I have a rod that my Dad built from a Fenwick Boron X blank. The number on the blank is XFL-102-6-F sometime in the 1980s. I'm just getting started fly fishing and I'm wondering if this is a good rod for a beginner. Is it a fast or slow rod and how would I find out? Thanks so much!
It is a fine rod that has a very fast recovery due to the boron in the blank and it is medium stiff with a lot of power in the butt of the rod. The letters and number on the rod tell you the rod the blank makes into, its length in inches, and the line wt designation it was designed to cast.
Thus, your rod was built on a Boron X fly blank (XFL - X stands for boron X and FL stands for fly, that is 8'6" long (102/12=8'6"), and is for a 6 wt line.
This makes it an excellent all-around rod because 5 or 6 wt 8'6" - 9' rods are pretty universally considered by experienced fly fishers to be the best for all-around use. And most experienced fly fishers recommend someone new to the sport to get a 5 or 6 wt 8'6" or 9' rod as his first one.
Tailing loops are caused by too much application of power to soon in the stroke. This causes the tip to bend too much. And since the line follows the path of the tip, the loop collapes.
This concept of a smooth aplication of power, of starting the stroke slow, accelerating, and then a quick stop, is always difficult for beginners to grasp. It is totally opposite of the wrist snap stroke used by plug casters.
The best thing I ever did, was to join a fly fishing club. And I was lucky enough to have picked one that had a lot of very good casters/teachers.
I've just been fly fishing for a long time (since 1958 at age 5) and have been blessed with a good memory, that's all. I'm certain there are other folks that know these things too.
raymondo - it is working just fine. i don't really have anything to compare it with though! i do wish i had more time to use it. hopefully in the spring i'll be able to sneak away for a weekend.
take care,
jeff
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