The JAY FAIR ROD STORY

When Jay began fishing Lakes Davis and Eagle in north eastern California he came from a traditional fly fishing back ground. As he began to explore trolling with flies he continued to use fly rods, reels and lines. At Eagle Lake he found a floating line with a sink tip presented the fly well in water 5’ to 15’ deep which defined the two north basins of the lake. This was the tackle originally used in his growing guide business. What he found with most of his guide customers was that they were not used to left hand, single action fly reels and 9 foot rods. When a trout ran towards the boat the single action reel was not fast enough to take up the slack. The traditional 9’ rod also was cumbersome when fished in a small boat.

Jay went on to develop a tackle system that his clients could readily use. A sink tip fly line with its tapered profile was too bulky to fit on a conventional multiplying level wind reel. He took the thinner, running/floating fly line, added half a color of lead core line as the sink tip then put monofilament as a leader to the fly. The next step was to find a reel that was modest size that held this line with a little extra room for some backing. What he settled on was the Abu Garcia, Ambassadeur 6500 which was rated for 255 yards of 17# mono.

Jay had a long standing relationship with the Powell Rod Company in Chico California. Jay approached Press Powell to build a fly trolling rod based on a fly rod blank that had a handle and guides for a conventional trolling reel and his sink tip line. Ultimately they settled on a 6 weight rod blank cut down to 7’ long. This rod was built in small production runs at the Powell Rod Company in Chico.

After the passing of Jay and his son/business partner Glen, I acquired the rights to the Jay Fair Trolling Fly brand. The last two of the original Jay Fair Rods were in the Sierra Stream & Mountain Fly Shop in Chico. I purchased those rods and started fishing with one of them. Due to the demand for Jay’s flies and lines I decided to try and bring the rods back.

The Powell Rod Company had been sold and moved out of Chico many years ago. An industry search led me to Batson Enterprises in Sequim, Washington, at the top of the Olympic Peninsula. Batson is the largest American distributer of rod building blanks, guides, handles and any parts to manufacture fishing rods.

I made an appointment and drove up to Sequim to see Kerry Batson. My requirements for the Jay Fair rod was the same action and guide size but I wanted a 3 piece rod that could be mailed in a USPS priority box. Shipping on a 2 piece, 7’ rod was $30.00 to Southern CA. A three piece rod shipped for $8.00, and could be carry on luggage on a plane.

Kerry recommended the top 3 pieces of a 4 piece fly rod blank. The process started by putting the original rod onto a deflection board with a 4 ounce weight on the tip to established the power curve. Kerry traced the rod’s curve onto the grid of the deflection board. We started with a 4 weight rod on the board and it was way too soft an action. We progressed up through the fly rod weights. Finally we came to a 9 weight blank and it matched the power curve of the Jay Fair rod exactly.

Other unique features to the Jay Fair Rods include over sized guides and tip top to reduce the icing of guides in late fall on Eagle Lake. When the air temps drop into the teens on fall mornings, normal size guides freeze up solid. The over size guides allow the line to still pass through with ice on them. Also the top has an inch or so of chartreuse thread to make it more noticeable when the rod is in a rod holder.

Kerry changed the guide spacing from the original and added a trigger grip to the handle to help with hanging on to the rod with a gloved hand. These were minor adjustments to the original that made the rod a better trolling tool. In a conversation with a former Powell Rod employee, Jay did not want the trigger grip so that the rod could be turned over and used as a spinning rod.

After making a material list of the rod components Kerry offered to put me in touch with a factory in China to manufacture the rods. I said no, I want a rod made in the USA even if the cost was substantially more. He then referred me to an independent rod builder in the Puget Sound area. The cost was high but the product is excellent. I only had a 15 rod production run made to start. If there is demand, into the future I will have another series made.

This is not a cheap rod!! Yes there are less expensive imported rods that will catch fish trolling with flies. For the angler that wants the original action of the rods that Jay developed, these rods are still available.

JON BAIOCCHI’s Rod Review:

Denis,

I fished your new rod today and here are the results of the test. Smoother release of the line due to the guide placement and the ceramic guides itself. Good overall action, felt a tad heavier than the original Jay Fair rod, but no hindrance at all. Fought large trout well, good feel while pumping the rod while trolling too.

My conclusion - the rod is a winner and the perfect tool for the Jay Fair trolling system

Take care, talk soon. - Jon

JON BAIOCCHI, 1965 - 2021

Jon was mentored by Jay Fair when he began his fly fishing guide business in the late 1990’s. Jay taught Jon many of his lake fly fishing tactics on Lake Davis CA. Jay also taught Jon how to troll flies. Primarily a fly casting guide on rivers, he also guided fly fishers on Lake Davis. When the bite was tough he brought out Jay’s trolling gear and introduced many confirmed fly anglers to the “Dark Side”, trolling. Jon was also a fly tier. He introduced me to the “down sized” #8 Jay Fair Trolling Flies. After years of experimentation, he found that on Lake Davis a smaller fly out fished the full sized #4. Jon tied some of his lake fly patterns for me that I hope to add to my web site someday in the future.

Jon passed away in April 2021 while guiding fly clients on the Middle Fork of the Feather River, in the Sierra Nevada mountains. He had many friends, my son and I among them. He will be missed.