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Rod Selection - Hiking Rods

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I'm starting to get moving on a fund raising rod for a raffle for our lake fishing/hiking club.  We have a few of the members who are into bamboo but the majority are plastic users.  I'd like to find a taper for an unknown end user (winner) to fish primarily lakes for trout from float tubes and shore. I personally like the feel of the Dickerson 7613LT 7'6" 5wt.  I'd like to make something different for the raffle though in a maximum of 8'.

Right now I'm looking at the Payne 101 and the Dickerson 761510.  A three piece would be nice for hiking but I would like to find a taper that can carry a nice cast of up to 60' if possible in something Medium Fast to make a plastic user transition easier.

I don't want much do I?  LOL

If you have any suggestions or tapers you would like to share please do.  (Mike Monsos)

For casting from a canoe or tube or distance from shore, I'm trusting you'll need a bit more umph than just a short 5wt.  I've always found that for these purposes you need a bit more on the bottom end and just enough flex before the ferrule so rolling isn't such a pain and the whole contraption doesn't feel like the proverbial broomstick.  7 ft 9in is a good compromise for length, I think.  Here's a taper of my own, although I have to say I started with a Holbrook 197, took a long look over at Dickerson, made a test blank, taped some guides to it, not happy, sanded it all over the place, built another to these specs, was completely delighted at the combination of guts and finesse of the thing, tripped over a tangle of vines last summer and broke the only tip I'd made.  Blamed it on my daughter.  To me, it's quite fast but breaks just right in the right places, rolls beautifully and 60 feet is no problem whatsoever.  And no wimpy tip to worry over.  I call it the Copperhead.  I played with 5 through 7 weight DT lines and liked the 6wt best.  (The 5 was just too light, but the 7 was almost a toss-up to the 6 and would certainly do as well.)  Going to make another down the road here, especially for the local smallies.  If you go to Hexrod where it says Library, type in "Copperhead 7962" and it should come up and you can look at the stress graph and all that.  Here's the taper, maybe you or someone else can use it or improve on it:

 0   .076
 5   .090
10  .108
15 . 124
20  .140
25  .156
30  .172
35  .186
40  .200
45  .214
50  .226
55  .238
60  .256
65  .272
70  .288
75  .308
80  .330
85 . 330
90  .330
93  .330

Takes a 14 ferrule.  Hope this helps.  (Bob Brockett)

Well with all the great suggestions that I took into consideration I decided that I liked the Payne 102, but in a three piece after an adjustment with the Hexrod program.  It looks like a nice rod on the charts and some very high marks from members on the list.  The difficult part of this was not knowing who will end up with the rod.  I just wanted to make something that would have the best chance to make someone a very happy raffle winner.  Now I just have to hold up my end and get the forms set.  (Mike Monsos)

When I made a few rods for fund raisers here in Australia, I was bedevilled by the same concerns that you faced - will the winner like the rod? Will I make a fast, stiff rod in case it gets won by a graphite man, or will build a PHY on the off chance that the winner is a person of some skill and discrimination?

In the end I settled on what is still my policy.  I build the rod that I think I build best, and the one that I personally like to cast; I give it all I've got in terms of skill and finish, and the winner can either like it or lump it. After all, he's getting a $5 rod when all is said and done.

The first one was won by a bloke who no longer fishes, and when he did he was a plastic man, and as far as I know it has never been out of its tube.  The second rod was won by a good fisherman, also a plastic fanatic, but he decided he liked the rod; then came back to me to see if I would take it back and build him a heavier rod.  This was an amazement to me - here was this bloke who has got a $1500 rod for $5 and wants to get one custom built for no extra money!  The third rod was won by a bloke who loves it, uses the hell out of it, and who has probably sold ten more for me on account of his lavish praise, apart from the couple of extra rods he has bought for himself.

The rods were all a slight variation on the Payne 101 as detailed by Dennis Higham - a bit larger at the butt, and a step-down ferrule.  (Peter McKean)