Butter Stick Archives - FinFollower.com

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to Backbone Media’s 2014 showroom event in NYC. It was a great chance to check out the latest gear from Redington, Sage and other industry-leading outdoor brands. Backbone Media also organized a group of speakers to present insights into the latest trends and developments in the active lifestyle market.

Some of the new Sage Rod and Reel offerings.

I was impressed with the way that the market is expanding. In addition to advances in technology, there were new product offerings for women and youth as well.

Some of the new Redington Waders. The pair on the right is a new offering for women.

If you’re interested in learning more, here are some recent announcements:

From Redington:

Siren wading boots and waders for women: http://pitch.pe/1aSELXL

Wading boots for men, women and youth: http://pitch.pe/14Y0uHH

Super Dry waders with Cocona© treated interior fabric: http://new.pitchengine.com/pitches/a50c9a49-9e03-4f60-894f-026f52db0636

Dually switch and spey rod: http://pitch.pe/10SZCFf

Vapen fly rod: http://pitch.pe/13dd5pr

Butter Stick fiberglass fly rod: http://pitch.pe/13di6ON

And from Sage:

METHOD fly rod with Konnetic technology: http://pitch.pe/11ibld4

EVOKE large arbor reel: http://pitch.pe/11icD81

MOTIVE saltwater fly rod: http://pitch.pe/11ie0nl

3200/2200 large arbor fly reels: http://pitch.pe/11ifJca

Ballistic Rod Tubes: http://pitch.pe/12pZWwX

One last thing – Although I was not allowed to take pictures, there is a major lifestyle retailer entering the flyfishing market with some interesting and innovative gear and apparel offerings. More to come later. Enjoy!

Had a chance to review one of Redington’s latest offerings, the Butter Stick fiberglass fly rod. I enjoy making and fishing fiberglass rods, so when I saw the press release a couple of months ago I immediately put my name in the hat to test it. To see the company web site and get more info on the Butter Stick click here.

I chose the 7′ 3wt matched with the Sage Click III reel and RIO fly line that I reviewed in this post. Turned out to be a good choice. The Click III is lightweight and helped make a well-balanced combo.

Redington Butter Stick fly rod — Nice looking rod – 7′ 3wt 3-piece

Out of the Bag

One of the first things I noticed was the bright yellow blank with wraps of a color I refer to as safety orange. The rod looked like fun before I ever put it together. The color choice obviously inspired the name, but visually it’s a nice departure from the more common green/brown/blue palette of fly rod blanks.

Redington Butter Stick — Alignment dots are a nice touch

There are also some subtle touches, such as alignment dots. The rod also comes with a bright yellow fabric rod bag, and brown rod tube. The lifetime warranty is also a plus.

When it comes to the reel seat, I would’ve preferred the uplocking reel seat version to the sliding rings, but they worked fine with the Click III reel.

The weight was also a surprise. Only a spry 2.1 oz., The $250 price tag is also reasonable.

For comparison, a 7′ 3wt. Scott fiberglass rod also weighs about 2 oz. and costs $645. The Cabelas fiberglass CGT is is about $100 less than than the Butter Stick, but weighs almost 3 oz. Hardy’s 7′ 3wt. glass rod is also 3 oz, and costs $375. It only comes in a 2-piece.

The most common comparison I hear is the Butter Stick vs. the Eagle Claw Featherlight. The color makes it inevitable, but this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. While I could not find the weight of the Featherlight, the 7′ is a 5/6 weight, not a 3wt. The Eagle Claw is also a 2-piece. I’m fan of the Featherlight as a beginner’s rod, but it has a very different look, feel and casting capability than the Butter Stick.

On the Water

Since casting speed and general performance are often subjective assessments, my comments are based on the performance of the rod at a local bluegill pond and on the Farmington and Pootatuck rivers. Your mileage may vary.

Butter Stick fiberglass fly rod with sage Click III reel caught pumpkinseed in local pond — Caught a nice pumpkinseed in the local pond

The Butter Stick may be seen by many as a small stream rod, but it is also a decent caster. It performed better for me on longer casts of over 40′ vs. those that were 30 ft. and under. It wasn’t that the close-in performance was bad, but rather the distance casting was a nice surprise.

As you would expect with fiberglass, it has a softer presentation. This really came in handy for fishing around boulders, small riffles and over a glassy pond. I used dry flies, nymphs and small poppers depending on my needs and found the Butter Stick to perform solidly.

As far as the action, I will agree with the others that say it is on the faster side of fiberglass performance. At times it felt more like graphite than vintage fiberglass. That said, I ran into some bass that bent the rod over double – something I couldn’t have done with a comparable graphite rod.

Butter Stick fiberglass fly rod and Click III reel caught brown trout on Farmington River, September 2013 — A Farmington River brown

The press release says “The buttery smooth, classic action rods in this family harken to simpler, more carefree times and help put good old-fashion fun back into fly fishing.” I couldn’t agree more.

Butter Stick fiberglass fly rod and Click III reel caught rainbow trout on Farmington River, September 2013 — Put up a great fight for such a small fish

The bottom line: If you’re looking for a nice fiberglass 3 wt. that won’t break the bank, the Butter Stick is a great choice. Enjoy!

Note: I am not the first one to wade into the water with Butter Stick in hand. In fact, here are three recent reviews found with a quick Google search:

http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/forum/index.php?threads/redington-butter-stick-first-impressions-also-orvis-superfine.90518/

http://thefiberglassmanifesto.blogspot.com/2013/07/gear-review-redington-butter-stick.html

http://www.tridentflyfishing.com/blog/redington-butter-stick-fly-rod-review