SCOTT FLY ROD COMPANY - The New F Series

A couple of months ago Jim Bartschi of Scott Fly Rod Company emailed to pass along that they were working on the next generation of the Fibertouch fly rods and everything would be ready for a debut at iCAST.  I've been eager to pass this information along and have some first look images along with more background from Jim Bartschi in today's post.   

The focus of the new Fibertouch fly rods was to circle back on the over 45 year long history of this series and boil it down to what made it sweet from the start with short, deep loading high performance fly rods that excel on small water.

Excerpts from several emails from Jim Bartschi...

"I've decided to look to the roots of glass and Scott's history.  I think we've lost some of the attributes of glass by speeding the rods up too much (F2 may have led that change).  I'm leaving S-glass behind and going back to a more traditional weave of all E-glass fiber.  

My goal with the series is to have true short range rods that load up with just a few feet of line out and shine in that 0-20' range.  Get the rods to load in very close and form sweet loops with a few feet of line out that have great stability and control while feeling light and responsive.  I want a lot of bend and feel in them, but with some engineering to keep them more stable than F2.  

In short, I want rods that really show off the attributes of the material in the application I think it works best-short light line rods for close range fishing.

These are all new tapers, back to E-glass with a new epoxy resin, newly designed hollow internal ferrule, new components-all best in class from snake brand universals to titanium strippers and flor grade cork.  A lot of mass was removed and the they feel very light but still track and recover well.  Wall thickness was also greatly reduced.  A combination of resin and layup allowed us to keep them light and stabilized which is not easy to reconcile with glass."

The new F Series is now here and offered in the following models in two, three and four weight and in four or five piece fly rods that are priced at $695.

• FS 6224 - 6'2" - 2 Line - 4 Piece
• FS 5834 - 5'8" - 3 Line - 4 Piece
• FS 6634 - 6'6" - 3 Line - 4 Piece
• FS 7235 - 7'2" - 3 Line - 5 Piece
• FS 7244 - 7'4" - 4 Line - 4 Piece

Fibertouch fly rods come with a lifetime warranty and are built one at a time in Montrose, Colorado with Snake Brand Universal snake guides, Flor grade cork grips, titanium SiC strippers, and CNC milled reel seats with measuring wraps and alignment dots.

I've said it before that I really think the introduction of the F2 in 2010 (can you believe that was 8 years ago?) was the turning point where the fly fishing industry woke up that there was a market and a real deepening interest in contemporary fiberglass fly rods by anglers.  It wasn't too long afterwards that most of the major fly rod companies started to introduce their own series of glass fly rods and it's really been neat to follow along with this over the years.

The Scott Fly Rod Company website re-launched this week and additional information on the new F Series can be found there.  Click through model by model for fly line recommendations as well.