Old School Japanese Bass Glass

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Ron Mc
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Old School Japanese Bass Glass

Post by Ron Mc »

All along, the goal for my braid-raced 4600C3 was a light frogger from kaykak in small water like this.
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First application I had on hand was the Falcon Glass rod - (FCG-6-158)- just under 6', though with long handle, the blade length is 4-3/4'. Unlike longer FCG models, this rod is well-balanced and light in hand.
Rated 1/4 to 1/2 oz, I would call the Falcon rod a fast para - it flexes in the mid rather than the fast tip. This rod has been at the top of my list for all-time best bass glass -
- it not only fishes that 1/4 oz and 3/8 oz very well, fishes crankbaits to buzzbaits well, but casts and fishes 1/8 oz equally well.
Casting the 1/2-oz is where the rod seems to cry uncle.
The straight grip works best with newer low profile reels.
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My new Smith Super Striker handle - best price on this by far is Amazon.jp - they remove the JDM tax, which happens to be slightly more than DHL Express shipping (only $5 more than standard JP EMS post).
Smith with their Super Striker made no bones about copying Champion handle that matched with Fenwick bass rod blades 50 years ago, and of course intended to match Ambassadeur.
Nice, though, Smith made it in magnesium.
You can clearly see it puts the large round-frame spool down to low-profile thumb level.
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Asian Portal has stock of 4 different Smith blades, 3 glass and one carbon, and prices less than half of the ebay hoarders.
I hemmed and hawed over the available blades, their rod load curves, my targets, and finally decided on the Top Water Light,
nice wide range 5 to 14 g (1/2 oz), and stated to be optimized for 12-14 g.
(hard to read, this was a tough photo to get).
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The blade length is 4-3/4' - exactly the same as the Falcon - but I found out they were very different rods.
Comparing rod curves on Smith website, https://www.smith.jp/superstrike/curve.html
my FO-56 is the exact mid and butt taper of their WS-51MM deep crankbait blade (rated 7 - 24 g), but with an added 5" of softer tip.
The lighter range and fast mid is what finally sold me on this blade over their recomended kayak blade, WS-55TM, which had a load curve that appeared to be closest to the Falcon Glass, though also rated to 5/8 oz.

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The Smith website implies the Innovation series of SS rod blades are S-glass/graphite blend, also titanium-frame SiC guides.
From the slim dimensions, light weight, and the cast results below, I'm inclined to admit that, also.

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Here are my back-acre casting notes, both across the 150' width, and placing casts into the bottom of persimmon bushes:

The Smith feels less tippy than the Falcon Glass with a half-ounce, it doesn't flex near as deep. Casting off the tip, it's a close-in scalpel with the half ounce, overall gives more distance than I could ever need, and skips the half-ounce like a champ (reverse spiral cast) - much easier than when I tried skipping a half-ounce on the Falcon Glass (para).
The fast mid of the Smith is also going to strike better than the Falcon - even with the soft tip of the Smith.

Again, my target for this rod was 1/2 oz, and quick striking. Haven't even tried it with light weights - the winter blow was on its way in.
The reel is more than capable, and I expect the rod to cast lighter than the 5-g rating, which overlaps the range into my L/C stream trout rod (max 7 g).

Smith sells the ferrules for this handle in half-mm increments, in case you want to build your own blade.
They also sell a swap-in Champion collet for the handle chuck, so you can use a vintage Fenwick blade.
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Josh wants to get me back to the Sabinal, at least in part to visit the newly opened Sabinal Biergarten on our way out.
Right below Josh is the last blue hole where the Sabinal finally re-emerges from the aquifer to join the Frio in the coastal plain.
Can't describe the number of big bass that jumped off the tops of watercress when I was paddling up here - next to impossible to present with a fly rod.
Just right for a frog - how about this crayfish pattern
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john elder
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Re: Old School Japanese Bass Glass

Post by john elder »

Man, that looks like quite a challenging bit of water, Ron! You must spend a lot of time keeping that plug clean, “weedless” or not!

