[Mike Barrio]

Sandy and I are working on an awesome glass fly rod project, using the Epic blanks from Carl McNeil in New Zealand.

The #5 prototype is really great for our style of fishing in Scotland and we are having loads of fun testing it

[Noel Kelly]

Absolutely beautiful looking rod mike and Sandy

Did you have to show us those 5 empty boats crying out for customers though 

[Mike Barrio]

Absolutely beautiful looking rod mike and Sandy

Did you have to show us those 5 empty boats crying out for customers though 

Thanks Noel, some of you guys will have to take the prototype out for a spin on the river

Sorry about the boats ........ still waiting for somebody else to be keen to look after them and make the coffee!

Cheers
Mike

[Sandy Nelson]

Absolutely beautiful looking rod mike and Sandy

Thanks Noel, it is an experimental build as well, but seems to have worked really well, i'll have to up my game slightly though as keeping everything translucent to match the blank, doesn't half highlight any slight errors . Great fun to make though and its awesome to cast result
Carl McNeil deserves most of the credit though, he designed the blanks and what a job he has done

Sandy

[Irvine Ross]

Sandy and I are working on an awesome glass fly rod project, using the Epic blanks from Carl McNeil in New Zealand.

The #5 prototype is really great for our style of fishing in Scotland and we are having loads of fun testing it

Glass????????

Why glass, or is this a split cane (aka bamboo) fetish thing? And does it also come in covert operations matt black?

Irvine

ps The rod look great, nice job Sandy.

[Hamish Young]

I had the same thought Irvine (why glass ) so I went and had a look at this http://swiftflyfishing.com/pages/epic

I'm intrigued by the materials used, but I'm not all that convinced by the concept particularly when I read that the epic blanks are a "hybrid angling tool that combines the art and finesse of cane, the crispness of graphite and the brute strength and durability of modern S-glass" smacks a bit of a 21st century take on a hexagraph.
But I then needed to find out what S-glass is as I'd not heard of it before. A google search revealed I actually had heard of it before as a material but just hadn't put two and two together and I'm now intrigued by the use of S-glass in a rod. Are Epic blanks the first fly rods to use the material commercially
I confess I am a bit of a sceptic but the facts are that I'm not an IFFF Master Certified Fly Casting Instructor, nor am I a film-maker and I've certainly never fly fished in New Zealand for trophy trout so it's reasonable to assume that Carl knows his game far better than I when it comes to a range of product needed for NZ.

I like the idea of a translucent blank and I'm sure Sandy has produced another fine rod

H

[Rob Brownfield]

All those millions spent on carbon cloth research and you lot go out and buy something used to repair boats!    

Serious question now though...how much has fibreglass (glass fibre) moved on since the 70's when it started to lose out to carbon? How does a top rated GF rod from back then compare with todays? Has the technology (resin maybe) moved on from back then?

Soooo many questions!

[Rob Brownfield]

Are Epic blanks the first fly rods to use the material commercially

Not by a long way http://www.ebay.com/itm/S-GLASS-FLY-ROD-LAMIGLAS-S-GLASS-FLY-ROD-RARE-VINTAGE-LAMIGLAS-S-GLASS-FLY-ROD-/221152059989

Lamiglas was using S-glass a long time ago.

Diamondback also did the Diamondglass which was S-glass

Hence my question about technology moving on?

[Hamish Young]

Poorly worded on my part Rob.... what I should have said/meant to ask was:
'Are Epic blanks the first fly rods to use the material commercially in recent times '

H

[Mike Barrio]

Good question Irvine

Carl told me all about his fibreglass blanks quite a while ago now, how much development he put into the project and how awesome they were to cast, I ( like many folk I guess ) thought "why glass?" I don't remember glass rods as being anything special and we moved on to carbon for a reason ......... but I've seen more and more people that I know and respect raving about them, curiosity got the better of me and I just had to try one!

To say that I was a little surprised at how good the blank felt when it arrived would be a big understatement and now that we have built the prototype and played with it ..... I can see what all the buzz is about!

I'm not sure that I fully understand all the technical side of this modern fibreglass material used to make the blanks, but I do know that I like it. I would describe it as Progressive / Mid flex / Medium fast ...... with an awesome recovery rate Irvine, I have never cast a glass blank like this!

Cheers
Mike

[Sandy Nelson]

My advice is don't think about this too much.
Forget what it's made of, just get your hands on it and cast it.
It will be at the loops weekend for anyone who is curious.

I was doing stupid stuff with it yesterday and the harder I pushed it the faster the line went and the tighter the loop got.
To the point where I could not move it any faster or with any more power, yet the bit of fluff at the end of a 15ft leader turned over and floated to the ground.

