ST4 Taper Update

The ST4 taper was the favorite of the SRG 2008 taper evaluation. Here's a link to the taper evaluation post if you haven't read it yet. I'm finishing up a 7ft version of the taper this month. It'll be going to friends in Montana along with a 7ft ST2. The ST4 will probably be a 4wt and the ST2 a 3wt. But I won't know for sure until I lawn cast them. I received a note from Larry Swearingen a few days ago. He has just finished a 7 1/2 ft ST4. With his permission, his comments are included below. If anyone else has made an ST4, I'm interested in your comments...good or bad. Send me a note with the "contact me" link in the upper right hand frame of the blog. Here are Larry's comments:

Hello David,

I went to SRG this year and participated in the Rod Evaluation of your 3 tapers. I was impressed enough with the ST-4 that I started making it as soon as I got home to Fort Wayne. I've been fishing a lot of small stillwater lakes and ponds this year. I've been using mostly 8 1/2 ft for 6 or 7 wt rods for the bass, bluegill and pike. Or a 8 1/2 ft for a light 6wt for water that has no pike and the bass are unlikely to get above 18". I've found that short casts, less than 30ft, don't work that well on still water for these fish. I'm usually firing out 50 ft plus with small streamers and nymphs. I will get takes from as far as I can cast in to around 20-25 ft. From there on in to the rod tip there isn't much action for some reason. I'm usually in a float tube so that may have something to do with it.

Your ST-4 taper impressed me. I thought that, similar to Troy's notion that the ST-2 taper might work better with a 4 wt, that the ST-4 might work better with a 6 wt. I just got the last finish coat on the rod last night and went out an hour ago to test cast the new rod. I tried a 5 wt line and it cast pretty much as I remembered. It doesn't respond much until you get 30+ ft out and then it starts to come alive. That would work for my intended usage assuming I don't try to throw too large a streamer. [Something I do occasionally :>)]

Then I tried a DT 6 on it. I like the 6 wt better. The rod starts feeling better earlier with a 6wt than a 5wt. That seems pretty obvious. I haven't really put the rod through it's paces yet as it's 25°, snowing lightly and blowing 10-15mph when I was out back casting it. But this something more to think about. All the rods have the same overall weight. Yet the ST-2 casts better with a 4 wt. and the ST-4 casts better with a 6wt. At least to me. You might try yours and see what you think.

I think this is what V. Marinaro was talking about with his "Convex" tapers. In other words, You can make a taper lighter in weight with a "Convex" profile for the same line weight. I also made two different tip tapers for the ST-4. The "Light tip" was per your original numbers at 0.064" for a 4/64 tip top. I wanted to see what affect thickening up the last 5" of tip would have on the rod action so I made the taper at 0.078" (5/64 tip top). Haven't had a chance to really compare the two yet. I'm coming down to the Norfork area at the end of Feb. to visit my mother so maybe I'll get a chance to fish it then and see.