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Mike McFarland is the founder of the McFarland Rod Company, based in Pennsylvania in the US.. He grew up fly fishing the famous limestone steams of central Pennsylvania. Chasing these selective trout helped hone his fishing and casting skills Mike is a 4 time winner of the Hardy Cup and has over 30 years experience designing and building fly rods. McFarland’s work is well known across the globe and his rods are regarded by many as the finest ever made. We’re thrilled to be working with him here at Alternative Tackle.
“The Spruce Creek was the first McFarland glass rod produced. The Spruce Creek feels like a glass rod should feel. They are soft, smooth, and deep flexing with the perfect balance of power from tip to butt. The Spruce Creek is ideal for everything from swinging soft hackles to throwing streamers. I have so many Spruce Creek tapers that I’ve worked out over the years that the possibilities are almost endless.”
“There’s a lot of confusion associated with parabolic rods. This is probably because there’s no “real” definition of the term as it relates to fly rods. The name goes back to the 1930s with rods originally designed by Jim Payne and John Alden Knight and later with Charles Ritz. In the most basic terms you can think of a parabolic rod as having a more powerful tip and mid combined with a softer butt section. This powerful upper section taps into the rod’s butt section more quickly allowing the caster to utilize the butt section through a wider range of casting distances. This generates a lot of power and line speed in the hands of a competent caster.
My parabolic glass rods have a less drastic parabolic taper than many of the early cane rods and are more similar to some of the great rods made by Paul Young. The Spruce Creek Parabolic rods offer a unique feel and a true parabolic action, but with a refined taper that enhances line feel and produces a much easier casting rod. These are smooth casting, deep loading, deceivingly powerful rods that will make long casts with very little caster input.”
“The lightest, most responsive glass rods ever made.
Rolled with a unique blend of E-glass and S-glass, the GTX rods feature a highly evolved fast action and a powerful taper that results in an extremely lightweight rod with a quick recovery. GTX rods are lighter in the hand (the lightest on the market) while still retaining the wonderful feel and smoothness of a glass rod. The GTX rods make it easy to form beautiful loops and punch out long, pinpoint accurate casts without sacrificing close range performance. From the moment they were released, the GTX rods have become an instant favorite of nearly everyone who casts them. All GTX series blank are 4 piece with tip over butt ferrules and are available in natural clear glass, black glass, or painted autumn glow or spring green.
Natural or black glass. Custom colours available.”
“Perpetual: Neverending; continuing or enduring forever
Perpetual Power, Perpetual Durability, Perpetual Fun
Available in two different versions for freshwater or saltwater/big game, these rods are 100% glass construction, but rolled with a unique blend of both E-glass and S-glass utilizing high-tech, ultra thin pre-pregs. These unique materials, combined with perfectly designed tapers, produce a very lightweight and sensitive rod with a quick recovery speed.
Perpetual Trout Rods
These rods have a slightly faster action than the Spruce Creek, but like all McFarland rods, still have a deep bend and superior smoothness and line feel. Perpetual rods produce perfectly formed loops and have the reserve power for longer casts if needed. I give these rods a dual line rating. People who like a slightly faster action and use a more aggressive casting stroke will prefer the lighter rating. By jumping up to the second rating, the Perpetual rods bend similarly to the Spruce Creek but with a lighter in the hand feel.
The lighter, thinner pre-preg of the Perpetual is ideal for long light-line rods. This allows me to make a 3wt glass rod approaching 9’ in length that is responsive, quick recovering, and still light in the hand. Perpetual rods are available in natural clear glass and beautiful and glowing translucent brown or spring green.
Perpetual Heavy Weights (Lines 8-14)
As the modern pioneer in heavyweight glass rods I’ve been committed to pushing the envelope and crushing the barriers that for years were associated with glass rods. The more I experimented the more I realized that there is absolutely no truth to the idea that glass is “only good for trout rods under 8 feet”. The Perpetual rods in the heavier line weights are the ultimate tool for the biggest, toughest fish on the planet. Perpetual rods are quick loading, powerful, still light in the hand, and nothing fights big fish as well. Almost all modern graphite rods in heavier line weights are overly stiff and “lock up” 6 feet or more from your hand giving the leverage to the fish and causing excess strain on your wrist. The deep bend of the Perpetual instantly reverts the leverage advantage to the angler and allows you to fight the fish from the most powerful part of the rod. These rods are also much more enjoyable to cast than stiff graphite rods. Add in unmatched durability and you have the absolute ultimate big game rod.”
“The Tailwind features a highly refined fast recovering, yet deep flexing action that is unlike any other rod available. The Tailwind is remarkably light in the hand (71 grams for the 5wt), quick loading and powerful (loads at 10 feet but will throw 80 feet plus with ease) and has unmatched line feel. The Tailwind is such a revolutionary rod that when people first cast it they often say something like, “That’s a really nice medium action rod, but I need a faster action to build line speed and cast distance”. Then, as they stretch out more line, their faces light up as they feel the rod respond perfectly, continue to push line and build line speed, and easily make longer casts than they ever have before….AND WITH LESS EFFORT!
The key to the Tailwind’s revolutionary performance is a highly evolved graphite pre-preg coupled with a radical approach to taper design. Additionally, the McFarland Transition Ferrule System eliminates dead spots through the ferrules. The result is a combination of line feel, lightness, and line speed never before experienced. Since its debut a few years ago, the Tailwind has been an instant favorite of experienced guides and flyfishers worldwide. In addition to superior performance, the Tailwind’s finish work, cork, and presentation grade components far exceed anything available on a production rod.”
THE rod for the serious technical trout fisherman.
I roll the Emerger blanks with a blend of low and medium modulus graphite to produce an ultra-smooth casting rod with incredible line feel. These rods are reminiscent of some of the early graphite rods produced before the modulus race and casting pond hero phase took off, but with an advanced resin system and a unique material layup that reduces weight and enhances sensitivity. By continually tweaking designs over the past 15 years I’ve come up with series of rods that are the ultimate trout fishing tool in the hands of an experienced angler. The Emerger is light in the hand and quick loading, but with enough power to make pin point presentations at longer distances.
The Emerger uses the internal or spigot version of the McFarland Transition Ferrule and a classic unsnaded natural finish blank for a timeless old school look. Like all McFarland rods, the Emerger features unmatched finish work and the finest components including my own reel seat design with highly figured wood inserts, genuine Snake Brand guides, and cork work that is far superior to any mass produced rod.
With a perfectly balanced, super smooth medium action, the Emerger excels at precise casts and perfect presentations in the 15-60 foot range.”
Alternative Tackle will keep a varied stock McFarland‘s rods, some standard and some specially commissioned “Specials”.
To find out what is currently available, simply get in touch…
