I would have thought that we would have gotten to some sort of end of the road with contemporary glass where there just wasn’t new things. Instead, new ideas, new blanks, new fly rods, new sourcing, and new collaborations continue to abound.
Yesterday, I received an email from Benno Bron of Ben’s of Holland with an announcement of a new series of Translucent Amber S-Glass Blanks that are available through his shop and for customers in the U.S.A., these blanks can be purchased through Graywolf Rods.
Benno is very much into light line glass fly rods and I’ve heard nothing but positive feedback for those who have one of his fly rods or builds on his blanks.
The 7′ three-weight in this series in five-piece has my eye and $155 certainly isn’t too much to pay for a blank with this much thought and experience behind it.
Translucent Amber S-Glass Blank Series:
1-Weight – 6’5 3-Pieces – €120 / $145
2-Weight – 6’5 3-Pieces – €120 / $145
3-Weight – 7’0 3-Pieces – €125 / $150
3-Weight – 7’0 5-Pieces – €130 / $155
4-Weight – 7’5 4-Pieces – €130 / $155
1-Weight – 6’5 3-Pieces – €120 / $145
2-Weight – 6’5 3-Pieces – €120 / $145
3-Weight – 7’0 3-Pieces – €125 / $150
3-Weight – 7’0 5-Pieces – €130 / $155
4-Weight – 7’5 4-Pieces – €130 / $155
All blanks are slip over ferrule and prices listed above do not include shipping.
Ben wrote… ” I spent the last four years designing and fine tuning blanks. Mainly for for myself to create the perfect light weight glass rod. Along the way, other fishermen and rod builders discovered these light glass blanks and demand kept growing. This was never my intention as I already got enough on my mind, but it was a perfect way to develop and produce blanks without breaking the bank. For the first time a hobby that doesn’t cost money!
The last few years I worked with other rod builders to create blanks. Most intensively with Shane Gray. Glass and graphite. Light and heavy. Slow and fast. All this resulted in this new line of blanks. These are just the way I like it. Light, short, flexible. Not stiff or super fast, and no heavier in line weight than the 4-weight. Simply because I have no knowledge or reference for the heavier ones as I don’t use those. The fun is in the light ones. For me that is.”
Visit the Ben’s of Holland website to learn more and follow along with the latest shop news on Facebook and Instagram.