J
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Specializing in saltwater reels...and fly reels...and oh, yeah, kentucky style reels.....and those tiny little RP reels.....oh, heck...i collect fishing reels!...and fly rods....and lures
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Ron Mc
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Re: Old School Japanese Bass Glass

Post by Ron Mc »

Hey John - it is going back into the water - the important part will be cleaning the rod and reel when I get home.
The small diameter, hard-shell, high-test X-braid is vegematic when it comes to hauling bass out of watercress.
When they get in there with your fly rod tippet, wave bye.

This water has really changed from when I waded it with a fly rod 10 years ago. They replaced an open low-water bridge with banked culvert (going backwards - somebody should put me in charge), which really changed it from an aquifer river confluence into a duckweed pond, and the gravel substrate to quicksand.
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The photos with Josh in my OP was the first time back with a kayak and fly rod.

Frogging there is still on my short-bucket list for this spring - and several other crossings 20+ miles north into the hill country.
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West San Antonio sprawl and groundwater use is affecting the Nueces tributaries by reducing discharge and increasing fertilizer runoff.
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note the far end (shallow dam) has lilly pads for frogging
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This was fly rod, Teeny line and cats whisker sight-fishing in the open duckweed, but I can do the same thing there with my 1500C combo and sinking trout minnows.
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This river, btw, is the best big-fish water in Texas - more fly rod sight-fishing, and a few skipped heartbeats
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Paul Roberts
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Re: Old School Japanese Bass Glass

Post by Paul Roberts »

Neat! Thanks for the info. Curious how such short rods fare in terms of fighting fish/keeping them hooked, esp in cover. Then again, I suppose those ABU reels are fast enough to make up the difference? I’ve acquired some glass blanks to build retro-style rods for my old bass sized casting reels. They all give less than 20ipt (more like 16 for most) which has me thinking longer rods to help in moving line. What do you think?
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Ron Mc
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Re: Old School Japanese Bass Glass

Post by Ron Mc »

Hey Paul,
With large diameter spool and 6.3 gears, the 4600C3 pick-up is 30 ipt.
These are the fastest gears made for the big Ambassadeurs, which are 5.3 gears in most C3 and C4.
(3.8 on 5000, 4.7 on 5000C)
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The little 1500C line pick-up rate is only half, with small spool and even "high speed" is 4.7 gears (v. 4.1).
Pick-up rate is 16 ipt.
Really helps to have a short handle on this reel, and a long handle is a waste.
Avail makes a 6.0 aftermarket gearset - I kinda like my short Haneda Craft handle.
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One thing in a kayak fishing small water, you're pretty much fighting fish vertically.
Where long bass rods give you more lift is reaching farther away.
The Smith is actually a pretty stout rod for where I plan to take it - we catch big fish on 6-7' mid-line-weight glass fly rods.
Here a 6'3" Berkley Para/Metric and 5-lb bass sight-fished in the same water (Frio confluence).
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For the stream rod, Some of the water I fish, a fly rod more than 6'6" is too long - they make stream casting rods down to 3'8", and 4-1/2'+/- is really common for tight spaces.
Also keep in mind, my endemic bass are "Texas brook trout" - they live in fast water, and 15" is a lunker for the species.
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Alex is fishing XUL here, 2-lb trout tippet on his reel, and did lose this nice bass in the duckweed - all part of the sport -
- counting coup is fun, too. Not tournament fishing, not frugal, but fun.
(my 20-lb harshell x-braid on the 4600C3 is going to make a better showing)
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Lou and I are setting up telescoping stream rods to bike-fish some of the upper Pedernales crossings where you're not allowed to park a car.
And here, Alex landed a 4-lb'er on flagstone bottom using the XUL.
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Paul Roberts
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Re: Old School Japanese Bass Glass

Post by Paul Roberts »

Thanks, Ron.

Don’t think I’ve ever heard of a 4ft fly rod!
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Ron Mc
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Re: Old School Japanese Bass Glass

Post by Ron Mc »

The shortest useful fly rod I know is 5'3" FF535 Fenglas, which is a actually a better rod than FF605.
6" Phillipson are king, and astounding roll-casters, which few others do well in this length.

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