Terry Lawton looks at the design and manufacture of fly rods in this article which is an introduction to a forth-coming series on home rod building. The rod makes the 'angle' and, without it, a fisherman is not an angler. It is the rod that propels the fly, the business end of the tackle, to the trout. Without a rod that will cast a good line, it is imposible to fly fish for trout or salmon. Fishing rod design and manufacture has progressed a fantastic amount over the last 50 years and the modern fly rod is a very advanced and highly technical piece of sporting equipment.
Carbon fibres are simply much stiffer and lighter than either fibreglass or bamboo.
Hence carbon rods are lighter for a given line size and length than any other rod. Manufacturing rods from carbon fibre gives them a consistency of action and performance. Carbon fibre is available in different grades and rods are being made from ever higher modulus carbon fibres. A typical modulus of elasticity for a mid-performance rod is about 35,000 psi while a high modulus fibre would be 45,000 psi, or even more. A high modulus material has a higher resistance to breaking as well as its increased resistance to bending.