I've written extensively about my
forbidden love of the old Diamondback-designed Diamondglass fiberglass fly rods, and because of that I receive a fair number of emails asking if the the new,
Cortland-derived Diamondback Fiberglass rod series are as good as the originals, which
Cortland reintroduced some time ago.
Which, never having cast the new rods, is a question I can't answer.
The "old" three-piece Diamondglass rods were wildly smooth and offered blood-pressure-raising levels of feedback to the caster, though they weren't all that much fun in high winds.
I own the 8' 5wt, 8.5' 4wt, and 7' 3wt, and if any one of them broke I'd probably say things you're not supposed to say in front of your innocent, impressionable children.
When Cortland relaunched the line -- which are now blue instead of black and (I believe) made overseas -- I
assumed they were the same tapers. Which may have been a mistake. In fact, an admittedly secondhand flyshop rumor is that the rods
aren't the same.
Potentially disappointing, especially since I had my eyes on the 8' 4wt 3-pc (which was a slightly-too-strong 2-pc rod in the former Diamondglass incarnation).
So instead of wondering, I'm crowdsourcing the question:
Are the new Cortland-derived fiberglass fly rods the same tapers as the original Diamondback series? If not, are they close? Are they as good?
I'm looking for someone who has experience with both rod lines. Here are the rules:
- Reps and fly shop employees can post anonymously (just use "anonymous" for a name and make up an email address). I'll pull any post that looks like sabotage.
- Idle speculation is OK, though again, any unguided torpedoes launched in Cortland's direction will be detonated and removed
- If you're tempted to say the new rods are faster but "better" -- let us know your own rod preferences so we can take that into account.
See you powering the rumor mill, Tom Chandler.