An overview of history of fly rods from 
200 A.D to 2000s

One of the most interesting histories of fly fishing and fly rods was written by Dr. Andrew N. Herd of England.

Dr. Herd has traced fly fishing back to 200 A. D. in Macedonia. The Macedonians used a wooden pole with a line and a bit of crimson wool attached to homemade hooks to catch fish.  Doubtless this was a solid pole and not very flexible but nonetheless a fly rod by definition.

The Treatyse of Fysshynge with an Angle was published as part of the second edition of The Boke of St. Albans in 1496.  This book describes in detail how to construct a fly rod of the period.  The base of the rod was hazel, ash or willow, with an insert second top piece of smaller hazel.  The final part of the top section was "a fair shoot of blackthorn, crabtree, medlar, or juniper".  The Treatyse describes a lot of soaking, drying, hole burning, fitting, binding and so on just to get a fly rod.  No running out to a store for instant gratification here folks. 

These rods were massive affairs and not the little light weight 00 – 5 line weight rods we enjoy today.    To view the complete construction process Medieval Fly Rods  

The Treatyse also talks about how to make colored braided horsehair lines of different thickness for different fish species, how to make your own hooks, floats, weights, fish species and when to fish for them.  Lines were about 16 feet in length so "casting" was more or a dapping or short pickup and drop technique.

In the eighteenth century, the fly rod started to slowly evolve.  Poorly made jointed rods were being made, trout rod lengths ran from 9 to 12 feet and tapered braided horse hair lines were down to single hairs for 9 foot rods.  

Silk lines were starting to make an appearance and "bamboo cane" was making an appearance in the top sections of salmon rods.  The advent of the industrial revolution allowed the mass production of a variety of tapered fly lines and the beginning of machine produced fly reels.  The fly reels were not well designed and often malfunctioned.  Still no major revolution in fly-rods was taking place.

From 1800 to 1850, rod design and manufacture was improving.  The best rods were still made from ash, hazel and lancewood as in the past centuries.  But Calcutta Cane, of good enough quality, was being substituted for lancewood.  Jointed rods were still unreliable and were likely to snap off.  A variety of joints was tried.  A female brass socket with a male wood end.  A brass female socket and a brass male end.  Screw joints were also used.  A piece of whale bone 4 — 5 inches long was still used for rod tops.  The joint quest would not end until the Orvis company invented the strong thin walled "suction joint".
More about Fly-Rods and Reels

From 1851 to 1900, split cane rods were perfected.  The false cast was discovered, dry fly technique emerged, mostly modern reels were being manufactured and a Scotsman advocated the upstream cast with a short ten foot rod.

1901 to 1950 — The hexagonal split cane rod was the dominant design.  A trout rod was generally between 9’6" to 11 feet.  The ferrule was being increasingly used in rod production.  Orvis perfected the suction ferrule.  Hardy Company of England was promoting the ‘Universal’ reel seat invented by Dr. Emil Weeger.

Prior to the 1880s, rod butts were made by machining a swelling into the material or wrapping the handle with pigskin.  By 1900, cork was the more common covering for fly rod handles.  Ground cork for inferior rods and natural cork on premium rods.

The discovery of nymph fishing by angling great G.E.M. Skues was one of the most important fly fishing advances.  Discoveries by Skues are still carrying us forward today..

1951 to 2000 — The glass-fiber rods appeared in the late 1940′s.  But they did not sweep the market as their weight was similar to split cane.  The lower cost of a fiber-glass rod was the main advantage. After the development of carbon fiber rods in 1976, rod weights plunged to the point where line weight became a factor in rod handling.  

Another look at the development of modern fly rods is by Don Phillips, the inventor of the boron fly fishing rod in 1971. "The Technology of Fly Rods" The author is a fly fisherman, mechanical engineer and the inventor of the boron fly rod towards the end of 1971.

In 1952, the first modern fly line as we know it appeared.  I have found both Cortland and Scientific Anglers claim to have developed the line in the same year.  In any case, the new plastic line would float and not become water logged like silk.  (Once a silk line was water logged, it had to be discarded.).  Silk lines were effectively dead.

Credits
My poor summary above doesn’t do justice the vast amount of material on Dr Herd’s website.  Please visit his site and spend some time getting all the fascinating information there. 

