Glass Fibre Rods

[Phone]

BobH,

 

A "day" can be a different amount of time. I can count on one hand the number of sessions I've fished past 4 - 6 hours whilst casting "Back in the day" balance between rod reel and line far out weighed rod material.

 

Phone

[BobH]

A 14ft Milbro Enterprise weighs a ton, yes I'm sure there are some who could stand up and fish with it for 4-6hrs, 30 years ago I might have been one of those, but not any more- give me a Carbon trotting rod for the sake of my "back " any day.

[chesters1]

I have been lucky (or unlucky) i have never enjoyed fast water fishing (despite trying lots over the years) i much prefer static or slow moving but i found even rivers like the medway just bearable ,on the other hand my happiest moments were spinning on there and small streams so a six foot spinning rod was very easy to hold all day but you still got a sore arm casting for hours .

I have miles of river here i can use but sadly as i would have to be in the same swim as the mrs (incase she switches off and falls in) i can only predict disaster there will be tangles ,we both will get the mumbles and she would never go again which stops me unless the daughter in law keeps an eye on her but if shes here that means my sons here and although he has fished from birth he prefers to go dirt fishing and i would go to

[Ken L]

That is very true Ken, but a day spent trotting whilst holding the rod and Carbon comes into it's own.

 

True enough. My old B&W Flyer was consigned to the shed at some point in the early 80's when I got my first carbon rod.

[Steve Burke]

I'd still use one glass rod from my days in the rod designing business in preference to a carbon rod. This is a 10 footer I designed for what I call "touch trolling" when trolling off the bottom for pike with live/deadbaits. Not only is the tip beautifully soft compared with a carbon rod, but glass is much more robust in a boat where rods can get knocked about. I haven't done any of this sort of fishing for years, but still have the rod.

 

I can't think of any other use I'd have for a glass rod myself these days as carbon is much superior in almost every respect, especially for fast striking and even more so for casting.

 

In the early days of lure fishing I found a use for glass rods as they showed small knocks better than carbon. However the advent of modern braids with their almost zero stretch increased sensitivity no end, and for lure fishing I switched to carbon.

 

It's a shame though that the e-glass and s-glass materials were developed in the early days of carbon as they had a lot of potential. They were dropped when carbon came along.

 

The Bruce and Walker CTM was mentioned earlier. The CTM stood for Compound Taper Match and there were 2 versions I seem to recall, one having a spliced tip. Mine was a 14 footer without a spliced tip and was dreadfully top heavy! I wouldn't want to use it now.

 

Switching to a 13 foot Normark NMB in the early 80s was a revelation. This was the first decent carbon float rod on the market, and I'd happily use one of these even now.

[BobH]

Steve,

 

I can only think of one use for Glass as opposed to Carbon and that is when touch legering for Chub, using traditional set up (not a bolt rig), the softness of Glass, gives you just that second longer on the strike or in my case to let go of the loop of line I hold.

Big Chub can be notoriously fickle feeders, picking up baits in their lips and feeling for resistance, I tend to fish upstream using the lightest lead I can get away with to hold bottom, with a loop of line hanging from the rod tip, when I feel a pluck on the line I let go of the line I'm holding and wait a second before striking, this often results in a Chub.

I use an old Dons of Edmonton Glass fibre rod with a through action, which seem to convert more bites than the carbon rods I have ?

 

Bob

Edited September 5, 2014 by BobH

[poledark]

I think you will find quite a lot of glass in modern sea rods Steve,

 

Den

[Steve Burke]

Bob - Like you I always leger upstream whenever possible, and like you love touch legering. I prefer a carbon quivertip then as they show dropbacks beautifully. My old rod-building mate Mike Harris does too, but matches a carbon tip with a glass rod.

 

Den - I know nothing about modern sea rods as, apart for mullet fishing, haven't done any sea fishing for many years.

[Worms]

I've just started restoring a Modern Arms Co. IGFA 80lb class boat rod with a full set of AFTCO roller guides, Should be good fo some heavy congering matched with a Policansky 4B reel!,

 

I'll have almost a full set then, an Allcock's Climax split cane rod and Commodore 'pin, the "MARCO" and polly and my modern carbon Ugly stik 50-80 fod with my homemade multi, I'll be able to do heavy sea fishing wearing a variety of hats and clothing styles! ;-)

[poledark]

Lots of the latest sea rods have sections of glass spliced in, mainly in the tip section to show up bites better. I was shown some brand new prototype very expensive 14ft beachcasters at the weekend, and it performed as well as carbon

 

I once took issue with Dick Walker when he said glass was very good for smashing down nettles when clearing a swim

 

Plenty of uses for glass still.

 

Den