Any Recent Experience with McFarland Rods?

Letort

Letort

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Joined
Dec 14, 2008
Messages
285
I stress recent, because I understand his past reputation was checkered at best. Fiberglass rod forums are littered with customers that had to really push to get what they paid for. And more recently, his rod venture Seele folded after a short period.

But his rods are well received and he has a new fiberglass model out that I think looks appealing (Perpetual - cross between S & E glass). Also, reportedly, he has sorted out his past problems.

So, thought someone here might be able to offer a yea or nea, since he is in the heart of fly fishing country here in PA.
 
He has a crap ton of nice rods.
the thing is they hold value so you can re sell it. I fish with 99 percent fiberglass now. I love them. I would love one of his rods.
 
Wow, I haven't been looking at the glass rod market in years. I was quite surprised to see his rods cost from $735 - $825. Wow, that is more than some of the top of the line graphite rods. Or two really nice mid level rods.
 
while I can't speak for his most recent offerings, I will say that I have and fish 3 of his glass rods that I built up from blanks, I had no problem dealing with him, and they are my 3 favorite rods. The guy really knows his tapers.
Call him and see if you can meet up with him and do some casting.
 
Mike is a really good guy. I would love to have one of his rods, but I never got one when he ran his fly shop -- but should have. I'm so old now that I don't know if I would truly appreciate one, since my casting gets a little worse each year.

But, if I were a young guy and had a stash of mad money, I think I'd go after one.
 
I know Mike and we cast tournaments together. He is a top notch caster and builds top notch rods.

I’ve never had an issue with Mike.

His new rods are amazing and smooth. We are having a casting shootout on Friday before the Lancaster show and I am looking forward to trying out his new tapers.

I think if you are interested in his rods you should talk to him directly.

The internet is full of opinions. The only way you can know if something works for you is to try it. My next 9ft 5wt will be a McFarland Graphite.
 
He's known for his glass but his graphite rods look very nice. His fit and finish blows Winston, tnt, etc. Out of the water.
 
I own a bunch of Mike's glass rods which are among my favorites. I never had a problem ordering from him and I was buying rods in the thick of the bad PR.

As far as talent goes, fit & finish is extraordinary and he is one of the few designers out there that actually knows how to cast, and EXTREMELY well.

He also rolls his own blanks which is a huge factor if you are looking for something made truly in-house by a PA craftsman and you can get it as customized as you want.

FWIW - He is also a great guy which counts for something I guess and he has that funny 'Burgh accent us east-siders love to bust on. ;-)

If I was in the market at that price point I wouldn't hesitate.
 
but, but, but, it doesn't say Sage on it!!
 
Quote:

bikerfish wrote:
but, but, but, it doesn't say Sage on it!!
That makes it even better!

Or maybe just more expensive
 
Went to McFarland website today and it is down. Not sure if maintenance or something else.

Called the telephone number and it rolled immediately into a generic phone recording.
 
Mike is a VERY talented rod builder. BUT, his business sense isn't as good. He goes MIA every now and then.

http://mcfarlandrods.com/
 
I find these rods to be very intriguing, especially the 8'-6" 3 weight and the 8'-9" 4 weight. I was told by the owner the actual weight of the rods, and I was surprised how light they are. Hear good things about them on the flyrodders forum. $600. Maybe someday........

http://www.livingstonrod.com/fly-rods/western-glass
 

Do not buy rod from him unless it is in person and the rod is in hand. He is not to be trusted. He may go to all the industry events and try to rub elbows with everybody, but he will take your money and never follow through on sending a rod. I had to contact my local police, and they threatened him with theft by deception.

(Another person contacted me with a similar story)
 
This is EXACTLY my fear! Give him a deposit and he might then become unresponsive.
 
Plenty of other rod builders use his blanks.....
 
I've never fished a McFarland built rod buy have fished a couple on blanks he's built, they are nice. With that being said if you want a glass rod in the McFarland class, I'd go with a Larry Kenney. Similar price wise the wait time is a few months (I think), and he doesn't take a dime until he ships your rod. I bought an 8' 5 weight from him and its the best 5 weight I've ever fished. Seriously the rod was so good, I ordered another one of his rods within a week of fishing it.
 
I have never seen a Kenney rod but heard of them on the glass flyrodder DB. Wasn’t able to find much online on them, but they get very high marks. Perhaps I will push to see if I can get more information.
 
I don't think he has a website, but you can Google his email address, I don't want to post it.
 
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