My thanks to Dr. Andrew N. Herd of www.flyfishinghistory.com.  Dr. Herd has compiled a massive amount of data on his site about fly fishing history.  I can’t even begin to imagine the amount of hours that went into making his site let alone his book "The Fly".  This book is a complete history of fly fishing from its earliest recorded beginnings to the present.  Dr. Herd’s second Book "The Flies" will contain details of every major fly pattern from medieval times to 1899.

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Analysis of fly rods – How to tell premium fly fishing rods 
from cheap fly rods

 description of rod actions, 
tests to use in choosing a fly rod, 
how to save money on a fly rod

Fly Rod Actions

are described in a variety of terms depending on the manufacturer.  But essentially each description relates to where the rod flexes under load when casting.  

• Fast, tip action or tip flex — main flex is in the top 1/3 to 1/4 of the tip section depending on manufacturer.  This action loads very fast and requires precise timing and control.  (Usually reserved for advanced or expert casters)
• Medium or Mid-flex — rod bends in the middle 1/2 to upper 1/3 of the rod.  This action is good for beginners to advanced casters who just like a "forgiving" feel.
• Slow or Full-flex — rod bends from tip to butt section.  While very forgiving of casting mistakes, this type of rod action produces a slow rod recovery rate.  In my opinion, a slow action can be so slow that it can interfere with hooking fish.
• Progressive — No noticeable difference between the stiffer and more flexible parts of a rod.

How to Choose a Fly Rod

As a beginner starting out there are a bewildering number of fly rod choices ranging from 6 feet to a monster two handed 13 to 15 foot spey rod.  For fly fishing Colorado and surrounding states you obviously don’t need a two handed rod.  Choosing a rod suited for Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah or New Mexico depends a lot on understanding that most trout are caught at distances under 20 feet from you.  This is not just my opinion but the opinion of fly fishing great and fly rod builder Tom Morgan, "During the last 40 years, most trout have been taken from 20 to 40 feet and I expect the next 50 years will be the same."  (From fly fishing legend Andre Puyan’s column in the 2004 Gear Guide in Fly Fishing America on page eleven.)

Janice O’Shea, professional guide teaches her students to fish within 10 to 12 feet. I have caught fish within 3 feet of where I was standing so long casts are not always needed.  But good presentation is a necessity. (http://www.fly-fishing-colorado.com/wordpress/nymph-fishing-and-gourmet-cooking/)

A trout can take a fly and spit it out in less than 1/10 second.  Do you really think you are good enough to put out 60 feet of line, mend it for a perfect presentation, detect a strike and set the hook with 60 feet of line out in less than 1/10 second. "Let’s get real here."  If you are planning on purchasing a rod and line to put those 60 foot casts, stop reading here.  What I have to say will be of little interest.

Line Weights

Line Weights are one of the most important considerations in choosing a proper fly rod outfit.  Lines range from Sage’s new 00 to a 15 for use in salt water fishing.

Bruce Richards, product engineer and fly line designer for 3M Scientific Anglers says that the delicacy of presentation is determined by the mass at the front of the fly line.  A DT and a WF line with the same taper and tip diameter will deliver the same.

The trick to roll casting with a DT or a WF line is to make sure the larger diameter belly is in the rod tip.  If you are trying to transmit energy through the smaller diameter running line, you will not transmit enough energy to the belly to make the line do what you want.

Almost all WF lines have heads that are 44 to 49 feet long.  Remember that most of us don’t have the need or the ability to roll cast longer than 45 feet.

Basic fly lines for use in Colorado and surrounding states are:

1. Double Taper — A 90 foot long line tapered equally at both ends.  The first and last 15 feet of line are tapered to increase in weight from the tip to the belly of the line.  Then the line diameter and weight is constant for the next 60 feet.  Next the line starts to loose weight and line diameter until it reaches a tip size equal to the front section of the fly line. 

   Usually marked as DT1, DT2 and so on through DT6.  When one end of the line becomes worn, you can turn it around and use the unused tapered end.

   Janice O’Shea , a professional fly fishing guide recommends a DT5 weight line as a good starter line for fly fishing Colorado.

    

2. Weight Forward — The first 30 to 50 feet of the 90 feet fly line contain most of the weight.  The line behind the head is a smaller diameter line.  Noted as WF5, WF6, WF7 and so on.  Generally weight forward lines are used on rods for 7 weight up.  A weight forward line will load a rod quickly.  They are good for casting heavy nymphs, bushy dry flies and terrestrials into a stiff breeze. 