It just has to be played with, it's like nothing I've cast before and I love it

Sandy

[Rob Brownfield]

An interesting if not expensive project

I see Scott are using S2 as well.

[Allan Liddle]

Certainly well suited to 'traditional Scottish angling' and Sandy certainly aims for the top end quality in terms of finish, certainly looks the part in the pics. 
Will have to get through and try it.

My fist rod was glass (Millbro) and i'm sure i still have it somewhere.
Remember also a conversation with Clan Rods who lamented the demise of fibreglass in favour of carbon, he claimed we simply didn't go far enough with this product, maybe we are now?

You're not shy at pushing things forward or trying ideas out guys, keep up the good work 

[Marc Fauvet]

looks sweet guys ! 
we'll try to break it at the Shootout 

[Hamish Young]

looks sweet guys ! 
we'll try to break it at the Shootout 

Nice idea Marc, but somehow I don't expect to see it at the shootout.... unless Mr B and Sandy are stood there with some machine guns in case anyone breaks it   

H

[Mike Barrio]

The Epic will be available at the Sexyloops Gathering to hit as hard as you like Hamish

I reckon this blank might be rather more "bullet proof" than you would think

Cheers
Mike

[Rob Brownfield]

Mike,
Would you entertain me on something?

Is it possible to some how measure the "power/recoverability" of the rod now, and then again in 6 months once its been cast several hundred times.

Just to satisfy my curiosity. I know Magnus uses some kind of "jig" to do this.

[Mike Barrio]

Mike,
Would you entertain me on something?

Is it possible to some how measure the "power/recoverability" of the rod now, and then again in 6 months once its been cast several hundred times.

Just to satisfy my curiosity. I know Magnus uses some kind of "jig" to do this.

Don't see why not Rob ..... Once you have tried the rod we can discuss the possibility

Cheers
Mike

[Hamish Young]

The Epic will be available at the Sexyloops Gathering to hit as hard as you like Hamish

Now Mike that's unfair, you know I've had Ben_D counselling so those days are behind me
I don't hit rods any more,  I'll let someone else do that sort of thing now

I reckon this blank might be rather more "bullet proof" than you would think

Ha - I see what you did there..... I said machine guns..... you said bullet proof.....  

When it comes to the Epic rod I genuinely have no preconceptions about its longevity (in my hands or anyone else for that matter). I look forward to trying the rod in due course, if the opportunity arises.

H

[Rich Knoles]

I'm interested in what the hype is about. I can't think of a glass rod that I'd choose over carbon rod. Carl's working on a 9wt I'm curious about.

Lovely build, Sandy!

[Mike Barrio]

Glass???????

Why glass, or is this a split cane (aka bamboo) fetish thing?

A reasonable question when it comes to Sandy and myself I guess!    

The answer is no, something has to really get us excited about fishing with it and we don't drive Morris Minors!

Interestingly .... we also tried a prototype Barrio silk fly line yesterday ...... we cast it for a while, scratched our heads and put it back in the box

Cheers
Mike

[Rob Brownfield]

we also tried a prototype Barrio silk fly line yesterday ...... we cast it for a while, scratched our heads and put it back in the box

Interesting. Whilst searching for Golden Plover skins today I came across a site dedicated to the more "traditional" things in life. They had Silk lines at £165 a pop. Ouch! Even "synthetic" silk lines were £110.

I will stick with "plastic" for now.

[Rob Brownfield]

Ok, the more I think about this the more curious I get!

There are a few US custom blank builders that produce extremely expensive Tournament "Pro" lure rods out of S2 Glass. They tend to be for Bass fishing where fish are "skull dragged" out of cover and to the boat in double quick time.

They use the glass because carbon rods can and do exploded when "hauling hogs" whilst the glass is much more forgiving.

The same goes for Catfish rods, saltwater Jig rods, heavy duty Jerkbait rods and so on.

So basically, the reason I am intriged is because generally S or S2 glass is used for rods that require brute strength, not finesse and delicacy.

Seems to go directly against all reasoning to use glass for a fly rod. It obviously works, so who am I to argue, but I am still intrigued

[Sandy Nelson]

Well it works in the wind i've been roll casting and punching into the wind all afternoon, rod never baulked once.

Did a grand job on the fish too 4x tippet, 4wt SLX, size 14 SLD, no bent hooks, no snapped tippet, no lost fish




Even more impressed than i was yesterday

Sandy

[Mike Barrio]

I just knew the rod was going to be awesome on the river ..... great stuff Sandy!

Cheers
Mike