Posted on December 15 2012
John Arnold, a.k.a. "scumliner", of Headhunters Fly Shop in Craig, Montana recently built up a couple of the 8' 5/6 weight Blue Halo glass blanks and sent along a few notes and photos on what he thinks of his builds so far.
I am looking forward to seeing a few more photos...and maybe even a video...once the ladies get a pass from the shop and hit the river.
Check out the Blue Halo website for more information on these glass blanks and other offerings.
John wrote... "I saw one of the T.F.M. posts about the Blue Halo blanks and ordered a couple. I built them for the two of our key employees, Sara Roholt and Julie Arnold. Both were looking for a smooth but powerful 8’ rod that’s easy to cast. I wanted the girls to try an 8’ six weight with a slower action. I’ve always felt that is the perfect women’s stick, but a size that is now impossible to find in graphite.
On the Missouri River, we need rods that can defeat the wind and make long casts with a variety of rigs including heavy streamers and hoppers. It sounded like these would fit the bill.
Nice blanks, though I am not a rod builder, and don’t have that much experience with glass blanks. They are a bit tip heavy and the feel very tough. Not a delicate little glass rod.
As you guessed, they performed great as a streamer rod with both a Rio Grand six weight forward fly line and a Rio Streamertip F/I six weight line. Powerful and quick little rods that generate good line speed and shooting a streamer to the bank is no problem with these guys.
We’ve tried them mymphing a bit and they’re fine. I don’t think they will be great technical dry rods, but they’ll do fine with hoppers, etc. They would be great wade fishing a medium sized freestone with a dry/dropper rig.
Hardware is H&H guides, Steve Jenkins Reel Seat, Fishhawk thread, FlexCoat Lite, and I turned the grips. I did these pretty quick and the finish is not perfect by any means."
I am looking forward to seeing a few more photos...and maybe even a video...once the ladies get a pass from the shop and hit the river.
Check out the Blue Halo website for more information on these glass blanks and other offerings.
