Grayrock 98 Tapers - dennis higham
Grayrock's over :-( and, now that I've caught up on some of the
honey-do's after the better part of a week away from home, I thought I'd
start posting the tapers from this year's mic-o-rama. Six rods were
measured by myself, Reed Curry, Carlos Santos, and Miles Tiernan with
interference err.. assistance by a host of others. Usually one guy miced
and one recorded. We swapped around. One caveat, not every one mic's a rod
the same way. Most were miced in 5" stations with the rod assembled, pretty
much what we're used to seeing, but some measure each section separately
measuring from the end of the ferrule or from where the bamboo starts under
the ferrule. I'll start with the conventionally measured rods first, then
do the other rods in a later post.
We miced the following:
1. A 6',2piece,3wt. owned by Olaf Borge an incredibly
sweet little rod.The blanks designed & made by Bob Taylor and finished
by Steve Blake (who does many of Len Codella's
restorations)
2. A 6', 2piece, 4wt Quad. Almost everyone really
liked this rod. Those that didn't thought it was a little buggy-whip.
3. A 6'6', 2 piece 3wt. by Fred Kretchman. This is the
rod eveyone fell in love with. This is a rod that when you start casting
you start grinning. Medium/fast
4. A 8', 2 piece, 5wt F.E. Thomas owned by Reed Curry.
5. A 9',3piece, 3wt Montague that we caught Carlos
casting (Carlos makes 4' rods and never touchs anything over 6'!) This is a
really pleasant medium action rod that you
could cast all day. It was also capable of casting a foot off the water
across the river and dropping a fly
under an overhanging bush. Carlos wanted this taper!!
6. A 10',3piece, 6wt. B.F. Nichols owned by Reed Curry
that Kim Fairchild renamed "The Dr. Kim-Bob Dream Machine"! A
medium action wet-fly action rod that pretty much
casts itself.
I'll post the raw data and you can average the flats as you see fit.
Everything was measured over varnish. Here we go....
Bob Taylor built/Steve Blake finished 6',2piece,4wt. Leonard hunt colored
cane, short Thomas&Thomas ferrules.
Measured over varnish!!!
0" .055, .054, .055
5" .0675, .0695, .0695
10" .0855, .0875, .089
15" .102, .1045, .1015
20" .1175, .1180, .1135
25" .125, .1305, .1315
30" .1360, .1355, .1395
363/4 .140, .140,. 1395
40" .1705, .1630, .1715
45" .1785, .1810, .1820
50" .196, .1955, .1925
55" .2165, .2115, .2110
60" .2595, .2495, .2590
61" .2820, .2850, .2910 (Swelled butt)
Grip
Guide spacing w/ rod assembled... 4, 87/8, 14, 20, 26, 321/2, 397/8,
473/4(stripper).
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Fred Kretchman 6'6", 2piece, 3wt. Over Varnish!!
1' .0695, .0675, .0680
5" .0785, .0785, .0785 (way to go!!)
10" .081, .0805, guide
15" .103, .101, .1035
20" .1195, .1165, .1200
25" .134, .1335, .132
30" .1485, .1475, .147
35" .162, .160, .1605
371/4 .1565, .1590, guide
41" .183, .183, .183
45" .1865, .185, guide
46" .195, .192, .195
50" .2065, .207, .204
56" .2195, .2215, .222
60" .228, .230, .2265
65 .2315, .237, .237
671/2 .237, .240, .2415
Guide Spacing.. tip... 47/8, 103/8, 163/8, 227/8, 2913/16, 37/38... BUTT
from the end of the ferrule.. 65/8, 161/2 ( stripper).
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Dr. Kim-Bob's Dream Machine 10' 3piece 6wt. B.F. Nichols Hard rubber reel
seat, w/ intermediates
1" .079, .0845, .0835
5" .095, .0935, .0925
10" .110, .1085, .1115
143/4 .1165, .185, .110
20" .130, .125, .1275
25" .142, .1425, .1445
30" .156, .157, .154
35" .166, .164, .163
381/2 .1665, .174, .171
43' .1835, .193, .186
43" .1835, .193, .186
45" .188, .1955, .1985
50' .2035, .2045, .202
541/2 .210, .220, .2135
60" .228, .232, .235
65" .238, .2395, .2435
70" .2515, .2575, .2505
75" .263, .262, .265
781/2 .262, .2635, .271 ( at the ferrule)
821/2 .285, .2835, .2945 (under ferrule guide)
85" .301, .2995, .301
90" .3125, .310, .3085
95" .315, .327, .3115
100" .3345, .3285, .3425
105" .349, .346, .351
108" .373, .3645, .370 swelled butt
no guide spacing
Ok..that's it for tonight.. I"m getting cross-eyed .. too many little ###.
Post the rest tomorrow.
Grayrock was GREAT!!! If you haven't made it yet ..Please put it on your
calender.
Judging by the quality of rods next year should be unreal and Grayrock
2000...Cosmic!!
Regards,
Dennis
I saw the pics there were 20"+ fish caught, unfortunately not by me :-( .
" You should have been here yesterday."