Good Small Stream Rod

Foxgap239

Foxgap239

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Jun 29, 2011
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I'm fishing more and more small streams for brookies and loving it. My smallest rod is a 7.6 Scott and it is quite good but I was thinking of maybe going out and getting a nice 6.6 2wt or 3wt to fish those streams with. Do any of you have any advice or comments on the idea? Thanks.
 
This is total preference. But I prefer stout rods, more like 4 or 5 wts, and often load 6 wt line on them. I find it more effective, as the fish usually aren't drag shy nor do they scare easily from line splashes. The name of the game is (relative) distance and accuracy in tight places, as they do spook from a human form. And a very tight loop with virtually no backcast is very helpful, especially when you have brush or overhanging limbs to get under.

That said, a lot of people find lighter rods more enjoyable, even if its not more effective. And if that's your angle, by all means, have at it. For me, the light, delicate rods will remain as a tool for throwing tiny dry flies on more open streams, where they have some merit in the effectiveness category.

As for length. Most of my brookie work is done with a 7'6" rod, but there have been times when I wish I had a shorter rod. Use as long a rod as you can get away with, but not longer. The thickest of the thick places sometimes demand shorter rods. Not so much for the casting, as being really thick relegates you to a lot of bow and arrow, where longer rods are superior. But just being able to walk with the thing, yeah, short is often necessary.
 
If you're not already into fly rod building or know someone who assembles/wrap rods, Batson has a nice 6'6" 2wt RX7 blank for cheap.
I had a friend build one for me with a smallish cork grip, cork realseat and single foot recoil guides for under $65.
The rod cast very well (my opinion) and I now overline to a 3wt line which helps in giving me tighter loops for casting under overhanging vegetation.
 
I have several rods I like for fishing the little Brookie streams. I have a 7'6" St Croix Avid 2 weight, a G. Loomis GL3 6'6" 3 weight, and my favorite a Sage TXL 7' 4 weight. They all work fine and all catch fish. The Sage works the best for all-around because I can nymph and streamer fish with it. :) The ultra-light weight rods are VERY fun to fish with. What more can I say! Try one.
 
Dano, the Batson blank was the eaxct one I was looking at. But I didn't know Sage had a 7' 4 wt. I may need to consider that one too.
 
I have built a half dozen Batson 6'6" 2wts. and everybody loves them.

The kits can be found for like $70.
 
Rick,
Save your money and get the Batson. I swear you'll be happy.
Put the money you saved on a Sage Click-II. It perfectly balances the rod.
 
Consider a bamboo rod. They are wonderful for this use. I have a 6'3" and two 7' bamboo rods that are my first choice when fishing tight spaces. All 4 wts.
 
I wouldn't trade my Sage TXL 7' 3 wt for any other rod. I've used it in a lot of different situations, and it has never disappointed. Casts and loads like a dream in tight quarters. I picked it up right as the TXL-F series was coming out, so it was cheaper than normal. You might still be able to find one floating around online somewhere. Just my 2 cents.
 
Deuterium wrote:
Consider a bamboo rod. They are wonderful for this use. I have a 6'3" and two 7' bamboo rods that are my first choice when fishing tight spaces. All 4 wts.

6'3" PHY Midge?
I love my Beasley interpreted rendition. It's not just a small stream rod. It makes a fun medium stream dry fly stick.
 
dano wrote:
Deuterium wrote:
Consider a bamboo rod. They are wonderful for this use. I have a 6'3" and two 7' bamboo rods that are my first choice when fishing tight spaces. All 4 wts.

6'3" PHY Midge?
I love my Beasley interpreted rendition. It's not just a small stream rod. It makes a fun medium stream dry fly stick.

My rod was made by the late George Maurer, based on the PHY midge taper. His model name is the Headwater. And I agree, it is much more versatile, but great on small bushy streams.
 
I'm w/ Pcray. I use a 6' Phillipson glass rod loaded w/ 6 weight. Its great for tight spots 'cause its just a flip of the wrist to shoot line out.

For the record, that little rod can cast a distance too. I was fishing a small stream on Saturday w/ the rod and came to a rare stretch that opened up about 50ft across. I was bombing casts w/ that little 6' rod. I love that rod.
 
I purchased a 7'6" St. Croix Avid 2 wt. for my "small stream" fishing, but to be honest, I have a tough time getting the rod to load properly and thus getting it to cast well. I have since started using a Sage VPS 7'6" 4 wt., which I absolutely LOVE. It casts like a dream, and I can get into tight quarters with it. That said, I wouldn't mind going lighter if I can get the right feel and casting with a lighter rod. I am currently exploring some options with lighter rods (just purchased a 7' 3 wt to try).

