Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

Iain Cameron

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #25 on: 24/04/2013 at 17:37 »
Even more impressed than i was yesterday :z14


that's a belting fish Sandy! Nothing 'gaunt' about it! :-)

Sieger Devries

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #26 on: 24/04/2013 at 18:20 »
I simply love fishing Glass-rods.... Nostalgic old pr... Mmmm could be....

I love the tranquility of casting them and the feeling deep into the blank when drilling a fish (even the smaller ones)....

All over the world there are many Glass-adepts and there are many Glass-communities... Take a look at Cameron Mortensons blog http://thefiberglassmanifesto.blogspot.nl or on the fiberglassflyrodders forum... http://fiberglassflyrodders.com

You'll see it's not only the older guys who are into it, but a great deal of the young and coming are re-discovering the fine qualities of the material....
 
I can't imagine rod builders keeping production lines up and running only for a few weirdoes...  :wink And development of the material didn't stop in the late 70-ties...

Maybe a coincidence but I'm waiting for my Kabuto blank to be released from customs... Will be my first rod that I'm going to build myself.... (just really hard to get the nice guides over here....  :z6 )... If it comes out halve as good as yours I would be very happy...  :z14



Here I'm casting a '70ties Fenwick full-glass rod.... Luckily thing went on since then. Rods aren't as 'wobbely' and slow anymore and they are a great deal lighter....

(oh and by the way... I fish Graphite, Boron, Cane and.... too....  :wink )


Eddie Sinclair

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #27 on: 24/04/2013 at 21:05 »
Sandy,
when I was 9 years old my first rod was a milbro trufly deluxe and I loved it. I did not know any better but if these blanks can bring back the feeling that I had when I was a boy that will not be a bad thing.

by the way they were £9.00 back then, I guess the price has changed a bit with time.

Eddie. :z4

Mike Barrio

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #28 on: 24/04/2013 at 21:13 »
Great stuff Sieger ... cracking photo as well :z16

Yes Eddie, the prices have changed a bit :z4

Cheers
Mike

Andrew Parker

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #29 on: 29/04/2013 at 23:22 »
Did a grand job on the fish too :z16 4x tippet, 4wt SLX

Sandy

Sandy, I'm interested to see you are using the #4 SLX on the Epic 8'0" #5. I presume that you prefer it with the lighter SLX line?

Cheers, Andrew

Sandy Nelson

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #30 on: 30/04/2013 at 11:27 »
Hi Andrew

Mike and I tested the rod with pretty much the whole Barrio range from 4-6wts when we were experimenting.
We found its a blank that will accomodate a wide variey of lines to suit different styles and abilities.
A breif synopsis of what we found would be.

The 5wt mallard was really sweet with too and would be a great all round compromise, in fact since the testing, i've been using it for seatrout/finnock with a cut back WF5 mallard and a 7ft sinking polytip, a great roll casting combo for the high banks on my local stream.

The GT90 5wt suited the rod perfectly and would be great for single fly presentation stuff, lots of control and a nice turnover., the 4wt version felt a bit underlined and too light to control properly, the 6wt version felt a bit too heavy but was great for close up stuff, with lots of control.

 
With the 5wt SLX the blank was a cannon and i could punch into a strong wind with ease, it also turned over really heavy lures with bead heads with comparative ease. It felt really powerful, it was similar with the the GT125 5wt and 4wt but was able to turn over at an even further range. At first throw i loved the combo with the 5 SLX even with just 5-6ft of flyline out of tip it will turnover a long leader.
The 6 wt SLX was far too much, the rod coped with it, but we couldn't see anyone ever wanting it to feel like that :z6
The 4 wt SLX just flew, it felt like it was less powerful but that a higher line speed was being generated, the control was just as good as the 5 and it kept the wind cheating effects of the 5 but i felt far more confident of fishing it with smaller flies. I'm a big fan of the 4wt SLX and fish it on a Scott S4 9ft 4wt as my goto river combo, i also use it on my 5wt Cane rod which feels very similar to the Epic. I have also found with the lighter SLX i can over-hang the head a bit more out of the tip if i'm strecthing for a bit more distance and therefore i can cast it further than the 5wt, which is handy on occasions.

