Show SPORTS By Ted Resting Kesting When tubular glass rods first I flexed Hexed their way onto the fishing scene it was a great day for I anglers and a new chapter began began be be- beI I gan in rod history And now a anew a anew I new paragraph pai is being written b by the advent of self ferrule rods To date comparatively few fishermen are aie aW aware le of this de de- I de-I In case you haven't had the pleasure of fishing one yet et a current review may be in order First for the uninitiated ed what is a self-ferrule self rod lod Its It's one in which the ferrule which joins the sections of the thelod therod therod rod lod is a p part of the rod lod itself itself and like the rod tod is made of glas glass Thus it flexes as the rod bends to produce an uninterrupted uninterrupted curve This gives the sweet feel of a piece one rod and reduces to a 03 minimum the area uca of stiffness associated with witha a rigid ferrule A metal ferrule b by contrast does not flex and therefore interjects an in area aiea of flatness into the overall bend This in not to say that rods with metal ferrules are arc passe pass Far from it ii They'll be around in abundance for a long time to come ome And as a matter of observation observation ob- ob a large segment of the fishing fraternity will al always al- al ways exist who neither need nor nOl wo would ld appreciate the properties of a n self-ferrule self rod Cost is one of the reasons the self-ferrule self rod will not appeal to the angling masses It takes takes' time precision and skilled labor to produce So unless a breakthrough breakthrough breakthrough break break- through is achieved in manufacturing manufacturing manufacturing turing procedure such rods will remain in the to medium-to-high I price category I Further the difference in feel between a piece one-piece rod and a two-piece two rod lod is not apparent to every caster It is better anglers anglers anler an an- ler with above average acumen acumen acu acu- acu 1 men who will appreciate these rods lods Glass-ferrule Glass rods were introduced introduced intro intro- in this country b by a C California Cali- Cali lI fornia fomia company in 1162 1062 and they are arc now being marketed by four other firms films as well They Thc ate ale available in casting spinning and fl fly mod mod- els Depending on how carefully you shop notes Homer Homel CIrcle Angling Anglin Editor of Sports Afield Magazine they can be bought flom under 20 upward despite much higher list prices The trend to the self-ferrule self rod lod is so valid so pleasurable and so practical 11 it is bound to become a must among discriminating discriminating discriminating anglers If you consider yourself sufficiently p skilled to appreciate the feel of such astick astick a astick stick both during the act of casting and in the playing of a fish you'll find it hard to try a self ferrule rod and not bu buy one |