Over the ten years that I've written The Fiberglass Manifesto, there are few things that give me more satisfaction than seeing small shop custom fly rod builders find success. A handful of these builders not only build fly rods but have also taken their rod taper philosophies and created their own line ups of fiberglass (some graphite or bamboo as well) blanks. Doing this has often times taken years of work and certainly a lot of investment of time and money to arrive at the final results.
Dusty Smith of Livingston Rod Company made the decision early to design his own tapers and over the past several years has received great acclaim from anglers for his work in both his fiberglass and graphite blanks and fly rods that he offers. His "
Western Glass" and "
Flats Glass" series of fly rods will soon see the addition of "Livingston Glass" which are a series of shorter fly rods made for small and medium sized waters.
Though not listed on the Livingston Rod Company website yet, Dusty Smith announced this new series on the
Fiberglass Flyrodders forum the other day and I figured that it was worth a share here as well.
Dusty Smith of Livingston Rod Co. wrote...
"First a thank you for the large amount of support I have received from
the members of this forum since the inception of the Livingston Rod Co
and the Western Glass Series. Due to that support I am pleased to
announce my new series, Livingston Glass.
Livingston Glass:
We
all have our favorite small to medium sized waters, so I set out to
design a series of rods for those special waters. Whether you’re
fishing your favorite stream or exploring to see what waits for you
beyond the next bend I wanted rods suited for the many small to medium
sized streams that are often our sanctuaries away from the rest of the
world.
Utilizing the same Unidirectional S-Glass as my Western Glass I
am able to create light, full flexing rods, with the responsiveness
we’ve come to enjoy from Uni-S Glass. All Livingston Glass blanks are
rolled domestically and are in a 3pc tip over butt configuration.
7’ 3wt:
For the smaller blue lines. The ones that have our favorite
wild/native trout where a 10” fish is a monster. Relaxed, smooth, and
full flexing, this rod will be a blast on tiny trout streams.
7’6” 3wt:
For those streams that are just a little bit bigger, where you might
run into 12-14 incher or might to do a little high sticking. Full
flexing like the 703 with a little more power in the lower section.
7’6” 4wt:
A dry fly rod for smaller to medium sized streams or anywhere trout
are sipping insects. Full flexing for those delicate presentations.
When I was developing this rod I kept thinking of the stream in PA where
I taught myself how to fish.
8’ 4wt: The
bigger brother to the 764, a great Spring Creek rod. A little more
power in the lower half and perfect for dry flies. I can think of some
very famous and not so famous spring creeks this rod would excel on.
Not to mention freestones with great PMD, Sulphur, and Baetis hatches.
8’ 5wt:
This rod is made for your “Area 51”. The one stream you have to get
away from it all and also where you might run into a 16-20” trout. For
those medium sized streams where you need to throw hoppers, drakes,
hendricksons, stoneflies, or any attractor a trout would want to eat.
This is going to be my headwater hopper rod where I get some 20” Cutts.
Between Medium and Medium fast, very responsive but enough power to
punch through a breeze with a hopper.
8’ 6wt:
The bigger brother to the 805 and little brother to the Western Glass
866. This is an all around 6, for those days where you may need to
nymph, throw woolly buggers, and cast small dry flies. What comes to
mind for me are streams like the Ruby in March, April, and October, not
to mention the great eastern mid sized streams like the Willowemoc,
Kettle, or Young Womans’ Creeks in the Early Spring and the Fall. A bit
more power in the lower half than the 805 but with great feel.
Appointments:
Rods
are finished with the finest components available, Livingston Rod Lemke
Seats (slide bands for the 703, 763, and 764), Snake Brand Universal
Light wire Guides (regular light wire for 3wts), Flor Grade Grips, and
will come with a Rod Tube w/logo and bag. Rods come in 3 colors,
White/Clear, Brown, and Black (in limited quantities).
Rod prices: $600 Agate guides and darkened hardware are available upon request and will be priced on a custom basis.
Blanks: $230 Presently blanks are only available in white/clear."
Interested in learning more? Visit the
Livingston Rod Company website and be sure to follow along with the latest shop news on
Facebook and
Instagram.