So i headed to the river with the 4wt SLX and it did exactly what i expected, it laughed at the wind, presented the dry with precision on a 15ft leader and allowed me to cast comfortably at all the ranges i needed to reach. The line roll cast beautifully and i never felt overgunned or undergunned, either for the conditions or for the fish. I also seemed to get less wind knots than i usually do too :z8 But a good thing :cool:
What more can you ask for from a river rod/line combo. I believe i have a new goto combo, in fact when i took my Scott out at the weekend for a trip just to compare experiences, i missed having the Epic with me and it may have impacted slightly on my confidence :roll

Its very much a rod that will probably suit different people using different lines but for me personally i really liked it with a Mallard WF5, GT90 5wt and the SLX 4wt. (although i have to confess i have 2 SLX 4wt set up for it now, one with two flies for nymphs and spiders and one with single fly for dries, i did this for the Cane but it suits the Epic just as well, if not better).
Its something people will need to try, to find out how they like it  :z18

Sandy

Andrew Parker

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #31 on: 30/04/2013 at 12:28 »
Thank you Sandy for your comprehensive review.

I now feel that I "need' the Epic 476, 580 and 686 ... but that isn't going to happen. I hope Marc Fauvet is able to bring his 476 to Strathdon: although I can't make it this year, I would like to read some reviews of it.

At the weekend I fished with a borrowed Scott F2 8'2"#5. I had really wanted to like this rod but I found it to be too "boingy". I have a shorter 'glass Scott F 6'6"#2 which is lovely, and I wondered if it was something in the material properties of 'glass which made the newer, longer rod difficult for me to enjoy. From what I'm reading the Epic sounds to be similar to my Scott F  :z16 and the characteristic I didn't like has been designed into the Scott F2 to make it feel more like traditional 'glass.

Cheers, Andrew

Iain Cameron

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #32 on: 11/05/2013 at 08:57 »
got a feeling that today might be another epic day on the river...



I've been lucky enough to get my hands on the Epic rod this week for a wee river and field test.



Lots of good things to say about it. I'll share after I've concluded today's trial. The only downside is lugging around 2 or 3 different reels and lines to play with :-)

Sandy Nelson

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #33 on: 11/05/2013 at 10:00 »
Sea-trout?  :z16

Coool :z12

Sandy

Iain Cameron

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #34 on: 12/05/2013 at 08:04 »
Sea-trout?  :z16

Kinda - a wee Finnock of a pound or so.
Had the Epic out yesterday on a typically inclement Spring day - gusty wind, strong wind, freezing rain, hail... and then strong bright sunshine.  The rod (well, OK, the person wielding the rod) struggled to place a fly or line anywhere sensible against a facing wind. Not the rod's fault - any rod/line would be messy against that wind.

Moved to a more sheltered spot, and spotted a spotty, which succumbed to a DHE.


The Epic is nice to fish with in these short range encounters - I was within 20 feet of the fish.

It's certainly a rod with 'stile' ...


Moved downstream, timed perfectly to be in the car during a ridiculous hailstorm. Walked a lot looking for rising fish. Few seen, so feet up and watched the skies seeking inspiration



Didn't come out in the pic, but the rod's stripping guide has a lovely rainbow effect as you look at it and rotate it; a really lovely touch on a very very classy build overall.


more testing to follow!

Mike Barrio

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #35 on: 12/05/2013 at 11:30 »
Great stuff Iain :z16

Mike Barrio

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #36 on: 08/06/2013 at 12:09 »
Custom Barrio Epic 580 almost ready to send to the customer ..... Looking grand Sandy, the claret gives it a lovely classic look :z16







Mike Barrio

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #37 on: 11/06/2013 at 17:58 »
The claret whipped Barrio Epic has now been shipped to the customer ......... :z16



Marc Fauvet

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #38 on: 11/06/2013 at 18:47 »
lovely job Sandy !  :z16

Allan Liddle

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #39 on: 12/06/2013 at 13:35 »
Yup really looks the part guys and well done Sandy.
Would've loved to have tried it, you never know maybe glass will make a wee (albiet niche) comeback?

