for fly rod. With my experience of using spinning rods and jigging rods ( offshore ), fiberglass rods are bit heavier, more flex, easy to work the fish, dont break as easy as graphite rods, and have less lifting power compared to graphite rods.

I own a bunch of them; build them also. For light rods theyre much better than graphite; they protect lighter tippets; make small fish much more fun, and they are much tougher than graphite; very difficult to break. People are rediscovering the fun action of a fiberglass rod. A 3 weight fiberglass is much softer than a 1 weight graphite. Theyre a little heavier but are great fishing rods.
Casting fiberglass is much like casting bamboo. Generally speaking they are much slower than graphite thus you have to slow down your casting stroke or the line will overtake and pass the fly. Its easy to learn to cast them,but youngsters who have grew up casting graphite simply don't have the patience to wait. For many, fiberglass rods fit their casting stroke so they have no problems. There has been a rebirth of fiberglass lately so all the big boys have them in their offerings; TFO, redington, orvis, etc.. You can still buy the old classic fiberglass from the 50's and 60's on ebay pretty cheap. hope this helps-p-
here is the site for fiberglass discussion; much information
http://fiberglassflyrodders.com/forum/index.php

I have one I bought off of Gene. Pretty much the only rod I fish with, now. I love it. I started on an old fiberglass rod and auto reel my dad had.
The good news about one of the old rods, the value doesn't go down just because you bought it. Gitcha one and try it.

Kirk

Thanks for the info. Would you happen to be a member of fiberglass fly rodders? I just applied to join.

Cool, thanks for the info i was thinking of replacing my Cabela's wind river combo with the butter stick but i will look out for an old rod on ebay to see if i can get a good deal.

I can't speak for Gene (Pearow), but I'm not.
Check the list he put on his blog, or send him a PM and ask him, he may have a few on hand. You won't find a bad deal.

Kirk

Skrittelz

Cameron from thefiberglassmanifesto has a loan program. You should look at that before purchasing
one of the fiberglass rods. For a minimal price he will send you a rod to use for a while and after you
are done with it you send it back to him or the next person.

You could also look at buying an Eagle Claw from him if you want to get in the glass game for a decent
price. I think he sells them for 45 or 50 bucks.

I enjoy using my glass rod more than my graphite ones.

Eagle Claw rod and reel, I like them!

I bought 2 sets of Eagle Claw spinning combo at a local Pawn shop over 20 years ago. Both reels felled apart. But the 2 rods are still work great. I use them pretty much every week, for sand bass, stripers, hybrids, etc. I am amazed how good those rods are. I don't think they still make those rods anymore. They are a bit heavy, but very solid, medium action. I can cast light lures, or heavy lures up to 2 1/2oz. I like them, no, I don't like them, I love them a lot.

I have many of the old classic fiberglass rods from the 50's, 60's, and 70's. They are still being sold on ebay for bargain prices. I enjoy taking an old rod and redoing it. Have re-done a lot of them. You can make a good tool for fishing rather inexpensive. The biggest problem with fiberglass is rod weight. You have to find a reel to balance the rod or else it will be tip heavy, which will wear you out in a days fishing-p-

I have a whole covey of old and new fiberglass rods.
They are my preferred rods. As Gene stated they are a lot slower action but
when you hook a fish on one you don't have to worry about turning it or landing it.
Cameron has been a huge advocate for the rebirth of glass rods. He was instrumental
in getting Orvis to add their new Super Fine Glass series which are awesome rods.

Those rod blanks are great for dry fly presentations. My buddy likes those and bamboo rods. He does a lot of small stream fishing up north and is all old school. You can find the blanks for cheap money if you call around to rod building supply companies that have been in business for a long time. My buddies shop in MA has a lot of the blanks for sale if you are ever looking for some. cotesflyshop.biz

Gene,

Shhh...These old glass rods are EXPENSIVE and not worth trying...


Unless it's a Conolon

Les

you are right Les; the old ones are worn out by the time they hit ebay-p-