COMPONENTS DETAIL
Our methods, processes, and materials are unparalleled, setting us apart from the competition. Take an in-depth look at our innovative designs and processes and see how we deliver Gatti Performance!
OUR BLANKS
are made at our shop in Italy. Making a blank that is light, strong, and responsive is a challenge. Achieving this and having feel and sensitivity is something else entirely—and it is not achieved by chance. It takes ambitious engineering, advanced new materials, and innovative processes.
We undertook this challenge over 40 years ago. Our goal was to create a single, foundational platform that met all our performance criteria without compromise, regardless of cost. This platform needed to embody:
1. Strength and Durability: Ensure consistent, non-degrading mechanical performance over the rod's lifetime.
2. Modifiable Mechanical Attributes: Ability to create different performance characteristics within a unified single design platform.
3. Scalability: The platform could be used across all line weights without compromising performance or durability.
4. Low-Mass: Minimize material usage to reduce mass and weight, enhancing micro-vibration transmission and sensitivity.
5. Thin-Wall: Eliminate variations in wall thickness and voids within the composite to create torsional stability and eliminate recovery oscillation.
Early on we realized that meeting our criteria required advanced materials and processes that were unavailable to us. Consequently, we created these innovations ourselves. Never deterred we exposedchallenges, thought innovatively, and meet our advanced performance goals.
Our process is proprietary and not publicly shared. We can reveal some details. Our advanced composite fabrics are cutting-edge. We blend Hy-Bor/Graphite filaments with a unique weave and fiber count, producing a high-modulus, high-strain-rate material that is not brittle. Developed in collaboration with Kordsa SA in Europe, this hybrid composite fabric (pre-preg) enables us to modify performance characteristics with unlimited flexibility, while retaining robust, practical durability. This advanced material is available to no one else—it is exclusively ours.
Our advanced tapers, creates progressive, fluid-like axial loading and energy release from the butt to the tip of the rod. Our unique multi-directional layups allow us to precisely tailor performance characteristics without adding other materials, avoiding added mass and weight. Our exclusive epoxy cures at higher temperatures and under vacuum to eliminate voids in the composite. This unique process ensures our blanks have a thin, consistent, precise wall thickness with no spine. The uniform wall thickness eliminates adverse effects from unstable radial loading or twisting. This provides unparalleled torsional stability, ensuring consistent, repeatable casts, superior line control, and pinpoint accuracy—all without the additional mass and weight of web-encasement materials.
Our Low-Mass Thin-Wall design minimizes recovery oscillation and transmits micro-vibrations better, resulting in the superior feel and sensitivity Gatti rods are known for. This core design is used across all models and weights. The result is an incredibly lightweight, durable, accurate casting, and sensitive fly rod with unsurpassed tailored performance.
For more details, please follow the link:
https://composite.kordsa.com/en/default.aspx
GATTI
PERFORMANCE SPACING (GPS)
Physics offers a simple example of energy conversion to power: a Ferrari racing engine with fuel is a tremendous source of energy. Unless this energy is converted into power, there is no movement and therefore no legendary race car.
When casting, a Gatti rod stores a tremendous amount of energy. This energy is useless until it is converted to power, creating movement. The time it takes to convert this energy is critical; the faster the transfer, the more power is produced.
Each guide on a Gatti fly rod creates a 90-degree energy load on the blank during casting or when playing fish. We engineer the number and position of the guides to maximize this energy conversion. The result: the conversion is FAST, VERY FAST.
Fast energy conversion makes Gatti rods responsive and quick. This is why mending and lifting the line is effortless and why our rods are legendary for ripping line off the water and throwing a forward cast in any direction without false casts. This faster conversion delivers quick static recovery and virtually eliminates post-cast rod oscillation. (adverse rod movement after the cast, seen in poorly designed rods)
Our design, combined with patented guides, shoots line longer distances because the fly line is better contained and suspended in line, minimizing the adverse effects of wind and gravity. GPS exploits more load energy over the entire length of the rod for increased power when double hauling line for longer casts and increased lift ability when turning and playing bigger game fish. We mean GPS when we say, Gatti Fly Rods look “different because they are different”. When you cast and play fish, the enhanced GPS performance is a game-changing advantage.
