Good evening all!!
Im after some views on North Western fly rod blanks. I've found 2 for sale, both £60 each but I'm sure I could get them a lot cheaper due to their age. Both are #6-8 weight, one is 10 foot and the other is 11 foot and feel especially light with a tip, possibly mid to tip action, admittadly with no rings fitted. They have standard plastic reel seats fitted and average quality cork full wells handles. The blank design is a mat graphite with a spiral effect, which I presume is from the production process of filament winding.
Has anyone any experience of these blanks?
Mr Parton? They're made in England!!!!!!!!!!!! Hurrayyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any info' would be greatly appreciated as they might be just the ticket for a first build / semi build. If they are good I could remove the offending items and fit quality.

All the best

Rob

I built quite a few fly rods on North Western fibreglass blanks back in the 70's - they were as good as anything else on the market at the time.

I wasn't aware that they still made fly rod blanks and thought they were mainly involved in the coarse and sea markets.

__________________
[I]"I still don't know why I fish or why other men fish, except that we like it and it makes us think and feel."[/I] Roderick L Haig-Brown

[url]www.wildfly.net[/url]

[url]http://www.gameanglinginstructors.co.uk/[/url]

Rob,

North Western Blanks Limited was dissolved on 26/05/2009.

So I'm afraid they're not made in England any more.

Regards,

Doc

Thanks for the replies Chaps.
The blanks are old stock from the previous owner of the business so at least 5 years old, and judging by the quantity of dust on the plastic covers, possibly older. They are definately carbon fibre/graphite.
Any other helpful souls out there?

Rob

I'd assume you'd want to build something that you'd find useful? How often do you use 10 and 11ft 8wts?

They're old, over priced and, as you've already noted, been fitted with cheap components - reel fittings and cork.

If you look on the Guides and Blanks website you can get a Harrison, 6/7 or 7/8 for £75.

If that's more than you want to pay look on Ebay - for example -

Four Piece 9 Foot 6wt.Satin Black Fly Rod Blank on eBay (end time 03-Jul-10 02:54:15 BST)


This site will give you some idea about what's available -

Batson Forecast & Rainshadow Fly Rod Blanks

__________________
[I]"I still don't know why I fish or why other men fish, except that we like it and it makes us think and feel."[/I] Roderick L Haig-Brown

[url]www.wildfly.net[/url]

[url]http://www.gameanglinginstructors.co.uk/[/url]