[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