I generally agree too except for the leader part. There are certainly areas I fish that a longer leader increases catch rate while a shorter rod is much easier to get around with and use.
Yes, overlining helps with this. Why not do it?
Fiberglass is forgiving to the point it is hard to notice a discernable difference between some lines that is true.
To me, if the rod is rated, say a 3wt, and it casts a 3wt well, it's probably a 3wt. If it's more or less, who is measuring grains to find out?
Not me. I put line on it and fish what feels right, which might not be right, or it might be. Does it matter? Not really.
I've cast just about every rod known to man from just about every maker. From rare customs to production rods.
You will be hard pressed to find some better rods than today's market produces. Likely the ones that are of the vintage variety and out of print that are better, will be hard to find.
If todays rods cast .5 wt better above their rating, is of little consequence. Buy the next line weight down if possible.
With rare exceptions like a one-off big pool when I can get away with it, when I'm fishing small streams; meaning places where I will be fishing a rod from 5'0" to 6'6" or 7'0", most often my leader is no longer than 6' and many times a lot shorter. I have never had a problem catching fish, ESPECIALLY on a little wild trout stream with a leader this short.
In addition, that short leader plus the short front taper (4.8 feet long) true-to-weight matching SciAngler Mastery DT I prefer gets me into the belly of my line with the minimum of total line & leader past the tip top. More importantly to me, IF and when I encounter a spot where a longer cast is required, the rod doesn't feel overloaded.
Fortunately for me other than TWO lone rods, I don't own a single rod that needs to be over-lined in any situation or that benefits from over-lining in any situation except possibly casting to my bathtub from the toilet.
😉
The rods that give me problems are slash rods or rods that have two line weights listed on the blank. Yea, I know what the common wisdom is and I know all rods will cast more than one line size, but some do it BADLY.
YMMV but I have never found a rod like this to my liking at all distances and in all honesty I really think the builders didn't get the result they were after when they designed the rod so they wrote two different line sizes on the blank. Fortunately, I only own two.
As an example, I own a Steffen 8'0" fiberglass 3pc 3/4 that I bought because I wanted (another) 8'0" 4wt rod and most folks like the rod better with a 4wt line. With a 120 grain 4wt line at the distances I typically fish an 8'0" 4wt rod, it's OK to maybe 3O feet, beyond that it is not so good... I haven't yet tried something between 100 and 120 grains but I think that will only reverse the ranges.
But the reality is, I own several rods at 8'0" in glass, bamboo and graphite, all are rated for one line weight and all cast like a dream at all distances with the single line weight...
...except the Steffen.
Yea I realize it's subjective but it is only me who is doing the casting and I know what I like in a rod action. Some rods just don't and never will do it for me. I also shop for rods based on pure desire or a need and desire for a particular length and line weight with the action I like. So if I want and buy a 7'0" 3wt rod, I want a 7'0" 3wt rod, not a 7'0" 3.5 or a 4wt rod, especially if I already have one I like...
I realize that most people and the fish don't care, but it still surprises me that some rod builders can nail it, while others IMHO just can't.
