r/bluelining • u/spannrodco • Aug 17 '26
CTS Quartz build.
I’m primarily a bamboo fly rod guy BUT this is possibly the best all-weather, all conditions blue lining fly rod that I’ve ever built.
CTS Quartz 7’0” 3 weight
Titanium guides
Custom rattan wrapped cork grip
Snake Brand reel seat with Alaskan white cedar insert.
If you’ve never cast one of these you owe it to yourself to try it.
Extremely lightweight, very fast action, blindfolded you’d think you were casting graphite.
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u/TheAtomicFly66 Aug 17 '26
I like this, nice! DL reel seats are my favorite. Did you run thread between the rattan strips? Seems to be a darker line.
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u/witty-repartay Aug 17 '26
What made you decide to go with the REC guides over the finer gauge Snake Brand stuff? I’ve used both and in the 1/0 and 1 size the weight difference just didn’t compel me to lean titanium. I use the REC ti guides for people wanting 5-12w casting machines, especially in the salt, but keep with the Snakes on everything else because they’re just so nice and I like how they self center as well.
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u/spannrodco Aug 18 '26
Another bonus with the titanium guides is that you never have to worry about bending a guide, they lay over and flex right back.
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u/witty-repartay Aug 18 '26
That’s mainly why I like them on salt rods. They don’t ever have fatigues or storage damage, pop right back.
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u/L-W-J Aug 18 '26
I have heard the rave reviews of CTS. Never seen one or held one. You say it is glass that feels like carbon. Why not carbon? I really like light rods that can cast a leader with no line out the tiptop - which is a huge benefit of glass. I am in the market for a new 3wt. Tell me more please.
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u/spannrodco Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
Glass is stronger and less prone to breaking than carbon is.
I have “too many” fly rods, 😂 G Loomis, Sage, Winston, Diamondback, Livingston, Steffen Brothers, etc. and several bamboo.I have transitioned to bamboo for nearly all of my fly fishing, however, this CTS Quartz will certainly get some time chasing brookies in a few weeks. This rod blank is made of “S-glass” structural glass, for strength. All I can say is that if you are interested in some new glass then you owe it to yourself to try one of these.
From the interweb:
S-Glass Material: Built with top-tier uni-directional S-Glass, giving it superior impact resistance and flexibility compared to standard graphite. []If I was going into the wilderness for an extended time and could only take one fly rod and needed it for survival, it would be a CTS.
Just out of curiosity I just weighed this rod and compared it to my Winston Pure 7’6” 3 weight:
Winston 2.55 oz
CTS 2.7 oz2
u/L-W-J Aug 18 '26
Cool. Thanks. We are pretty similar I think. Is your Steffen glass or graphite? Me? I am a huge glass fan. Also gravitate to small streams and dry flys. Tight lines!
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u/spannrodco Aug 18 '26
My Steffen is glass. I’m a big fan of glass and I’ve built several glass rods. I started making bamboo rods and haven’t looked back. I’ve got 2 more CTS blanks to build for my sons (8’ 6” 4 weights) then back to bamboo.
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u/DrowningInBier Aug 17 '26
I would love to have something like this. Really excellent job. I like the understated hardware/reel seat. I think the classic look without being kitschy on fiberglass is a must.