The Fiberglass Manifesto: JP ROSS FLY RODS - JP Ross On The New BLACK JACK Blank

If there is one thing that I've learned from and about JP Ross of JP Ross Fly Rods is that he's always working on that "Next Thing". His latest offering is the Black Jack which is a five piece 8' foot 5/6 weight carbon silica hybrid blank that has a lot of possibilities for the traveling angler or someone that just wants to have a easy to carry along for the ride fly rod behind the seat at all times.

The other day JP Ross sent an email that provides quite a bit of background on where this blank design came from and the process of it's creation.

JP Ross wrote... "As many of you know, I have been fascinated with materials for many years. Specifically the use of different materials in composites as well as metallurgy which I use in my day job in Electronics Manufacturing.

As I get older I spend more time with the loser 40 and 50 years old's that envy the flat brim trout bums that are out there living the life I once lived. We have responsibility, we can't be out there every day fishing. The fathers and husbands that I am friends with inevitably use their work travel one way or another to try and at least explore some fishing spot they have never fished before. So in these conversations, everyone said I need to make a five or six weight that can pack small to put inside their luggage or under the seat of their car or truck to try and fill the void when their schedule gives them a free hour in between life.

I love multi piece rods, and when i started my fly shop 20 years ago, my first rod was a Thomas & Thomas Vagabond seven piece and I loved that rod. There is something about the case, and putting the parts together that makes me feel like James Bond putting together some secret weapon on a special mission.

When I used the technology that we have in the five piece MUIR 7' three weight and put it in the five piece Black Jack 8'6" 5/6 weight, there were a couple issues.

First, it didn't cast great, it was heavy, and the butt diameter was huge. When you really flexed the rod the hoop of the rod would go oval from stress and the rod would work apart.

I knew I had to use technology, and this was an opportunity to use the ferrule weight to our advantage. We had to increase the integrity of the ferrules, make the butt diameter small enough for a wood reel seat, and make the rod cast really well. So what I did was blend carbon and glass in the fabric matrix and came up with the Black Jack.

The physical weight of the Black Jack blank is 2.2 ounces, which is quite light for a five piece blank that is primarily glass. However, the tip over butt ferrules are extremely strong. In fact, we test the rod naked without ferrule wraps and it passes the "Quality Inspection" test every time.

The cool factor is that a majority of the two ounces of weight is in the mid and tip because it is multi piece with ferrules. This adds a wicked cool factor to casting this rod. The rod has physical tip weight, which means when you cast its medium action, it has momentum and inertia just like a bamboo rod does. You simply move the rod in its arc and the rod casts itself. This tip weight also slows recovery speed which is why this rod is essentially 100% a floating line and small fly rod. Just like a bamboo rod would be.

I personally believe that we have made something different. We have really made a rod that has a soul, because in our opinion the rod gives you great feedback, unlike light fast glass, or fast graphite. It also is not so slow and squishy that you have to compensate in your casting stroke to make it work, like you do with old glass.

The Black Jack created its own segment in fly rods because of its Carbon Silica Hybrid technology and because we did it in a five piece. The design criteria around the rod "worked". It would not work as a seven weight for bass, and it would be too much like graphite in a three or four weight. That's why it is unique and also extremely affordable as well."