Choosing a Balanced Fly Rod, Reel and Fly Line Combination

In my research, I have found these three considerations seem to be common. 

• Pick a rod weight suited to the species of fish you normally fish.
• Pick a rod length for the water you normally fish.
• Pick a rod price that makes you reach a bit to get it.  (This way you will appreciate and care for your rod.)

That seems simple enough right.  Wrong.  There is the question of matching the line wt to the rod and to the reel, upper body strength of male vs. female when picking a rod, the physical balance test, the spine test and the casting test. 

How to tell premium fly fishing rods 
from cheap fly rods

Are there ways to tell premium fly rods from cheap fly fishing rods?  The answer is a definitive Yes!

Here are some items to examine when looking for a premium fly rod.  See the premium 9 foot 4 piece travel rod shown above.

1. Premium fly rods will generally have 1 guide for approximately each foot of rod not counting the main stripping guide. Premium fly rods may have two stripping guides but the second one is counted in the guide count. For example, the nine-foot premium fly rod pictured above has a total of ten guides not including the main stripping guide.

   As the rod length increases so should the number of guides. Remember the rule of 1 guide for approximately each 1 foot of rod length plus a tip top guide.  (Ex.  A premium 8’6" fly rod should have 9 guides plus the main stripping guide = 10 guides.  (Round up to the next higher whole fly rod length number, then count your guides)

    

2. A good model fly rod will generally have 1 less guide than the premium models.  For the nine foot model shown here, a good rod would have nine guides not counting the main stripping guide.

    

3. A cheaper model fly rod will generally have still fewer guides not including the stripping guide. For example, a cheap nine-foot fly rod may have only eight guides not including the main stripping guide.

   These less expensive fly rods will not cast long lengths of line as easily as premium fly rods will. Think about it. The guides carry the line as it shoots forward toward the target.

   With less guides on the fly fishing rod, the line will tend to develop a little belly between the guides. With any belly in the line between guides, a lot of energy is lost.  Loss of energy equals loss of forward motion and casting distance.  Cheap fly rods also make you work harder to cast because you have to work to put more energy into the cast instead of letting the fly rod do it for you.  Thus, a 60-foot cast with a 12-foot leader is more difficult using a cheap fly rod than with a premium rod.

    
   

4. Quality of the fly rod components:

• Reel Seat– This is the part that holds the reel to the fly rod. Reel seats on rods for fresh water fishing are generally made of metal holders with a wood insert in between. They may also be made of aluminum or stainless steel.  Personally, I like the reel seats with wood spacers as they add beauty and charm to the rod.  There are several different types of wood reel seats spacers out there.  Ask your local fly shop owner about them when looking at fly rods.

  Does the reel you are going to use fit snugly in the reel seat.  Take your reel in with you when shopping or put one on you are looking at buying.  (This is hard to do when shopping online so make sure you get a money back satisfaction guarantee when purchasing.)

  A good reel seat these days is uplocking.  This means that the retainer rings screw up toward the reel to hold it in place. This model reel seat keeps the rings away from your hand when casting and avoids accidental loosening of the rings.  There is nothing worse than having a lifetime trophy fish on and having your reel fall off in the middle of the fight.

  REC — Nickel Silver or anodized aluminum reel seats are used by St. Croix in their top line rods series.

   

• Cork Grip – This is the part you hold to make your cast. Cork comes in grades A and B. Less expensive Rods may use a B grade but that won’t affect your casting. A quality fly fishing rod should use Grade A cork with no holes or crumbly grainy parts when sanded smooth. Grips may in the shape shown or in a modified curl at the top end, allowing a place to brace your thumb when casting. 

  

  Style 1 — Reverse Wellington — flare above reel seat

  Style 2 — Reverse Wellington with cutout — reel seat inserted into grip

  Style 3 — Full Wellington with about a 1 or 2 inch fighting butt — Normally most fly rods for fly fishing in Colorado, Utah, Montana or Wyoming would not use these fighting butts.

  Style 4 — Used with a two handed Spey salmon or salt water fishing rods.

   

• Stripping Guide – is the first guide above the grip. It is round and looks a lot like a guide on a spinning rod, except it is lined inside with a ceramic insert. The insert reduces line wear when the line passes over the guide.  If there are two stripping guides, both of them should be ceramic lined.  

