Northwest Reel Life November - December 2023 Volume 3 Issue 3 - Flipbook - Page 24
I pointed out this fiberglass
rod was more modern than
his attitude as well as the
graphite rod he was fishing;
also, his boat was made out
of fiberglass.
I try to keep a small stable
of fly rods, seven or eight in
rotation. If I'm not using a rod,
I give it to a kid. Over the last
couple of years, I've given half
a dozen rods to teenagers.
Fly rods don't do anyone any
good unless they are fishing.
Truth be told, I own two
fiberglass fly rods. The other
one is an 8-1/2-foot tobaccobrown Wright & McGill 3-A
Champion I bummed off
a friend for zero dollars. I
gave the same amount of
no money for the reel and
bought a new Cortland
floating line off eBay for
$13. Thirteen bucks. That's
all the money I have into
this rig. It parties like it's
1971. Whenever a new
acquaintance talks me into
taking them fishing and
they want to use one of my
rods, they get the old-school
glass. You want me to take
you fishing? You want to use
one of my thousand-dollar
graphite rods because you're
too cheap to buy your own?
Nope. You get the Wright &
McGill treatment. You don't
even get to touch my Orvis
magic wand Helios, the
Cabela's Rogue rod, or my
custom-antlered mule deer
Loomis IMX.
This Wright & McGill has
bested a boatload of
rainbows in the last few years
in the hands of grandchildren
and other mooches. I even
fish it from time to time. It's a
pretty good rod, and rugged
too.
Glass rods are heavier,
which is not a disadvantage.
My granddaughter who
is 8-years-old has never
complained, Grandpa, this
rod is too heavy! The heft of a
glass rod, along with its tothe-cork action, allows the
angler to sense the weight of
the line as it shoots through
the guides. Weight and
slower action tend to slow
the casting stroke, which
contributes to faster casting
competency for a novice.
If I had it to do over again, I
would not lean that Wallace
against that fir tree. If you
picked up a medium-brown
7-weight at Battleground
Lake in the spring of '85, you
got a nice rod. I hope you
fished it hard.
Another advantage is the
forgiving nature of glass. Opt
for a glass rod when fishing
still waters where trout will be
girthier. With a fiberglass rod
in hand, the rod absorbs hard
strikes better than graphite,
which translates to fewer fish
lost to broken tippets.
Fiberglass is durable too,
which means fewer broken
tips. That's why, if you want to
use my tackle, you get to fish
my $13 wonder.
Gary Lewis is an award-winning author, TV host, speaker and photographer. Recent books
include Fishing Central Oregon, 6th Edition, Fishing Mount Hood Country and Bob Nosler Born
Ballistic. Gary has hunted and fished in eight countries on three continents and in the islands
of the South Pacific. Born and raised in the Northwest, he has been walking forest trails and
running rivers for as long as he can remember. Lewis is twice past president of the Northwest
Outdoor Writers Association and a recipient of NOWA’s Enos Bradner Award.
24 | NWFISHING.net
What my collection lacks
is a bamboo option. I have
owned and fished bamboo
and know what I'm missing.
Fiberglass rods rival bamboo
for liveliness, power, and
balance in hand.
FOR A SIGNED COPY OF FISHING MOUNT
HOOD COUNTRY, SEND $29.99, INCLUDES
SHIPPING TO:
Gary Lewis Outdoors
PO Box 1364, Bend, OR 97709
Contact Gary Lewis at
garylewisoutdoors.com