Not to hi-jack the thread, but would any of you more experience rod gurus recommend throwing a 3 wt line on the 2 wt?

 
I found that its not too bad of an idea to overload the lighter weight rods, especially for small streams.
 
I like to overload if the rod action is a medium but, if it's fast I tend to just load it up with which it's rated for.. just my preference though.
 
Not to hi-jack the thread, but would any of you more experience rod gurus recommend throwing a 3 wt line on the 2 wt?

Absolutely. Even a 4, 5, or a 6 wt. Depending on the distance you wish to cast.

A rod is designed to load with a certain weight of fly line beyond the tip. Now, that weight is both a function of the line weight (weight/distance), as well as how much line you have out to begin with.

A cannot verify the accuracy of this, but I've always heard that rods are rated for 30 ft of fly line beyond the tip (not including leader). And fly lines are rated for the 1st 30 feet of the taper.

Based on standard weight charts, the following are all equal:

30 feet of 2 wt line
24 ft of 3 wt line
20 ft of 4 wt line
17 ft of 5 wt line
15 ft of 6 wt line

Now, remembering that this is distance of fly line not including leader, picture yourself fishing your typical small streams. If you're like me, then 10-20 ft is the norm. Fairly severely overlining the rod is in actuality, properly lining it for your distance. Loading the rod is much, much easier.

This is all, of course, assuming that the weight ratings on your rod and line are proper, which isn't always the case. Lots of rod manufacturers underrate their rods for marketing purposes. Picture yourself setting out to buy a 5 wt. You grab 4 candidate rods and a reel loaded with 5 wt line and go outside to test cast side by side. First thing most do is strip out 60 feet of line and start hero casting. Well, guess what, there's one rod in the mix that's actually a 7 wt with a 5 wt sticker on it. And it feels FANTASTIC, much better than the other rods. Sold, and you go home with a 7 wt rod and saying, "boy, modern rods cast so much better than older rods". Till you get streamside and have to make a 10 ft cast with an underlined rod, anyway....

When evaluating any rod, or line weight on a rod, do your testing at the distance you expect to fish it, don't worry about what it does at unreasonable fishing distances.
 
pcray1231 wrote:
A cannot verify the accuracy of this, but I've always heard that rods are rated for 30 ft of fly line beyond the tip (not including leader). And fly lines are rated for the 1st 30 feet of the taper.

AFTMA standard. However, that doesn't take into effect stupid taper tricks.

AFTMA 5wt is 140 grains. If you want to play stupid taper tricks, you could take that 140 grains in a 50' long super awesomely thin front taper, or in 5' of super fat line with 200' of running line spread out. Because we've moved into a world where there's a taper for every species of fish, Ye Olde Numbers are horriffically broken.

To say nothing of extra fast rods that require speciality tapers (ie, SA GPX) that are built extra heavy to load them rather than doing what Pcray suggests, using a different line weight and logically varying it off.
 
If you want to play stupid taper tricks, you could take that 140 grains in a 50' long super awesomely thin front taper

Technically, you can't. Because it's based on only 30 ft of the front taper.

or in 5' of super fat line with 200' of running line spread out.

Yup, you can do that. Your point stands that the numbers aren't quite right due to variation in tapers. Those lengths/weight ratings are only equal if the line were flat and the weight evenly distributed over the first 30 ft.

And also correct, that in response to rods being underrated, they are starting to overweight lines to match. So that 7 wt rod that you bought rated as a 5 wt. Well, eventually you figure out that a 7 wt line works better on it. But since you'd never do anything so drastic and don't realize the rod is a 7 wt, they label a 7 wt line as a 5 wt. Yesterday's 7 wt just became today's 5 wt, and yesterday's 5 wt is now today's 3 wt. Yay, we've come so far...

My point still stands too. Experiment at the distance your going to use it at, and use your head. If you're going to cast far less than 30 ft of fly line with a rod, then feel free to see how it handles when overlined fairly severely. Not just 1 line weight, but try 2, 3, or 4 line weights!
 
pcray1231 wrote:
If you want to play stupid taper tricks, you could take that 140 grains in a 50' long super awesomely thin front taper
Technically, you can't. Because it's based on only 30 ft of the front taper.

Well, you can but then its not an AFTMA 5wt, but an AFTMA Xwt, but they can just write "5wt" on the box because who the hell cares anymore? Reference GPX tapers (again) again for actual examples of stupid taper tricks.

But yes, technical point you.
 
I get overlining by one or so but if you need to put a 6 on a 3 then thats a little ridiculous.....just my opinion.
 
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