    Fuji® SiC stripper guides with titanium-plated frames are used by St. Croix on their top line models. 

• Mid or Snake Guides come in both double foot and single foot models.  If a fly fishing rod is built using single foot guides, it will be for smaller line weights.  00 through 6.  Heavier line weights will generally use a traditional double foot guide.  In either case a high quality premium fly rod should be using titanium or nickel plated guides.  Lesser quality fly rods should be using chrome plated guides at a minimum. Coated Guides  reduce line friction, line wear, guide wear and ease of casting from reduced friction over traditional wire guides.

   
  Traditional Double Food Snake Guides shown above.

  
  Single Foot Round Wire Snake Guides

  
  Single Foot Round Ceramic Fly Rod Guides
   

• NEW Product ===> A new product in the fly rod guide market are RECOIL^® Guides & Tip Tops.  RECOIL guides are marketed exclusively by REC Components and designed in partnership with Ultimate NiTi Technologies, Inc, the exclusive manufacturer

  These new guides are manufactured from a nickel titanium alloy.  This "Special Shape Memory" alloy is so hard yet flexible that fly rod guides don’t need ceramic inserts to reduce wear and they return to their original shape after many deformations.  My local fly fishing shop owner in Aurora, CO said Gary Loomis is using them on the G. Loomis $600 Rods. So there appears to be exciting changes ahead for the fly rod industry.

• Top Guide – This guide is again a round guide that fits over the end of the rod blank. It is glued in place and wrapped on the bottom end. The round shape facilitates shooting the line. The round shape also allows for the line leader connection to slide easily inside the tip area during the landing of a fish.

  Fly rod wire loop top guides

  Fly Rod ceramic top guides

   

• Ferrules – These are the parts where the rod pieces fit together.  There are two main types of ferrule systems in use today.  Tip over butt where the butt of the section above fits over the tip of the section below.  

  Then there is Scott Rods internal ferrule solution where a specially designed rod piece is fit into the tip of the bottom section.  This tip piece then fits inside the butt of the top piece.  Scott claims this allows the construction of a "continuous tapered" rod which will cast better.  Whether one is better than the other is your choice.  But remember the more labor that goes into a fly rod, the more the cost.

  Rod Windings – These are the thread windings over the feet of the strip guides(s), the snake guides and the ferrules if Tip over Butt.  The windings should be close together with no loose ends showing.  There should be several coatings of epoxy finish over the windings to protect them from wear and unraveling.

  Rod Finish – In the past most fly rods, would have several coats of rod epoxy on the blanks to protect the blank and to enhance the appearance.  Newer blanks may not need any finish to be attractive and are tough enough to be wear resistant without rod epoxy.

How is my fly rod manufactured?

If you want to get a headache in a hurry, just start researching how fly rods are manufactured.  So many terms — scrim, prepreg, resin, modulus of elasticity, high modulus graphite.  Not to mention all the special PR spin each fly rod manufacturer puts on their materials.  (Graphite II, Graphite III, Graphite IV, IM6, GL3, GL4, High Matrix, Sage fly rods new G5 technology with modulus positioning system (MPS) or St. Croix’s IPC technology to produce rods with one continuous taper.  Let’s start with a Glossary of Terms.

Glossary of Fly Rod Terms

• Carbon fiber or Graphite — fibers of carbon processed in one roll with the fibers aligned along the length of the roll.  The fibers then are coated with a bonding resin.  
• Scrim — The addition of a small amount of fiberglass to the graphite matte.  Or by spiral wrapping additional graphite fibers around the rod blank.  The last method yields blanks of 94 to 96 per cent graphite and is the more versatile of the two methods.
• Resin — is a type of plastic like adhesive that is added to the blank to strengthen the matte and scrim.  The resin is harden by curing in a baking oven.  Different resins will give different rod characteristics.
• Pre-preg — the combination of the carbon matte, scrim and resin is called a pre-preg.  The pre-preg is then cured in an oven at a set temperature and time.  After that, it is ready for cutting a pattern called a "flag"
• Flag — the rod blank pattern cut from the pre-preg.  The flag is now ready to be rolled around a mandrel to form the actual rod blank.
• Mandrel — A precisely tapered metal rod used to define the shape of the rod blank.  Different mandrel shapes help to determine rods of different actions and tapers.  Quality rods are designed on a mandrel for each piece.  

