Walter...
Interesting.
I've had truly expert casters have problems casting when the come from cold
climates......I'm sure there are many facets to that which go beyond the
stiffness changes in the rod. Some simply come in the spring and haven't
been casting at home in the depths of winter. Floyd Franke used a term to
describe that when he referred to his, "winter arm". A good
description.
These expert casters take very little time to acclimatize. The
borderline ones do so later.
A couple of years ago, I did some relative deflection studies on
experimental glass, glass graphite composites, and graphite push poles in order
to compare them. This could easily be done with fly rods at different
temperatures. I doubt, however, that even when quantified that it would
yield information of practical value to the angler. It might even add to
the mass of hype tackle advertisers use. We might be looking at ads for,
"cold water fly rods" and "tropic rods", etc.
Gordy
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2005 12:55
AM
Subject: Re: Hot and cold fly rods
Hey Gordy - could be something to that. I've fished my 6
weight xp with the same reel in temperatures ranging from -10 to 35 Celcius
and didn't really notice a difference in the rod but that could be because the
temperature change was gradual for me (i.e. over the course of a year). The
line did make a very noticeble difference.
I did a bit of checking on the Internet and it appears
that the modulus of flexibility of graphite fibers does change a bit over the
range of temperatures that we would be fishing at. If someone was practising
regularly in one temperature extreme and then got on a plane and flew to
a different temperature extreme they might notice a difference. I expect that
with a bit of research we would find that the epoxies used in a typical rod
would be even more sensitive to the temperature change.
I'm not aware of any actual studies in this regard but
in a couple of months we should be in to sub-zero temperatures here and then
it would be relatively easy to check it out. I suppose I could just put the
rod in the freezer and then see if its deflection changes but then it wouldn't
be as interesting for the neighbours. :)
Cheers
Walter
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2005 5:58
AM
Subject: Hot and cold fly rods
Group....
I got to thinking this morning. While using my 8wt 9' Loomis rod
with the cooler weather, (37 degrees), I couldn't help but feel that it
flexed differently than it did in the hot Florida sun. Granted, the
line was changed to a more flexible one of the same label.
Now I know that I am not quite as flexible when fishing when
cold. That was certainly true on my Alaska trips, and we've known for
a long time that line and leader flexibility change with big changes in
temperature, but:
WHAT ABOUT THE FLEXIBILITY OF FLY RODS ?????
Intuitively, I suspect that their modulus of elasticity and, therefore,
their flexibility may well be such that they become relatively stiffer when
cold.
Do any of you know of any studies to show this ?????
Could this be one additional reason that many great casters I've hosted
who come from cold water areas have problems casting when they get out on
the flats in the blazing sun ??????.......and why I seem to have to take a
bit of time to, "adjust" when I start casting in colder climes.??? (I
start by making some embarrassingly poor casts as I try for distance in the
cold. By going for less distance, and making lots of casts, I get
back in shape.....but it takes many casts 'till I do.)
Let me know what you think.
Gordy