New (to me) fly rod - 0 weight (pics from 1st outting added)

[aggie182]

I have had a bit too much fun with the 2 weight and become slightly addicted to the ultralight fly gear so I ended up picking up a 7 1/2' 0 weight set up. It is a Dan Craft blank built up by a guy on the ultralight fly fishing forum then traded to another member and then I purchased it earlier this week. This rod gives a whole new meaning to the term slow fly rod. This thing is extremely slow. The cork work is amazing and the threaded reel seat is pretty slick looking. I am hoping to get it out tomorrow. As luck would have it, It was shipped to me Tuesday and I got it today and the last 2 days have had zero wind. Hopefully tomorrow will be good. This set up should make catching bluegills a lot of fun.

The reel weighs 2.2 ounces and the rod weight is 1.93 ounces. The 2 scale photos are from the guy who built it and the others I took this evening. I put my TFO 375 reel next to it for reference.

Rod


Reel


Handle


Finished weight


Blank weight

[On the Guad]

That is nice

[larry long shadows]

Does it come with a warranty...lol very nice bet you will have fun with it...I was just kidding when I ask you about o wt

[Ron Mc]

The parts for the JAF fly reels all came from the JW Young line in Redditch before they closed shop.
The reels are assembled here.
This all came about because they made the decision not to outsource fly reels, and reduced the Young shop to benchmade centrepin reels for the home market.
They had some great new reel designs, reaching far back to their c. 1900 roots, including the Aerial


and the Thistle

(yes, this is a modern reel on a '20s rod)

[bboren]

That is some nice looking gear you got there. I have never heard of anyone using a 0 weight……Very cool pics.

[aggie182]

That is some nice looking gear you got there. I have never heard of anyone using a 0 weight……Very cool pics.

The guy that originally made this said from tests he conducted, it falls between a 00 and 0 weight. A 000 weight is the lightest I have seen.

Ron Mc - do you dabble in the ultralight gear much? With this rod being so soft, I am thinking my hit to hook up ratio will go way down from where it is with the 2 wt., 4 wt., and beyond. What are your tips for getting a solid hookset on such a soft rod?

[Ron Mc]

the lightest rods I have are 3-wts, 7' Japanese glass, and the 8' Leonard Fairy Catskill with the brass reel above.
3-wt. cane feels like a 1-wt with a fish on, and the Japanese glass is very noodly, as well.

btw, there is an ultralight fly fisher's website with a bulletin board.

[aggie182]

the lightest rods I have are 3-wts, 7' Japanese glass, and the 8' Leonard Fairy Catskill with the brass reel above.
3-wt. cane feels like a 1-wt with a fish on, and the Japanese glass is very noodly, as well.

btw, there is an ultralight fly fisher's website with a bulletin board.

I am a member of the ultralight fly fishing message board. That is where I picked this thing up. Lots of good info there.

[Roofish]

I cant seem to logon @ that website, anyone help?

[aggie182]

Here is are few pics from the 1st outing with it. The rod is a lot of fun once hooked up to a fish. I think the take to hook up ratio is slightly lower than what it is with my 2 wt. but I think fishing with it more will improve that. I landed 8-10 bluegill and had a heck of a lot of fun with them. Casting took a while to get with this rod being slower than anything I have ever casted.

[DrMatt]

That looks like a blast! Where were you fishing?

[aggie182]

That looks like a blast! Where were you fishing?

I was fishing a small pond in The Woodlands.

[Roofish]

Nice shots, gotta get me a UL setup, maybe 2/3 wt. Finally had 2 re-register on UL Fly site??

[aggie182]

Nice shots, gotta get me a UL setup, maybe 2/3 wt. Finally had 2 re-register on UL Fly site??

I saw you over there. There is a 3 wt rod for sale right now that might be worth a look in the UL classifieds. It is a Cabela's PT I think.

I managed to get my 2 wt. set up for $120 for rod/reel/backing/line then another $20 for a rod/reel case for it. The rod and reel were new and the line was 'gently used' as the guy described, but it appeared new to me. I got the set up from the place linked below and I called and talked to the sales guy and he suggested the used line I got. They used to have the 8' TFO Pro 2 wt. for $80 and 6' TFO Sig for $60 on there but I don't see it now. Might be worth checking back every so often for deals.

http://www.farmingtonriver.com/used.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;