Grandpa,

I'm still using a 1 piece 9 foot fiberglass rod that Mike Chamberlin talked me into building 20 or so years ago. Just can't seem to justify buying a newer rod to use in a downrigger as this fiberglass one works just perfect.

This is from a guy who's also a Sage flyrod gearmongerer and has about 10 of them.

Only thing I wish I'd done is put a ferrule in the rod. The one piece aspect is a pain in the but at times.

Now, I did buy an E-glass rod earlier this year for downriggers but it's still leaning in a corner in the gun room/fishing room/junk room. That fiberglass rod just has memories and is still going strong. I did build it with hypalon grips.