OUR REEL SEAT
was designed from scratch. They’re precision-machined using structural-grade 6061-T6 aluminum tubing and billet-cut aluminum end caps, hoods, and shoes. Dual locking nuts are cut from corrosion-resistant Grade 7 Titanium-Palladium alloy for outstanding durability. Internal and external thread clearances are precisely cut to deliver washer-less mechanical engagement. This design gives our reel seats a smooth, clean, lubricated feel and ensures solid security when installing the reel on your rod. Every reel seat features a Cerakote finish in Clear or BluBlack for unmatched protection, durability, and lasting performance.
Why Cerakote? 6061-T6 aluminum is a robust alloy well-suited for a reel seat, but it is prone to corrosion if untreated. The metal treatment gives the reel seat its performance and durability. To ensure this, we need:
- Impact and abrasion resistance
- Corrosion resistance
- Dry-lubricity thread engagement
Cerakote delivers unmatched durability, corrosion resistance, and sustainability. Unlike anodizing, Cerakote is an advanced, ultra-durable thin-film ceramic coating engineered for harsh, high-wear environments such as military firearms and precision racing engine parts. Cerakote is 8 times more scratch-resistant and 12 to 23 times more salt corrosion-resistant than any anodized product, including mil-spec III. Non-toxic, clean, sustainable, and both EPA- and RoHS-certified, Cerakote is the environmentally responsible choice at Gatti. See testing videos for proven results.
For more details follow links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8BQ40MVd-c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZOgA7ANIcc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL_bXx_qtfo
OUR WOOD INSERTS
showcase our commitment to craftsmanship in art. We source exotic burl wood worldwide and handcraft each insert to heirloom quality.
Each Gatti reel seat insert starts as a whole burl root ball, then is skillfully cut into small blocks, accenting grain complexity, shade, and color in their raw state. These selected pieces are stabilized, lathe-turned, hand-sanded, and then finished to perfection with a waterproof, clear epoxy.
We conduct a final evaluation to achieve the best visual aesthetics with the rod blank and wrap colors. Only 10% of the original blocks make the final selection for a Gatti Fly Rod, underscoring our commitment to beauty and quality. Our wood is beautiful!
OUR GRIPS
are ergonomically designed and built for durability and sustainability. Gatti grips are precision-machined and hand-sanded from solid blocks of material. Unlike traditional glued cork ring grips, our grips providesuperior durability and consistency.
At Gatti, we prioritize sustainability. We use proprietary agglomerated cork, a sustainable product made from high-grade Portuguese cork aggregates blended with organic polymers. The material is nearly weight-neutral and delivers consistent density, color, and feel. Unlike traditional cork, Gatti grips have no filler putty and can be easily cleaned to look like new, without risk of damaging the grip.
High-density rubberized cork in our grip butts increases durability where needed. This design enables precise cutting of the inlet for our reel seat, securely centering it with the rod blank. The solid structure better transmits micro-vibrations, enhancing Gatti's feel and sensitivity.
Our fighting butts are not just unique; they are performance-designed. Engineered at an optimal angle, they provide a larger contact area on the torso, reducing uncomfortable dig-in when fighting larger game fish. They also give our rods an unmistakable look.
OUR RUNNING GUIDES
embody our commitment to advanced design and materials. Made by Mike McCoy of Snake Brand Guides, they are the most advanced running guides available. We worked with Mike on the patented ECOated single-foot and Universal guides. Both are crafted from 17-7PH stainless steel wire tempered to 64 Rockwell hardness. Their low-profile helical design reduces fly-line friction. The perfectly aligned feet, with a concave radius and taper, provide a superior gap-free fit to our blanks.
