I thought it would be a good idea for David and Margot Redington of South Fork Rod Company to introduce themselves and explain their two excellent series of fiberglass fly rods that they offer.
Can you tell us a little bit of you and Margot's history and background within the fly fishing and rod building industry? How long has S.F.R.C. been around?
I started building rods in 1974 at the age of 12. As a freshman in high school I started working for Custom Rod & Gun and stayed there through high school. In the 1980’s I did subcontract work for a company called Fish-n-Stik. In 1987 Margot and I started Redington Customs doing retail custom rod sales and O.E.M production for Sam Scott Rods, Bob Schneider Lures, and Fish-n-Stik. In 1988 I met David Leopold, he was a good friend of Wes Jordan who worked for Orvis. David would tell me stories how he and Wes would hang out after work to build and design bamboo rods. Soon David was teaching me about building and restoring fly rods. We then became a blank dealer for Thomas & Thomas and Sage. In 1992 Jim Murphy and I started talking about a need for a new company that could sell a good quality rod at an entry level price. In the summer of 1993 we started Redington Production. Levels started at fifteen per week and rose to a peak of 625 in 2000. Margot did quality control and I handled production. In 1997 we sold to Orvis and Redington Custom stayed on as an assembler for both Redington and Orvis. In 1999 started Banner Blanks and hired Wade Cunningham as an consultant. We built offshore and inshore fiberglass blanks, graphite spin, bait cast, and fly rods. At the time there was zero interest in glass fly rods. In 2004 we sold Banner and Redington Custom. In 2006 we kept getting inquiries about building the original Redington rods, so in the fall of 2006 we started South Fork Rod Company. Our mission statement was to remain small, sell only what we could build ourselves, and use the best components available.
What is your background with fiberglass as a rod building material and why do you think it is enjoying such a resurgence for the past several years?
Three reasons. Reason #1...Most Fly fisherman these days started with a fast graphite rod and that’s all they knew so all of sudden they cast a glass rod and realize you feel so much more, better tippet protection, and presentation in the smaller rods. Reason #2...bamboo started to gain popularity, fisherman realized the glass rods were similar in action and feel, and are a lot cheaper. Reason#3...for us older guys it's like going back to our childhood when our dads and uncles put a glass rod in our hands and said stand over there and fish that pool.
Of the Classic Series blanks, which are rolled by Lamiglas, which tapers are your own and which are traditional Lamiglas tapers?
All of the Lamiglas tapers are there own. I can’t explain the difference in feel except that we spine our blanks a certain way. Also material can have subtle differences from batch to batch that can change the way rods may feel.
Our Pioneer series is the one with the original tapers we started Redington with.
Interesting that you have added a second series of fiberglass into your offerings with the South Fork Glass series. Where did the idea come from to design and begin rolling your own blanks for the South Fork Glass Series? How long have they been in development?
Most all of our design are driven by our customers. We were getting more and more request for longer and faster rods in glass. The longer rods are in two piece and the lighter line rods are in three piece which were made for the hikers and mountain bikers who where going after the smaller mountain trout. These rods turned out to be good just about anywhere there are small streams.
When we owned Banner I purchased about one thousand mandrels (tooling) that were from the old glass company called Dynaglas. I cherry picked about fifty of these, waxed them, and put them in storage. When we sold Banner (now called Blackfin) Margot stayed on as manager for blank production and that is where she is today. It only seamed natural to do our own glass blanks. I started to build my own bamboo blanks so I already had the oven and binder.
In the winter of 2008 I picked some faster tooling for the two piece rods out of what I saved and started with a basic flag pattern. Margot started rolling parts. We would make changes until we where happy with the casting characteristics I wanted. South Fork Rod Company would have what I called a "Casting Party". We'd get six good casters together, order pizza and a case of beer, and then write down all there remarks as they were casting the rods. We'd take the best and bring them to market.
What are the diffrences in tapers, casting characteristics, and other considerations when deciding on a fiberglass fly rod build or blank in the Classic and South Fork Glass Series?
As before customer input has the most influence on rod design. There is a fine line between the taper and amount of material (weight) to design a rod. With a faster mandrel you can use less material and keep the weight down. All prepreg material has modulus rating number. E-Glass has a rating of 750.000 to 1.000.000. Graphite is 38.000.000 to 70.000.000. The higher the number the stiffer the rod. That is why graphite rods can be smaller in diameter. The more ferrules you add to a rod the stiffer it gets so you need to consider a slower
taper to make up for the difference.
