Rods designed for PA or the North East USA?

[tie1fly]

I’ve been reading about Scott rods and how the designers are located in CO, fish in CO, and in theory, design the rods with at least a bias towards those CO streams. Similar might be said of Sage with focus on the North West and big Western rivers. Obviously, these rods can be used anywhere, but there at least seems to be some focus on certain habitats when they are designed and tested.

Curious of rods designed and tested primarily in PA and the North East USA? The thought being they may have a slight edge in fishing our waters if they were designed and tested here.

One I know of is Joe Goodspeed (formally of T&T, now Diamondback). Seems to live, work, and do a lot of testing of his rods in the North East.

 

[hooker-of-men]

There's this little company called Orvis...

 

[tie1fly]

There's this little company called Orvis...

Yes, absolutely. I believe George Daniel help design and test the blackout euro-rod in PA. I’ve heard rumors of the 9’5” 5 wt being designed for the Delaware (not sure if that’s true). Wasn’t sure about any of their other rods being designed for this area.

EDIT: just saw on their website about the 7’6” Superfine glass: “The four-piece 3-wt. Superfine 763-4 is designed with the spring creeks of the East in mind at 7’ 6”. Think bigger dries, short to medium casts and lighter nymph rigs.”. So that’s another one.

 

[hooker-of-men]

Yes, absolutely. I believe George Daniel help design and test the blackout euro-rod in PA. I’ve heard rumors of the 9’5” 5 wt being designed for the Delaware (not sure if that’s true). Wasn’t sure about any of their other rods being designed for this area.

I mean, if your premise is right about Sage/Scott, then we can consider Orvis rods to be primarily built for fishing Vermont and surroundings?

Not to be argumentative, but I don't think, at the big company level, that premise really holds true. In that mass market, they all seem to be bringing in designers and testers that can feel out their huge range of rod models and sizes for almost every situation. I'm sure this is an easier conversation at the level of custom builds / small companies.

The idea that even the big guys have some specific models customized for particular rivers is cool, though. That's interesting, though I imagine they'd be reluctant to put that into marketing (and I find it much less interesting when we get into $4k "Adirondack" bamboo rods to catch 4 inch brook trout...)

 

[jeffroey]

JP Ross in New York might be worth a look. Designs a lot of small stream stuff for the Catskills. I've built out a couple of his glass blanks and like them very much.

 

[jeffroey]

Not to be argumentative, but I don't think, at the big company level, that premise really holds true. In that mass market, they all seem to be bringing in designers and testers that can feel out their huge range of rod models and sizes for almost every situation.

Sorry for the double post. This is also a good point. I found myself on the phone with Dusty Smith, Owner of Livingston Rods for quite a while one day talking about some of his glass blanks. He's a guy with east coast roots and talked specifically about how some of his 4wt rods were really built with eastern limestones in mind. Wouldn't necessarily know that looking at the logo and their base of operations.

 

[falcon]

Many rod companies with US fabrication are located near the high tech aerospace industry. One would think a material scientist would prefer to work somewhere other than Twin Bridges. No Boeing in MT. Other companies design here and have fabrication done in high tech South Korea. Orvis builds their high end stuff in VT. However Lockhead Martin is in nearby Owego, NY.

Back in the 90s Winston came out with a rod called the Delaware Special. They may have done this a couple of years in a row. Not sure of the configuration but I think it was a 9.5ft 5wt matched with a Ross Reel. The rod had Delaware Special inked on the rod and maybe the reel. This was a proprietary rod for a now defunct Fly Shop in Hankins, NY on the mainstem.i will thnk of the shop owners name at some point. He was a colorful character.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear tie1fly,

I think your best bet would be to seek out a custom builder and have them build the exact rod you desire.

Otherwise, you just have to buy an off the shelf rod from someone and hope it will work. And therein lies the rub. I'm not aware of any rod builders in Pennsylvania that roll their own graphite or fiberglass rods to individual specifications except for perhaps McFarland along with several bamboo builders.

But that brings up another question. If you do get a locally designed, spun, and built fly rod how could you ever take it out of State and expect it to perform in foreign territory?

It ain't the saw, it's the sawyer that counts.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[falcon]

Maybe Mike McFarland. He probably wont say. He has excellent rods

 

[TheAppalachianAngler]

Mike McFarland or Bill Harms.

 

[hooker-of-men]

Thinking about the Orvis bamboo I mentioned earlier, I went back and looked at their offerings.

The Adirondack is a 7.5' 5wt.

The Penns Creek is a 7' 4 wt.

It terms of custom design corresponding to water, how does that make sense? Is the Adirondack a throwback rod designed to be used for time travel to fish bigger water like the Hudson before, you know, people destroyed the river?

