Hardy rods Archives - FinFollower.com

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:

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

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

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

When I was contacted by Nick of Truffle Pig Films and asked to comment on The Lost World of Mr. Hardy, my first question was, ” Can I get a copy?”

After all, it would be hard to do a proper review without seeing the movie. My request was honored by Director Andy Heathcote, who kindly offered to send a copy for review.

While I waited for it to arrive, I reviewed the press kit and extra scenes.

This past weekend the DVD arrived, so I placed it in the player and begin to watch the intriguing Hardy story unfold in a series of interviews, vintage photographs, and archived footage.

The Lost World of Mr. Hardy is a refreshing break from today’s fly fishing videos, which often consist of a machine-gun series of clips punctuated by speed metal music.

Instead this movie tells a very real story at an entertaining pace. It chronicles the rise and fall of a family business that focused on producing quality tackle, stayed close to the needs of the customer, and always strived to build a better product. As someone says during the movie, “They built their name on perfection.”

Hardy’s attention to detail was so well known that Prince Charles requested two of their older reels as a wedding gift. Author Zane Grey also asked that Hardy produce a special big game reel, allowing them to license his name.

And while most of us are familiar with the Hardy rods used for trout and salmon fishing, big game fish such as marlin, tarpon, sailfish and sharks have all been caught on Hardy reels.

Hardy also did a great job with flies. One of the more interesting vintage clips is an interview with Tommy Weber, a Hardy fly tier. At the time of the interview he had worked for the company for 45 years. He tied flies for Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth, and a number of other luminaries.

At one point there were almost 90 fly tiers on staff. Boys and girls would come in at age 14 and begin a 5-year apprenticeship. No flies made by first-year students were sold. Instead their flies were cut down and the hooks reused.

The chance to improve production capabilities led the Hardy team to build a new factory. The cost of he new factory, combined with the introduction of inexpensive African imports ultimately led to the demise of Hardy’s fly tying operation.

In addition to producing a line of unparalleled products, the Hardys were expert marketers, realizing early on the importance of fly fishing clubs and distributing catalogs with pre-paid envelopes for orders. In 1925, they were producing films to show dealers the capabilities of Hardy products.

In the early 1960’s, Hardy was facing tough economic times and sold out to Jim Miller, a private investor. He introduced new developers and new markets. Hardy became one of the first companies to work with carbon fiber.

Ironically, Jim Hardy admits that they actually made inferior fiberglass rods. As he put it “We wanted the public to think that if Hardy can’t build a decent fiberglass rod, there can’t be anything good in fiberglass.”

Later Hardy would make the transition from a manufacturing-led business to a sales and marketing company. Today, less than 5% of Hardy rods are made in England. Cane rods are now seen as an niche product and not an integral part of the business.

Just like the Hardy products, Andy Heathcote got this one right. If you have a chance to pick up a copy, do so. The DVD can be found on The Lost World of Mr. Hardy site.

Enjoy!

Leigh

Hardy rods

Product Review: Bending the Butter Stick

DVD Review: The Lost World of Mr. Hardy