REDWING FLY RODS
The bamboo is waiting for the wind to touch it!
The bamboo is waiting for the wind to touch it!
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REDWING DIALOGS
The sound of the water says what I think.
5th Century Chinese
Welcome to the new Redwing site! The site will highlight my mission statement for restoring rods, as well as new building, while exploring personal thoughts and observations regarding fly rods and fishing. It will show my preferences, personal tastes and opinions developed after many years and countless restorations.
Joe Balestrieri
The sport of fly fishing, at it's highest level means we must pay homage to the cast. This is not a discussion about types of casting but rather the acknowledgement that without the cast we're just dunking a fly on a bamboo pole! The cast is King! Line delivery from body to arm to rod generates a limitless number of actions and responses that make up the foundation of the sport. JB 2012
To fish with the most perfect gear raises the satisfaction to the sublime- a thing of which those who have never handled a really perfect weapon can have no conception. Thus armed the angler becomes capable of a delicacy and accuracy of casting which he had previously little notion. G.E.M. Skues 1914
In speaking of the power of a rod it is necessary to distinguish between stiffness and courage. A rod of moderate strength may, if of high quality, be one of supreme courage.The resilience of such a rod is never broken. It always comes back. What is it that imparts to a rod this high quality of courage? In the first place fine quality of material, and in the second, but infinitely more important place, perfection of construction. This perfection of construction makes an ideal distribution of strain when the rod is casting or in play. There is no weak spot from butt to tip.The perfection of taper dispenses with all excess of material. G.E.M. Skues 1917
For your viewing pleasure--- A very early F.E. Thomas " Special", Bangor Maine. A pre-WW1 rod stamped (6) on the all metal reelseat, English bronze snakes, agate stripper, random node spacing though Tonkin cane. This fine rod is all original, all wraps in place and quite fishable. A progressive taper working deep but not at all slow or sloppy; a joy to cast.
The great rod tapers are "PURPOSE BUILT", each for basically different fishing situations but vital to fishing/casting success! The very traditional, standard tapers really can't deliver when your working against wind, pin-point casting situations, deep wading, extra distance etc. They don't help the caster develop, but rather just allow for basic slop-throwing casting. Their lack of design will deliver a poor cast but fails when facing difficult and rapidly changing conditions. Sometimes one has to walk back to the car for a more appropriate weapon. JB
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We must take a serious look at grip styles versus rod dimensions, types of usage and lengths. Many rods past and present use the cigar which really only have a place in short, fine wet /nymph rods where a finger or thumb placed just at the cork check area help transmit a fly take. It's my contention that a better style for most dry/wet work is a long, cylindrical handle with a minium of curve and of a smaller diameter. These not only reduce fatigue and help stop cramping but allow the hand to move up and down the grip to change position. The position of the hand can effect how a angler executes the pick-up and hand/eye control for accuracy. The thumb needs a platform to power the arm movement eliminating movement of the wrist. This Ritz/European style grip it seems , should be a major consideration. As for reelseats ; remember weight is the enemy of precision. JB
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My own opinion is that the caster should fall into harmony with the rod and not the reel. The caster is much better off to develop a sensitive "feel" for the rod rather than the reel, because the "feel" of a heavy reel weans the caster away from his rod and line,, which is the only element in casting . E.C. Powell
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Joe Balestrieri
The sport of fly fishing, at it's highest level means we must pay homage to the cast. This is not a discussion about types of casting but rather the acknowledgement that without the cast we're just dunking a fly on a bamboo pole! The cast is King! Line delivery from body to arm to rod generates a limitless number of actions and responses that make up the foundation of the sport. JB 2012
To fish with the most perfect gear raises the satisfaction to the sublime- a thing of which those who have never handled a really perfect weapon can have no conception. Thus armed the angler becomes capable of a delicacy and accuracy of casting which he had previously little notion. G.E.M. Skues 1914
In speaking of the power of a rod it is necessary to distinguish between stiffness and courage. A rod of moderate strength may, if of high quality, be one of supreme courage.The resilience of such a rod is never broken. It always comes back. What is it that imparts to a rod this high quality of courage? In the first place fine quality of material, and in the second, but infinitely more important place, perfection of construction. This perfection of construction makes an ideal distribution of strain when the rod is casting or in play. There is no weak spot from butt to tip.The perfection of taper dispenses with all excess of material. G.E.M. Skues 1917
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For your viewing pleasure--- A very early F.E. Thomas " Special", Bangor Maine. A pre-WW1 rod stamped (6) on the all metal reelseat, English bronze snakes, agate stripper, random node spacing though Tonkin cane. This fine rod is all original, all wraps in place and quite fishable. A progressive taper working deep but not at all slow or sloppy; a joy to cast.
********
The great rod tapers are "PURPOSE BUILT", each for basically different fishing situations but vital to fishing/casting success! The very traditional, standard tapers really can't deliver when your working against wind, pin-point casting situations, deep wading, extra distance etc. They don't help the caster develop, but rather just allow for basic slop-throwing casting. Their lack of design will deliver a poor cast but fails when facing difficult and rapidly changing conditions. Sometimes one has to walk back to the car for a more appropriate weapon. JB
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Let us first rid ourselves of a widespread idea, which I have often had
occasion to point out as false or, at least, much exaggerated: the reel
does not balance the rod; though in the past when rods were ten feet or
more, very long and very heavy, a reel as a counterweight did produce
the illusion of balancing the rod in the hand; but it is the line
which plays the principal role owing to its weight and the shape of
it's taper. It is indeed, on the line that the rod depends above all for
giving its maximum, and yet retaining its balance. The ideal would be
to be able to fish with the reel in your pocket! Charles Ritz 1959********
We must take a serious look at grip styles versus rod dimensions, types of usage and lengths. Many rods past and present use the cigar which really only have a place in short, fine wet /nymph rods where a finger or thumb placed just at the cork check area help transmit a fly take. It's my contention that a better style for most dry/wet work is a long, cylindrical handle with a minium of curve and of a smaller diameter. These not only reduce fatigue and help stop cramping but allow the hand to move up and down the grip to change position. The position of the hand can effect how a angler executes the pick-up and hand/eye control for accuracy. The thumb needs a platform to power the arm movement eliminating movement of the wrist. This Ritz/European style grip it seems , should be a major consideration. As for reelseats ; remember weight is the enemy of precision. JB
********
My own opinion is that the caster should fall into harmony with the rod and not the reel. The caster is much better off to develop a sensitive "feel" for the rod rather than the reel, because the "feel" of a heavy reel weans the caster away from his rod and line,, which is the only element in casting . E.C. Powell
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