Northwest Fishing Reports

An internet friend of mine from Pennsylvania is sending a 7' 5/6 weight Featherlight to me just because I don't have one. For those that don't know, they are a full flex, parabolic action fiberglass fly rod. Brand new, they only cost about $29 but I hear they are a hoot to catch a fish with. I can hardly wait.
:bigsmurf:

Keep the fish small, Joe! I've never used one but have read about them, more of a small stream rod. I have 2 Korean-made Eagle Claw Trailmaster III 8.5' 5/6 fly rod combos that I bought a dozen or so years ago. These 5-piece rods came complete with smooth, fully functional reels w/awesome drag and controls, and their own tubes. At about 18" in length, these rods strapped perfectly onto my backpack and accompanied me on dozens of hiking trips into the Rockies, Selkirk mountains and the Cabinet Wilderness in MT. These two little rods accounted for untold hundreds of rainbows, cutts, brookies and even yellowstone cutts. They're strong, fast action sticks that also saw their share of large e. washington fish, too. I nearly cried last month when the tip section of one of the rods got pinched between my pontoon's bladder and the truck tailgate, breaking it! I got lazy, failed to break it down, and paid the price when I took a shortcut down a rutted, rough dirt road.

Try as I might, I cannot find another one of these rods as they are now discontinued.

Don't break yours, Joe!

Hey Raff. Have you tried fixing it? You can use a smaller piece of tubular fiberglass to use as a spigot and join the broken pieces together with 2-part epoxy. A sanding afterward with an intermittent rewrap should cure the problem. Unless the break is too close to the tip top.

Hey Raff,
I just found one on e-bay for only $45 if you're interested. Cool sticks!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-EAGLE-C ... 2314576553

The rod showed up today. I put a 5 weight floater on it and lawn cast it. Lays line down pretty as you please. 50-60 feet with ease. Maybe a 6 weight would cast better. I'll check that out later. I can hardly wait to tie into a plump rainbow.

Lotech Joe wrote:The rod showed up today. I put a 5 weight floater on it and lawn cast it. Lays line down pretty as you please. 50-60 feet with ease. Maybe a 6 weight would cast better. I'll check that out later. I can hardly wait to tie into a plump rainbow.

Hi ya Joe, Cindy has been useing the Eagle Claw "Feather-Lite" "spinning" version in a 7 footer for 30 plus years. Her original one was retired a couple years back, when Her brother shipped her a new one. It happened to have the "same" action, so she was able to be ok with retiring the old rod. I had replaced the guides several times, but that is her trout rod of choice. She uses 4 pound line, and let me tell you, the big RW tripps sure give it a good workout. She has fought and landed many in the 10# range, so you will have a blast when you hook up with those "plump rainbows". Can't wait to hear some of your reports.

Thanks, Joe.....but that's a different rod. I'll post a pic of the 5-piece pack rod that I DIDN"T BREAK!!! lol. Try as I might, I can't find another. Sometimes companies come out with a good, quality product for a year or two then discontinue them. I bought two of these Eagle Claw Trailmaster III pack rods in 2002-2003 and haven't seen them anywhere since. Breaks my heart that I got lazy and broke the tip on one. Oh, well. I'll be ultra careful with the survivor!