Check out the South Fork Rod Company website for more information.
Can you tell us a little bit of you and Margot's history and background within the fly fishing and rod building industry? How long has S.F.R.C. been around?
I started building rods in 1974 at the age of 12. As a freshman in high school I started working for Custom Rod & Gun and stayed there through high school. In the 1980’s I did subcontract work for a company called Fish-n-Stik. In 1987 Margot and I started Redington Customs doing retail custom rod sales and O.E.M production for Sam Scott Rods, Bob Schneider Lures, and Fish-n-Stik. In 1988 I met David Leopold, he was a good friend of Wes Jordan who worked for Orvis. David would tell me stories how he and Wes would hang out after work to build and design bamboo rods. Soon David was teaching me about building and restoring fly rods. We then became a blank dealer for Thomas & Thomas and Sage. In 1992 Jim Murphy and I started talking about a need for a new company that could sell a good quality rod at an entry level price. In the summer of 1993 we started Redington Production. Levels started at fifteen per week and rose to a peak of 625 in 2000. Margot did quality control and I handled production. In 1997 we sold to Orvis and Redington Custom stayed on as an assembler for both Redington and Orvis. In 1999 started Banner Blanks and hired Wade Cunningham as an consultant. We built offshore and inshore fiberglass blanks, graphite spin, bait cast, and fly rods. At the time there was zero interest in glass fly rods. In 2004 we sold Banner and Redington Custom. In 2006 we kept getting inquiries about building the original Redington rods, so in the fall of 2006 we started South Fork Rod Company. Our mission statement was to remain small, sell only what we could build ourselves, and use the best components available.
What is your background with fiberglass as a rod building material and why do you think it is enjoying such a resurgence for the past several years?
Three reasons. Reason #1...Most Fly fisherman these days started with a fast graphite rod and that’s all they knew so all of sudden they cast a glass rod and realize you feel so much more, better tippet protection, and presentation in the smaller rods. Reason #2...bamboo started to gain popularity, fisherman realized the glass rods were similar in action and feel, and are a lot cheaper. Reason#3...for us older guys it's like going back to our childhood when our dads and uncles put a glass rod in our hands and said stand over there and fish that pool.
All of the Lamiglas tapers are there own. I can’t explain the difference in feel except that we spine our blanks a certain way. Also material can have subtle differences from batch to batch that can change the way rods may feel.
Our Pioneer series is the one with the original tapers we started Redington with.
Interesting that you have added a second series of fiberglass into your offerings with the South Fork Glass series. Where did the idea come from to design and begin rolling your own blanks for the South Fork Glass Series? How long have they been in development?
Most all of our design are driven by our customers. We were getting more and more request for longer and faster rods in glass. The longer rods are in two piece and the lighter line rods are in three piece which were made for the hikers and mountain bikers who where going after the smaller mountain trout. These rods turned out to be good just about anywhere there are small streams.
When we owned Banner I purchased about one thousand mandrels (tooling) that were from the old glass company called Dynaglas. I cherry picked about fifty of these, waxed them, and put them in storage. When we sold Banner (now called Blackfin) Margot stayed on as manager for blank production and that is where she is today. It only seamed natural to do our own glass blanks. I started to build my own bamboo blanks so I already had the oven and binder.
In the winter of 2008 I picked some faster tooling for the two piece rods out of what I saved and started with a basic flag pattern. Margot started rolling parts. We would make changes until we where happy with the casting characteristics I wanted. South Fork Rod Company would have what I called a "Casting Party". We'd get six good casters together, order pizza and a case of beer, and then write down all there remarks as they were casting the rods. We'd take the best and bring them to market.
As before customer input has the most influence on rod design. There is a fine line between the taper and amount of material (weight) to design a rod. With a faster mandrel you can use less material and keep the weight down. All prepreg material has modulus rating number. E-Glass has a rating of 750.000 to 1.000.000. Graphite is 38.000.000 to 70.000.000. The higher the number the stiffer the rod. That is why graphite rods can be smaller in diameter. The more ferrules you add to a rod the stiffer it gets so you need to consider a slower
taper to make up for the difference.
Check out the South Fork Rod Company website for more information.
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