ECOating is a proprietary, sustainable plating certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS). It is harder than nickel-chrome plating and avoids the hazardous waste generated by traditional nickel-chrome plating. These advanced guides deliver the performance, innovation, and environmental responsibility that Gatti customers expect.
OUR STRIPPING GUIDES
are the only components of a Gatti Fly Rod that are not manufactured in the U.S., because unfortunately, none are made domestically.
We evaluated stripping guides from seven leading manufacturers. Our results led us to one guide meeting both our performance and environmental criteria. Fuji Tackle, a family-owned company in Shizuoka, Japan, founded in 1938, makes the KW Titanium / Torzite stripping guides we selected. Their design relies on leading-edge technology, setting them apart. Like our rods, "they look different because they are different." Made from a proprietary titanium alloy, they offer unmatched performance, strength, and corrosion resistance.
They are stamped, not welded. This means there's no heat to alter metal properties or create brittle spots. They are secure and rigid with no flexibility. The frame legs are concave for extra strength, making them the strongest titanium guide available. The patented forward cant design virtually eliminates line binding when shooting line. The Torzite ring insert is a proprietary ceramic with a Mohs hardness rating of 9.4—only diamond is harder, yet the ring is not brittle. The Torzite ring is wider and flatter, with less mass, making it 40% lighter. The ring is deeply pressed and fully sealed with epoxy, protecting it from impacts and preventing separation from the frame, a problem with flexible guides. Fuji guides are produced under Ministry of Environment oversight, ensuring an environmentally safe process that we promote and require.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aZ2RfNxvrE
(Ring Impact Strength)
https://www.fujitackle.it/en/corporate.html
(Fuji Environmental Commitment)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCpbB4v6e3I
(Competitor Flexible Guides)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ_e-Ci4cns
(Flexible Guide Repair Tutorial)
OUR HOOK KEEPER
Like all Gatti components, the hook keeper is thoughtfully designed and positioned for a specific purpose. Most anglers prefer to stow about 12 feet of leader and line when moving to a new fishing spot. This keeps the leader out of the rod guides and leaves the fly line through the tip-top, preventing crimping the mono leader. This allows anglers to avoid straightening the leader before the next cast. Many typically attach the fly to a running guide after looping the leader around the reel. We place our hook keeper roughly 30" to 35" from the grip, on top of the rod and opposite the guides, for optimal convenience and functionality.
Our hook keeper securely stores the hook, with the sharp end facing away from the rod. This prevents the hook from scratching or scoring the rod blank, which could cause catastrophic fly rod failure.
By placing the keeper one-third of the way up the rod from the butt, we ensure you have enough line out. Your leader doesn't get bent or crimped. The keeper is positioned away from the grip, where some anglers may rest their fingers on the blank to sense "takes." It also stays out of the way when not in use. We have thoroughly tested this position, and it is proven effective.
The three most common reasons a fly rod breaks while angling are:
1) Weak spot in the blank due to void(s) within the composite. (Gatti Rods do not have voids)
2) Striking the rod with the fly (e.g., bead head) while casting, creating microfractures.
3) Hook scratching that scores the rod blank, creating a fracture point, much like when cutting glass with a glass cutter.
OUR ROD TUBES
are made from a unique carbon fiber and fiberglass composite, which makes them a fraction of the weight of an aluminum tube—exceptionally light and durable, yet not brittle. The end caps and threaded neck are machined from the same 6061-T6 aluminum as our reel seats, ensuring the same thread engagement and smooth feel.
OUR ROD SOCKS
They are handmade in Italy from 4oz sustainable cotton canvas sheeting, and dyed and screened with plant-based material.
Overview of Gatti Fly Rods process and production
position vs. competition.
1) Gatti designed, engineered, and tested every component of a Gatti fly rod. Everything is ours.
2) Our proprietary materials and processes are unsurpassed and available to no others.
3) We have complete quality control of every component we use to make our rods.
4) We have environmental oversight with our component manufacturers as they are in the United States.
5) We are EPA and RoHS-compliant in every aspect of our operations. Fostering our commitment to environmental stewardship.
