Peter McVey

[@Dryflyphotography]

I met Peter McVey once, way back in the late 1990s, at his Corbett Lake Lodge. That was before I ever thought I'd own a bamboo rod, let alone a half dozen or more. Peter showed me one of the rods he had built. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, a treasure to dream about. I don't know much about McVey's rods and I think they have a good reputation but although not in the upper rung of bamboo rods they seem well made from afar. I think there was one at the bamboo gathering last summer but I don't recall anything about it. All that said, if anyone is hoping to own a McVey there is one currently on eBay, a one-tip 4/5 wt. If anyone on this board was quietly watching that auction, my apologies. Conversely, if anyone here sees this and wins the auction, I have first dibs on casting it next summer. Tight lines, Ron

 

[Tim Cottage]

I met Peter McVey once, way back in the late 1990s, at his Corbett Lake Lodge. That was before I ever thought I'd own a bamboo rod, let alone a half dozen or more. Peter showed me one of the rods he had built. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, a treasure to dream about. I don't know much about McVey's rods and I think they have a good reputation but although not in the upper rung of bamboo rods they seem well made from afar. I think there was one at the bamboo gathering last summer but I don't recall anything about it. All that said, if anyone is hoping to own a McVey there is one currently on eBay, a one-tip 4/5 wt. If anyone on this board was quietly watching that auction, my apologies. Conversely, if anyone here sees this and wins the auction, I have first dibs on casting it next summer. Tight lines, Ron

I've cast a few of Peter's rods and they struck me as being pretty stout, meaning pretty fast but a few rods spread over a few years are not nearly enough to characterize all of Peter's rods. YMMV

 

[Salmo_g]

I met Peter McVey through Harry Lemire decades ago. I have 3 of Peter's rods. An 8' 5 wt, 8'2" 6 wt, and 8 1/2' 7 wt. Easy casting beautiful rods. I guess you could say that I like McVey rods.

 

[@Dryflyphotography]

Tim, just a wild conjecture on my part, so take this with that in mind. But I think I heard that McVey’s rods were usually hollow built. I once ordered a blank from Dennis Stone and, thinking it was a great upgrade, had Dennis add “hollowing” to his build. When I got that blank I’ve never been more disappointed. Stiff and as lifeless as a broomstick. I did a lot of reading on hollowing and found some opinions that adding hollowing to an established taper significantly stiffened it. I chalked up the broomstick blank from Dennis to be due to that hollowing. I wonder if McVey rods were hollowed versions of standard established tapers?

 

[Ron McNeal]

Had the pleasure/honor to sit next to (read "lucky enough to") & talk (listen to, really) with Peter back on 7/11/2018 at Art Lindgren's talk in Bellingham at Western Washington's Wilson Library's Fly Fishing Collection. The sparkle in his eyes lit up the room:

 

[Bambooflyguy]

I don’t have one of his rods but……we fished Corbett lake 13 years…..I definitely drank my share + with Peter!!

 

[Salmo_g]

The McVey rods are hollow built, but not broomstick stiff in the slightest. Just lighter weight rod blanks. Nice medium action rods. Might be considered fast action among bamboo since so many bamboo rods are slower than a 7-year itch.

 

[Tim Cottage]

The McVey rods are hollow built, but not broomstick stiff in the slightest. Just lighter weight rod blanks. Nice medium action rods. Might be considered fast action among bamboo since so many bamboo rods are slower than a 7-year itch.

I'll be the first to admit that I prefer rods that are just a bit faster than a 7-year itch. Maybe a 5 3/4 or 6-year itch.

 

[@Dryflyphotography]

Foghat's Sloooww Ride! That's how I like most of my bamboo rods. Although I do have my limits. A sublimely slow 9' Leonard five weight ("Catskill style taper") was awesome on my lawn casting out to nearly 70', but drove me nuts actually fishing with it on the Fall River. I moved on from that one.

 

[Tim Cottage]

Tim, just a wild conjecture on my part, so take this with that in mind. But I think I heard that McVey’s rods were usually hollow built. I once ordered a blank from Dennis Stone and, thinking it was a great upgrade, had Dennis add “hollowing” to his build. When I got that blank I’ve never been more disappointed. Stiff and as lifeless as a broomstick. I did a lot of reading on hollowing and found some opinions that adding hollowing to an established taper significantly stiffened it. I chalked up the broomstick blank from Dennis to be due to that hollowing. I wonder if McVey rods were hollowed versions of standard established tapers?

Your hollowed blank from Dennis was understandably disappointing. You definitely can not just hollow a solid built taper without making significant dimensional changes and expect it to magically flex and feel like a lighter version of the original solid taper. Opinions about where and how much to make those changes are all over the map. But don't let this one experience and some opinions taint your view of hollow built rods. Just make sure the maker knows what he or she is doing.. I have four different hollowed rods that are all light and lively. 2 @ 8' , 1@ 8'3", 1@ 8'7".
At this point I would always choose hollow over solid on any rod 7'-7'6" or longer. Hollowing isn't just about reducing weight. Weight reduction is just a happy by product of changing the power to weight ratio throughout the rod.