 

[Bamboozle]

Growing up, most folks I knew in PA, NY & NJ were buying rods from companies like Orvis, Leonard, Thomas & Thomas and Fenwick while the well heeled guys had rods from Payne & Garrison.

The "eastern" guys tended to fish 5 & 6wt moderate action rods between 7'0" and 8'6" with 7'6" & 8'0" being particular favorites and not a whole lot of oddball lengths like 7'9" or 8'3".

It wasn't until the mid 1980's that I started seeing a lot of rods marketed by companies as "western" style. Orvis was one of the first with their "Western" series of graphite rods that were longer in "unconventional lengths and stiffer, often throwing higher line weights to handle wind and cast further with higher line speeds.

Even though I was late to the game owning anything longer that 8'6", I'm sure many other folks before me bought those "western" rods, fished them in PA and said, "hmm, I like this different length, faster rod."

Today if I was looking for a rod suited to fishing in PA I'd think about the kind of fishing I do, the size of the stream or lake where I planned to fish and the rod action I preferred...

...and just buy the rod and not worry about what coast the builder had in mind.

To put that into perspective, I fish in PA more than anywhere else with bamboo, glass and graphite rods and every single graphite rod I use is made by Winston, a western company.

 

[TheAppalachianAngler]

I'll say this.
Considering trout fishing only and in PA only.
A 7'6" 4wt will be the most practical rod across the most streams.

If you get a McFarland 7'6" 4wt, you will have a rod designed and tested in PA, in the most practical configuration, for most trout fishing applications in PA.
YMMV and IMO.

Doesn't mean it's better than another rod. Just I think it answers your question.

 

[troutbert]

Fishing a small stream is similar no matter where that small stream is located.

And fishing a larger stream or river is similar no matter where it is located.

And fishing big streamers is also similar regardless of location. And it's very different than casting a size 14 dry fly.

I've fished for trout in the east, midwest, and west with the same gear.

 

[falcon]

Those Orvis Western series rods were introduced in the 80s. I am familiar with the 8ft 9in 7wt. The Sage RPL also was in production at that time. They were and still are nice rods.

 

[troutbert]

Those Orvis Western series rods were introduced in the 80s. I am familiar with the 8ft 9in 7wt. The Sage RPL also was in production at that time. They were and still are nice rods.

I won a Sage RPL+ rod at a TU raffle. That was the main rod I used for years and I fished it all over PA. I never thought of it as a "western" rod. It was just a fly rod that cast very well.

 

[tie1fly]

I'll say this.
Considering trout fishing only and in PA only.
A 7'6" 4wt will be the most practical rod across the most streams.

If you get a McFarland 7'6" 4wt, you will have a rod designed and tested in PA, in the most practical configuration, for most trout fishing applications in PA.
YMMV and IMO.

Doesn't mean it's better than another rod. Just I think it answers your question.

This is sort of where I was headed with this question.

More context: a couple years ago I finally plunked down the cash on a heavily discounted Sage X 590. Mostly to try one of these “fast-action, western river rods”. Nice rod. I can cast it a mile with great accuracy, but outside the Delaware, it feels like too much rod for any other trout fishing I do in PA where heavy wind, 50’+ casts, and 20” trout are not normal. My most used rod is a medium-fast 8’6” 4 wt Scott. Some research indicated it was at least in part designed for “smaller” Colorado streams - maybe that might more closely match what we have in PA.

Obviously, personal preference plays into this. It just peaked my curiosity about rods designed for and tested on local water.

 

[troutbert]

My most used rod is a medium-fast 8’6” 4 wt Scott. Some research indicated it was at least in part designed for “smaller” Colorado streams - maybe that might more closely match what we have in PA.

Fishing streams of similar size is much the same, whether in PA or Colorado, MT etc.

 

[tie1fly]

Fishing streams of similar size is much the same, whether in PA or Colorado, MT etc.

I’d push back a little here. Fishing a 20’ stream in Montana located in a sprawling meadow, with constant wind, and 20” trout isn’t exactly the same as fishing Falling Springs.

Not trying to be argumentative, just providing context to my original question.

 

[Bamboozle]

When I was a kid, a 7'6" 5wt was considered the perfect sized trout rod for medium sized streams in PA or NY and a 7'6" 5wt was the 2nd rod I owned and all I used until I bought a 8'6" 6wt.

When I ordered an 8'0" 5wt bamboo rod from Bill Harms a few years back he said, "the perfect rod for our PA streams."

I own plenty of 4wts as well as 3wts but for all around trout fishing, I have better control and more versatility with a 5wt.