Will Shaw

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #40 on: 12/06/2013 at 16:03 »
Lovely job Sandy.

Have you laid hands on Epic's So-blue 9wt yet?

W.

Sandy Nelson

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #41 on: 14/06/2013 at 08:37 »
Thanks for the comments guys, i was very pleased with the finish, the experiments on the prototype and lessons learned seemed to have paid off.
Looks like we may well have No.2 in the pipeline now as well :z16.

I have a So Blue 580 blank here Will as Carl sent us 1 of each colour as well as our Nude ones, its a vibrant shade that my son loves :z16.
990 looks like an awesome tool, maybe one for the Pike guys :wink I would think  it would be more robust for clambering around rocks and stuff too down at the coast.
I'm sure i could get one easy enough if anyone was interested :cool:

Sandy

Rob Brownfield

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #42 on: 14/06/2013 at 11:52 »
I would be interested to see the weight of the 990 and also the action.

Frustratingly the website does not have a weight for it, the closest one with a weight being the 686 at 65g or 2.2oz for just the blank.

I think I would pass on it for Pike. I am sure its a fantastic rod for Flats fishing (which the website says its designed for) which is very much lots of waiting and half a dozon casts before the fish have gone, but for all day casting with big, non aerodynamic flies, no thanks :)

Djordje Andjelkovic

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #43 on: 14/06/2013 at 18:21 »
I would be interested to see the weight of the 990 and also the action.

Frustratingly the website does not have a weight for it, the closest one with a weight being the 686 at 65g or 2.2oz for just the blank.

I think I would pass on it for Pike. I am sure its a fantastic rod for Flats fishing (which the website says its designed for) which is very much lots of waiting and half a dozon casts before the fish have gone, but for all day casting with big, non aerodynamic flies, no thanks :)

Hi Rob

Few days ago I ordered 990 (blank) and we will see in action fishing pike, but here I should wait till almost end of September. And I have enough time to find and decide for right rod building parts.

I am pretty sure it will be OK and at the other side funny fishing with this rod.

Iain Cameron

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #44 on: 17/06/2013 at 07:36 »


Sandy

the claret on this looks stunning - it really looks like a perfect match for the nude blank.
It's just.... appealing (I was going to say sexy, but that's going toooo far!)

cheers
iain

Rob Brownfield

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #45 on: 17/06/2013 at 08:03 »
Hi Rob

Few days ago I ordered 990 (blank) and we will see in action fishing pike, but here I should wait till almost end of September. And I have enough time to find and decide for right rod building parts.

I am pretty sure it will be OK and at the other side funny fishing with this rod.

Morning Djordje,
I would be very interested to see how you get on with this rod. I like a slower actioned rod for Pike and have actually stopped using "Pike" fly rods that I have as they are too fast and not pleasing to fish with. I reckon the action of the Epic will be spot on!

Let us know when you have it finished and send some photos :)  although I am sure we will see it being waved about in the distance!!! The colours of these rods are rather in your face! :)

Mike Barrio

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #46 on: 19/06/2013 at 13:13 »
The Epic and the olive/cream SLX #4 line is a nice combination for me :z16



Euan Innes

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #47 on: 19/06/2013 at 14:42 »
And you can F**K OFF on this thread too!  :z7 :z7 :z7
Great pix Mike  :z16

There is an article in T&S  this month by Crawford Little about how salmon reels should be click and pawl and not disc so you never know you might get the call from Crawford for a larger version.  :z4 :z4 :z4

 :z1


Allan Liddle

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #48 on: 20/06/2013 at 13:07 »
 :z4 :z4 :z4 :z4 :z4 :z4

Mike Barrio

Re: Epic rod prototype
« Reply #49 on: 20/06/2013 at 14:30 »
He knows he wants one ..........  :z4  :z4  :z4

 




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