I’ve had the luxury of testing a Redington RS4 9′ #6 the last couple of weeks, complimented by a matching Redington Rise 5/6 reel. I managed to paint some algae on it from a half dozen tepid backwaters, including the Little Stinking and Sporting Creek.

Now with the rod shiny and scrubbed with anti-invasive bleach, I’ll have to return it.

… but not before passing on some commentary.

Action:

“Crisp” covers the first two sections, and immovable describes the last two. It’s a six weight rod in name only – as the rear half is nearly inflexible. It casts a WF7F with equal ease, and a WF8 doesn’t even flex the third segment.

Fast action rods have the bulk of the flex contained in the top third or top half of the blank, but the RS4 is an extreme case typified by a club-like lower half. All rods should demonstrate some flex regardless of action type, and the RS4 was much too stiff in the lower two sections to see real deflection. As a result, it delivers the line with great authority, too much for delicate work – it’s bestial characteristic better suited for slamming deer hair bass bugs or waterlogged streamers into a stiff breeze.

Which was ideal for the creeks I subjected it to …

Bead head nymphs hit the water with terrific force – a reminder to back off the delivery stroke for fear of the ensuing fountain of water and suddenly empty creek …

Outfitted with a ST7S it can deliver a bead chain enhanced shad fly in excess of 110 feet, yet I still couldn’t confirm whether the third section was participating in all that double hauling frenzy.

I like fast, but this taper ended after the top half – yielding a wading staff from the bottom two segments.

Spline Test:

Peering under the hood reveals the engineering detail of rod construction, and I was disappointed in the results of the spline test.

Simply put, a graphite rod is built by wrapping a fixed length of graphite scrim (fabric) onto a steel mandrel. When the appropriate number of layers are applied, the material is trimmed lengthwise, wrapped and baked into the final blank.

The start of the wraps and the end of the wrap create two points with an extra layer of graphite compared to the rest of the blank – these are called the major and minor spline(s).

The major spline is typically the outside wrap – the last wind of fabric before it was cut, and the minor spline is the first wrap of fabric – but it’s buried deep in the blank so it appears less pronounced.

Laying a rod section onto a flat table, you can roll the edge of your hand in the middle of the rod to feel both splines – the rod actually “jumps” in your hand as the two “edges” of extra material roll underneath.

All wrapped fabric rods have this phenomenon, both fiberglass and graphite, bamboo rods usually lack a spline, as they’re constructed of (usually) six hexagonal strips glued together, therefore lacking any “extra” turns of material.

Guides are traditionally mounted opposite the major spline. This makes the “top” of the rod contain the spline, and as it’s the stiffest section of the rod, and the “outside” of a rod bends further than the inside when flexed, it’s the side with the most resistance to bending.

It provides power.

Cheap mass produced rods pay no attention to spline alignment, mounting the guides wherever they feel like – or however the rod segment lands in the wrapping harness. First tier rod makers typically align the spline and guides to ensure a predictable action.

Redington’s guides are mounted without regard to the spline of each rod segment, and each of the four sections has the guides mounted in a different angle to the spline.

When casting the rod you’d be hard pressed to feel the difference of spline alignment and guides. Mechanically, the rod is reacting differently on each segment and is twisting to compensate for the poor alignment robbing the casting stroke of energy.

A fast action #6 with reserve power – mounted properly with the spline of all four sections on the top, would make this rod a true #7, as the spline adds additional reserve power and resistance to flexing.

Finish and Fittings:

Black finished dual foot guides complemented by a single carbide stripping guide, offered a traditional look and feel. Sturdy reel seat hardware accented with the neo-standard graphite spacer – and a nice broad rounded thread to tighten the reel seat. The wide thread resists grit from causing the reel to bind on dismount – a nice “fishing” touch – as we excel at putting reels in harsh environments.

Outstanding cork with little filler – a rarity in today’s rods.  eight 3/4″ rings used versus the traditional thirteen 1/2″ cork segments.

The finish was applied thickly, with all decals imbedded under a blanket of epoxy. Small dots marked on the blank for guide alignment got additional coats – and the male end of each ferrule has epoxy extending down the blank for an additional two inches, a bit of overkill considering.

This “decal” coat was abrupt and noticeable on each rod segment, almost giving the notion of a sag in the finish. It’ll be a “”turn off” to those that delight in a rod’s appearance – and assists in stiffening an already unyielding rod.

Reel:

The Rise reel was absolutely delightful. Solid construction and good craftsmanship on both tolerances and finish. The drag knob was large and accessible and turned easily even with muddy or damp fingers.

It’s a mid arbor reel with both sides ventilated for weight reduction.

The holes on the rear of the reel are small preventing dangling vest attachments from getting into the mechanism once the reel is brought into your chest, and the backplane thick enough to avoid the “cheese grater” effect should a finger get into the wrong area on a hot fish.

Disc drag with easy access for lubrication and maintenance, and a pleasing muted click to alert you to line paying out.

Suggested retail is $156.00 (Spool $80).

