small stream fishing

[nympher1]

Hi fello fly flingers. I'm looking at a short fiberglass rod for fishing these small Pa class A wild trout streams for itty bitty wild browns. What would be a really nice reel to put on say a scott F series 2 wt.?

 

[Maurice]

Nympher1,

I would recommend any old click and pawl since you wont be needing drag. No need to mortgage the house over it either.There is a nice one in the cabellas bargain bin for like $8 in the gear forum.

I will move this post to the general forum where it will get more attention.

Welcome to the site.


Maurice

 

[geebee]

look for reels on ebay - i'd suggest that something would last - orvis, pfleuger, hardy, redington.

 

[outsider]

Not to change the subject of the thread, but why a Scott rod? Did you cast them? There are a lot of good glass rod makers out there, including Kettle Creek Tackle Shop (does not make the blanks). Phil has something like 25 models in stock. And you can cast them all. IMHO, the Scott rods I played around with are WAY too soft for me.

This is just a suggestion, but you may want to look at what's out there before you buy. Cast several before you make a decision.

 

[nympher1]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Chooch]

Scott rods are not too soft for me, as outsider feels, but they are way too expensive for me. Don't get me wrong, they probably make one of the top three glass rods going today. But at almost $700, I can resist. There are a couple of good small scale rod builders that make rods just as nice as the Scott, one of the are from PA:

McFarland Rods

Steffen Brothers Flyrods

Not sure if you bought the rod yet but I would be wary of a 2 wt. I use a 6' 5wt on little mountain streams. Lowest I have is a 4 wt. You want a rod that loads quickly on those streams so you don't have to do a bunch of flase casting over the fish. Also better for roll casting. If there is a little breeze, forget about it.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Just rock it cheap and oldschool. Eagle Claw Featherlight 6'6" 4/5wt and slap a Martin 61 or something on it.

That's how I rock the small streams 'round PA.

 

[DavidFin]

Get a 3 wt: heavy enough to use a streamer, but still light enough to be really fun. I have a 7' 6" sage zxl. Its my favorite rod in my arsenal, and sometimes when I'm out with it I find myself dicking around, try trick shots, threading needles and such instead of fishing. If you get a rod with quicker action you'll have no reason to overload either, something that I find some people (including myself) have thought to try in order to cut the wind or fish a streamer.

 

[ratgunner]

What's wrong with graphite ?

 

[ezpickins]

Orvis has started making a click and pawl Battenkill again - I always liked my old Batttenkill click. Nice traditional styling and pretty lightweight in the smallest model.

It's not dirt cheap, but not as pricey as some others.

 

[PennKev]

I know this isn't really an answer to your question but....

Do yourself a favor and get at least a 3wt, preferably a 4wt.

Dinks are dinks, the joy of added "fight" perceived when landing a 4" fish on a 2wt is far outweighed by the frustration of turning over a bushy royal wulff in even a light breeze, or trying to pitch a small wooly bugger accurately more a couple yards in any conditions.

Get a 4wt. Believe it or not it is actually a line weight better suited for short, tight, close range casting than a 2wt or 3wt. Think about it for a moment. You are casting mostly leader with a few feet of fly line outside the tip of the rod. Which will better propel the leader? a length of 2wt, 3wt, or 4wt line? More mass and more energy transfer translates into easier more accurate casting.

Save the really light line rods for secondary small stream rig to be used in ideal conditions.

Kev

 

[springer1]

Just rock it cheap and oldschool. Eagle Claw Featherlight 6'6" 4/5wt and slap a Martin 61 or something on it.

+1

..... or as was suggested by another poster, a Kettle Creek "Riffle XXL" e-glass made by Phil Baldacchino here in PA. I can vouch for the RG-704B 7' 3-4wt. (& a Martin 61 too)

http://kettlecreektackleshop.com/MOUNTAIN%20STREAM-pg1-%282%29.pdf

 

[The_Sasquatch]

I want one of those Kettle Creek rods. Badly.

 

[caveman]

Fenwick FF 605 and a Heddon 310 sweet pair!

 

[Stogie26]

I have a cabelas cgt 5'9" 3wt for smaller streams. casts pretty well i think. there on sale right now. I also hear orvis is bringing back glass to their lineup. for a reel i use a medalist with dt line

 

[WildTigerTrout]

IMO the 2 weight is a specialized rig and not very versatile. I use mine mainly for fishing Tricos on several nearby limestoners. My favorite small stream rod is my Sage 7' 4 weight TXL. It is light but will handle any fly I may use on any brookie stream from nymphs to drys to streamers.

 

[Chaz]

Why does everyone think wild trout are small? THEY ARE NOT SMALL.
I hooked one just yesterday that destroyed my brand new yellow sally, and the only fish that ever bent a hook on me is still swimming in Fishing Creek in the narrows, wild trout are indeed large.
I have an 8 foot fiberglass rod.

 

[JackM]

Chaz wrote:
Why does everyone think wild trout are small? THEY ARE NOT SMALL.

They may not ALL be small, but most of them are for many of us.

 

[gfen]

nympher1 wrote:
Hi fello fly flingers. I'm looking at a short fiberglass rod for fishing these small Pa class A wild trout streams for itty bitty wild browns. What would be a really nice reel to put on say a scott F series 2 wt.?

I suppose that this depends on your idea of "small" streams.

Fiberglass line weights don't carry the same sort of oomph that a similar one does in graphite, the material itself is difference.

A 2wt 'glass rod is functionally useless, especially if you're talking about soemthing short, too. I own one of those Cabela's CGR 5'9" 3wts, and its nigh unusable, and you'd be far better off with a 7' graphite rod in a 2 or 3wt configuration.

There's also the Orvis Superfine full flexing graphite rods, if its all about bend.

Frankly, if its fiberglass you want, just find a rod that meets your length requirements, but is classed as a 5wt or even a 6wt.

There are some uncommon Fenwicks thaare 6' or less, every rod maker on the planet produced 7' rods.

I would not recommend an Eagle Claw featherlight, they're fun and all, perfectly competent, but they're not exactly what one would call a finesse stick. They are, however, cheap and a perfect example of the overall utility of a 7' 6wt.

If I were you, I'd find the $70 (or whatever it cost now) Quest 2 from LL Bean in the 6'6" 3wt size. Its cheap, its lines to a perfectly acceptable 4wt for lobbing flies with a little weight, and makes a perfect 3wt dry fly rod.

 

[Rolf]

"There's also the Orvis Superfine full flexing graphite rods".

Yep....................