  The flag or pattern is rolled around the mandrel using pressure or shrink tape.  If shrink tape is used, the rod blank will have spiral marks that must be sanded or ground smooth.

  The mandrel and wrapped flag is cured in a baking oven at a precise temperature and for a precise time.  Then the cured flag is removed from the mandrel. Better blanks have a smoother finish right off the mandrel.  Shrink tape wrapped blanks will have small ridges left when cured.  These ridges must be ground down to a smooth finish.  A matte finish blank is left unvarnished or finished with a matte or satin varnish.  

• Modulus of Elasticity — is a fancy term for the amount of stiffness in a rod blank.  (It actually stands for Young’s Modulus of Elasticity from Physics.).  As typically used, Modulus refers to the stiffness of the dry graphite fibers — before mixed with the resin to become the prepreg.
• Spine — All rod blanks have a "spine" from the manufacturing process.  The spine means the blank will favor flexing along a particular plane.  Each rod section may not have the same spine so fitting rod guides is finding the "Effective Spine"  Best quality rods today may have little or no spine.

  Finding the spine.  Take each rod section and set the butt section on a table or non-slip surface.  Put slight pressure on the rod about in the middle of the section with the finger tips and then roll the rod blank gently in one direction.  You will feel a point where the blank "snaps" over a point of stiffness.  That is the spine.  Sight along the blank and see if if the guides are aligned along the spine.  

  Do this with each rod section for the rod you are looking at.  With the rod assembled, you should be able to tell the spine by the same test.  Do this gently unless you want to buy a broken rod.

  Why the Spine is important!  Under load, the rod will always turn itself so the load is resisted by the spine, the rod’s line of greatest strength. The guides must be aligned along this line of resistance. Failing this, the rod will turn under load to the spine regardless of where the guides are set.  You don’t want to be fighting a big fish and have the rod twist under load.  

Blank and Rod Properties

• Tapers — Rod tapers come in several flavors.  
  • Compound or progressive where the blank makes several changes to the taper over the length of the total blank.
  • Continuous or smooth where the blank is one smooth taper from butt to tip.  (These types of tapers are a newer taper allowed by better ferrule design.)
• Ferrules — The connection points between sections of a rod.  The ferrules generally offer a point of increased resistance in the blank which will affect the overall action of the rod.  A badly designed ferrule can break a blank from the leverage force applied to the inside of the blank.  This applies to two piece and multi-piece rods.  Newer ferrules are often thinner walled than older designed ferrules.  And so offer a better rod action.
  • Tip over Butt — are ferrules where the butt of the section above tapers enough to allow the male end below to be fit into the female ferrule section above.  (These were the first effective fiber glass design ferrule to replace metal ferrules.)  They are still in common use today.  The female section of the ferrule is usually reinforced with a section of cross-wise graphite fibers for lateral strength under load.  Each blank section with this type of ferrule must be made on a separate mandrel.
  • Internal or Spigot Ferrule — A spigot is glued into the butt section.  The spigot is a perfect fit for the ferrule section above.  To reinforce the female ferrule section above, graphite is glued perpendicular to the graphite blank.  Many rod manufacturers who use this type of ferrule, maintain it provides a consistent transfer of energy and adds very little weight to the blank.  There is usually a slight gap in each ferrule when the rod is assembled to allow for wear.  (note:  I have one 9 ft graphite rod with this type of ferrule system.  I much prefer the tip over butt system.)
  • Sleeve Ferrule — an external female sleeve is glued over the butt of each rod  section.  Then the male end is fit into the the female sleeve to assemble the rod.  There is a continuous taper inside the ferrule which is an extremely strong design.  But some rod designers feel this type adds too much weight and stiffness.  

    Scott Fly Rods have engineered a sleeve over ferrule to produce a thin walled extremely strong smooth ferrule.  Scott claims their ferrule system allows for a smooth transfer of power through out the rod blank. 

  • Flared Ferrule — Designed and patented by Gary Loomis.  This ferrule is based on the tip over butt system.  The rod section has a flare at the female end of the ferrule.  The butt section is inserted into the female end.  This type of ferrule produces a small tip over butt ferrule with excellent energy transfer through the short ferrule length.  (Editor Note:  I have a G.Loomis rod which I very much enjoy using.)

Analysis of fly rods – How to tell premium fly fishing rods 
from cheap fly rods

How to Choose Fly Rods