Case:

It’s a clever case design allowing for the reel to stay attached when stored away. It makes for one less item to forget in pre-trip planning – as the mylar window plainly displays the reel attached to the rod.

Summary:

This is a clubby workhorse rod – not some gossamer reed that will assist your posing in the parking lot. Fit and finish are acceptable, with the notable exceptions of superb reel seat and quality cork, but finish and engineering (spline mismatch) are not Tier 1 quality.

Considering that I fish with rods whose trim is painted on the blank, that shouldn’t give you much pause ..

It’s a beastial fast rod whose action is limited to the first two segments, the butt sections are inflexible and clubby. You’ll treat the rod accordingly – no wincing when you yank a stuck dry fly from an overhanging branch, it’s the kind of rod you loan an in-law without regard for its safety, whose butt is perched in sand and water while wolfing a sandwich.

You’ll toss it into the truck bed fully rigged, and if it bangs the bottom of the boat when you shift your weight, you won’t worry about any nick or blemish.

Crisp action bordering on the insensitive, quality accessories yet only average finish quality, it’s a yeoman’s rod – something to learn with and loan to a friend once you upgrade.

TC’s test of the same rod offers additional insight.

Tags: Redington RS4 Review, Redington rod, Redington Rise 5/6, fly rod, fly reel, cork, round threaded reel seat, scrim, epoxy finish, rod spline, mass produced fly rods, Chinese fly rod

I had another chat with Kevin Compton the distributor for the Dohiku and Grip hook lines and was reminded to check up on our my favorite subject, competitive fly fishing.

My contention has always been that all real evolution in tackle is occurring due to the competitive angler – and us hobbyists are pretty content with the current state of rods, lines, flies, and fly fishing sundries.

Considering we’re enjoying rods and tackle whose roots are in the Space Race – competition merely showcases the trends and materials early. American manufacturers hindered by our reluctance to embrace the competition aspects probably scowl as did “Fatso” Goering, when he asked Adolf Galland what was needed to win the Battle of Britain..

“Finally, as his time ran short, he grew more amiable and asked what were the requirements for our squadrons. Moelders asked for a series of Me109’s with more powerful engines. The request was granted. ‘And you ?’ Goering turned to me. I did not hesitate long. ‘I should like an outfit of Spitfires for my group.’ “

… it must be tough on the Sage rep to walk off as the American team wave their Italian rods , but the B.A.S.S. circuit knows a sponsor when it sees one – and will be thrilled to wear the Sage decal.

Competition is by nature secretive and ever changing –  the only reason the Bassmaster’s winner divulges his secret bait is because he has to – and digging up information on contemporary competitive tackle is like pulling teeth – at best you get what worked last year.

Jiri Klima “googles” nicely –  the Czech fishing coach introduced a line of jig hooks and pre-weighted nymph forms unlike the “shrimp” style seen in past years. These are turned into Caddis jigs versus the more traditional nymph tie.

Naturally we’re clutching our chest in horror, “jigs” being the Devil’s handiwork and proof the competitive instinct is damning our sport to perdition.

I don’t see it that way.

.. now that the French are using semi-automatic reels it’s time to crack out all those old Martin wind-ups, as what’s old is new again.

Makes those tie-dye Abel’s look mighty drab – but scrimshaw will do that to you. The above Vivarelli Grayling runs just a bit under $1200, with the more mundane models, made from carbon fiber, around $250.

Nope, there’s no US maker with anything similar.

Eleven foot three weights are exciting to many, but competition is having its greatest impact on hook development. The absorption of the Redditch-based Partridge by Mustad marked a low point in fly hooks, the remaining manufacturers offering little variety and nothing but established styles.

Something as simple as a nickel/chrome hook for Shad or Steelhead left only Eagle Claw’s 1197N as the sole silver hook available. Targus has added one more in the 3908T – a replacement for the traditional Mustad 3908C that was swept under the carpet with all the other “marginal” sellers.

While the Clouser minnow allowed fly tiers to consider jig hooks for streamers, the Czech nymph crowd have introduced the Nymph Special, a bent shank nymph hook designed specifically for bead usage.

Debarbing a traditional Model Perfect bend-forged wire hook has always been problematic; forged wire is much more brittle than its round wire equivalent – and the Model Perfect bend is the poorest for purchase and retention in fish flesh.

Sproat and modified Sproat dry fly hooks in round wire replace those missing short shanked Mustad’s like the 7957B and 7948A – both considered nymph hooks yet set the standard for tying our heavy water (large fish) western dry flies like the Humpy and many others.

Seeing the reintroduction of small niche players means big dividends for the rest of us. They’ll struggle with production, temper, wire, and all the other ills of hook making – but they offer us some interesting diversity – sorely lacking on the shelves now.

The upturned beak point, kirbed points,  and elongated “spear” style looks like it’ll address many of the barbless issues we’ve had in the past. Especially those makers that yanked the barb off their standard hook with no thought to redesigning point and bend to compensate.

I’ll be testing some of the styles from Knapek, Skalka, and Dohiku, in an upcoming article – I just need to learn Yugoslav and Czech first … maybe some Japanese as well.