Mike P - Can You Render An Opinion On A Lami S-Glass Rod?

[JohnR]

I've been debating (for years) a glass eeling rod myself...

[Crafty Angler]

Originally Posted by JohnR

I've been debating (for years) a glass eeling rod myself...

Once I figure out which blank to have it wrapped on, you can try mine, John - the only problem may be taking the Long Walk as opposed to the Short one to fully appreciate it...

I'll quote Mike (the Sultan of S-Glass...) himself from his 2005 post here:

"Comfortable casting range starts around 2 oz. This is a slow-loading fiberglass rod that's perfect for slinging big eels, as the slow load keeps you from tearing eels loose if you have to drive your cast...Fantastic for the biggest plugs, and you can whip a fish on this rod faster than the guys around you would ever believe. ... Being fiberglass, it stands up well to rocks and you can lean into fish to get them away from the junk. If I could only have one rod to fish with, this would be it."

Great rod, but fishing glass again may feel a little weird at first. Perfect for big pencils, too, like a Habs 3.5 oz Canal special - when you shake it, the S-Glass vibrates in a parabolic arc and you can't get that parabolic shake with graphite like the GSB's. Just got a 108 3M for rigged Sluggos, smaller pencils and smaller eels - it's big brother is just a great big water/big fish set-up

Just trying to figure out if lopping off that much from a 132 will stiffen it too much

Maybe Saltheart or Seawolf will chime in on it

[SeaWolf]

since you asked...

first off, you said "132 3m". no such animal from lami. you probably meant the sb1363m e-glass or ssb1363m s-glass models from lami. their gsb1321m or 1L are in the "132"/11' range if you got confused.

for what it is worth, glass has a limited use today in the surf in my opinion. if you need to custom build a rod for a certain application, such as a large, heavy pluggin' rod, then maybe glass, but glass overall is heavy. after fishing for graphite for so many years, it's hard to go back and their are plenty of options for fit a multitude of purposes. with that said, it's really hard to beat the lami gsb1201m (10') or gsb1321m (11') graphite blanks in general and for eeling rods. they are relatively inexpensive, proven, and pretty durable. both are good up to 4 ounces and 5 if you need to lob a little extra. every customer i've built either of these rods for has been more than happy with their choice. of course, my favorite all around jetty blank is still the glass sb1213m at 10'. glass does rule on a jetty, but under 10'

if you want something a little closer to glass, you could look at the L versions of either blank, but both start to really top off at 3 ounces. another option gaining popularity is the super seeker baby ulua. it's 10', composite s-glass/graphite and bends all the way to the butt w/ a lot of power in the butt. it loads real soft. it's a very popular pencil popper rod. but, this blank can push in price up to that is a lami super surf.

personally, i think the sb1083m is almost useless in the surf, except for throwing small rebel like plugs. i usually make the boat version of this blank into a boat spin rod and cut a lot off the tip. the lami graphite 9' blanks are much better options.

[Crafty Angler]

Thanks, Dave - then it would have been the 136 my old favorite was based on, but the 121-3M is starting to sound like the blank of choice for me. The super seeker composite sounds interesting but I'm looking for that soft-loading characteristic at a reasonable price-point

Yup, I'm familiar with the GSB's, I've been using a 120-1L locally as my primary stick since '99 and like it a lot but it gets dicey at 3 oz - used a 120 1m this fall, but it's not high on my immediate list right now

I know DZ uses the 1L with the tip slightly trimmed back as an all purpose rod for eels, riggies and plugs and we talked about it again last week - I may try that on my older 120 this season

I'll see what happens with the 108 3M early this spring - worst case scenario, I'll cut 2' off the butt and make it a freshie rod for plastics or 2' off the tip and use it for blackfish off the boat next fall...

Thanks again

[SeaWolf]

just note that the 1213m is a lot stiffer than the 1363m. the 136 has a lower low end and the 121 has a higher high end for weights.

2" off the tip of the sb1083m changes almost nothing.

DZ's 1L has 1", maybe 2" cut off the tip. i measured it when i fixed it a couple years ago.

just a reminder, cutting a lami blank voids the warranty if you ever plan on needing it.

i still think the gsb1201m or gsb1321m is your best bet. the 120M is not that much more money than the glass blank. they handle larger eels, load well and still offer a great plugging rod if you ever plan on doing that with it. talk to "bobcat" this weekend if you go to the show.

i'm not sure if you are fishing braid or mono, but if you are fishing braid the single best piece of advice i can give you on a slow action rod, like the glass ones mentioned, is using fuji's new guide concept. your rod tip won't bounce.

[Crafty Angler]

Originally Posted by SeaWolf

just note that the 1213m is a lot stiffer than the 1363m. the 136 has a lower low end and the 121 has a higher high end for weights.

2" off the tip of the sb1083m changes almost nothing.

DZ's 1L has 1", maybe 2" cut off the tip. i measured it when i fixed it a couple years ago.

just a reminder, cutting a lami blank voids the warranty if you ever plan on needing it.

i still think the gsb1201m or gsb1321m is your best bet. the 120M is not that much more money than the glass blank. they handle larger eels, load well and still offer a great plugging rod if you ever plan on doing that with it. talk to "bobcat" this weekend if you go to the show.

i'm not sure if you are fishing braid or mono, but if you are fishing braid the single best piece of advice i can give you on a slow action rod, like the glass ones mentioned, is using fuji's new guide concept. your rod tip won't bounce.

Thanks again, Dave - didn't realize the difference in the high and low end ratings between the 1213M and the 1363M

I'll look up the bobcat if I can make it to the Edge on Sat.

Oh, on the 108 I was talking about trimming off 2 feet, not 2 inches - actually Russ Bassdozer did an article about cutting a 108 down to 6 1/2 or 7' (cut from the butt) for spooks, topwaters and plastics - although I don't think I'll want to do that to a nicely wrapped rod

I'll probably just make it an anniversary gift for Mrs Crafty when she fishes her 'gummy bears' (shads and plastics)...

And yeah, I'll be using mono on the rod - I guess there still are a few things you can't teach an old dog like me...

Thanks again

Cheers...

[Mike P]

If I could get my hands on an old SSB 136 3M, I would take it over a 121 3M. The SSB was my go-to beach spinning rod for a lot of years, from the mid-1980s almost until the turn of the century (remember when that term referred to the changeover from the 19th to the 20th?).

For eels, I would probably take all the trimming from the butt.

But in a perfect world with a bigger budget, I would take an XRA 1205 over any glass rod.