Reels
Galvan 2.75 Traditional

Orvis Vortex Reel

Tibor Light-Tailwater

Tibor Saltwater Reels

Rods
Winston WT TMF

Fran Betters Custom
- 9' 5wt. High Mod.

Fran Betters Custom

Summer, 2004

My Christmas present in 2003 was a bit unexpected, even though I ordered it myself. My wife had remembered me talking about a rod that my friend had gotten from Fran Betters, perhaps best-known for developing probably the single-most productive dry fly ever conceived, the Ausable Wulff, is also a custom rod builder. His shop, The Adirondack Sport Shop is on the Ausable River in Wilmington, New York, high in the Adirondacks.

What Fran made me was a 9' 5wt 2-piece that was to be my "western" rod, but, the darn thing feels so great, I use it more than half the time I'm fishing my small trout streams near home. It is by far and away my favorite rod in my small collection of trout rods. About the only time I don't use it is when I know that I am going to be slinging TINY dry flies, from 18-24s. Even then, I use it when going subsurface with a small bead-head and a size 26 Al's Rat since it's easier to mend and roll cast than my other rods. I've used this rod successfully against the wary trout of the Little Lehigh (though I WAS using 8x tippet).

NOTE: February, 2006
Though I love this rod's action, handle, styling, and complete fish-ability, I can no longer recommend Betters Custom Rods. I broke the butt section of this rod in January of 2005, and after being assured by Fran that I'd have the rod back by mid- to late-April, I didn't get it back until mid November. That wouldn't have been an issue had he been honest up front, but I was fed lie after lie for over 6 months. Once I received the rod back, the handle was different in both size and color, and the reel seat was installed at an offset angle to the rod guides. If you want a rod that is going to cast like this, check out G. Loomis' GLX series.