Years ago, while perusing a pawn shop in Pocatello, Idaho, I stumbled upon a gem. In a dank corner of the old store rested an old bourbon barrel that bristled with fishing rods. After thumbing my way through the rods, I noticed something unique, especially at the time.
There, unceremonious
ly protruding from the barrel with a few dozen well-worn casting rods with names like Pflueger, Abu Garcia and Shakespeare, rested a real treasure. I lifted the little stick from its plebian resting spot and gave it a good once over. The unsanded, dark green wraps of supple fiberglass felt good in my hands. There, just above the appreciatively used cork grip, was the hand-scrawled proof of quality.
“Scott,” the rod read. Farther up on the glass, it simply listed the specs. Six feet long, No. 2. Nobility among the commoners.
I nonchalantly wandered to the counter and simply looked at the proprietor and smirked.
“How much for this old thing?” I asked, trying not let on that in my hands rested hundreds of dollars of sheer fly-fishing joy.
“Hundred bucks?” he replied. A bargain. But I wasn’t deterred.
“How about 40?” I replied.
“Sixty.”
“Done.”
That little rod served me well for years, until one day, after chasing wild cutthroats with it on a tributary to the South Fork of the Snake, I left it leaing against a crossbuck fence as I dewadered and loaded up for home. When I got home and realized my rod tube was empty, I panicked. I drove all way back out to the creek—a good 90 minutes—only to find it gone. Someone, just like me, had stumbled upon a treasure.
Easy come, easy go.
The good news is that Scott fiberglass is still around—in fact, the company just launched its new F-Series of glass rods, and I got the chance to cast them at this year’s International Fly Tackle Dealer show in Orlando. Even better news? These babies are still as sweet as ever—maybe even better.
Scott’s been making glass rods since well before graphite rods were even a reality. And they’ve been making them well (and, yes, the $700 pricetag makes me yearn for that old classic that some lucky angler is toting around the small waters of eastern Idaho). The new line of rods is more advanced than the old noodle I used to fish with, incorporating E-glass technology, a slimmer profile and a redesigned hollow internal ferule. The rod is lighter. And, I must confess, it’s beautiful. The “persimmon” shade of orange is simply stunning. Scott promotes the rod’s supple nature and its “deep flex,” while still being able to throw more line than previous models.
But that’s not what glass is about, and Scott gets it. It’s designed for delivering tight loops on short casts—and a few strokes at the casting pond proved that premise. While I could throw quite a bit line with it, I was more impressed with what it could do with just a few feet of line out the tip.
If glass is your thing—and there are more of us closet “creek freaks” out there than you might think—this rod might be for you.
Just be careful where you leave it.
— Chris Hunt