Favorite Fly Rods

[gfoledc]

Small stream 7’9” Orvis Far & fine
Dry Fly Sage LL 8’9” 3wt
Everything else Orvis Helios 3 9’ 5wt

 

[JerryC]

I've built all but two of my fly rods. They're built on either slow to moderate action Lamiglass or Loomis blanks, one is built on a Fenwick fiberglass blank. The other two are rods I brought from Cabela's in the early 2000's and stripped down and rebuilt to my liking. I can count the number of rods I have on my fingers. Two 5 wgts, Three 6 wgts and three 8 wgts. Favorites
Trout and panfish, 8' 6" four piece 5 wgt built on a Loomis blank

Panfish, bass and light salt water- 9' 2 piece built on a Loomis blank

Bass, pike, salt water- surprisingly, the 4 piece 9' 8 wgt that I brought from Cabela's back in 2001 because I didn't have time to build one before a work trip to Guam. It gathered dust till 2 years ago when I stripped the guides, grip and reel seat, replaced them and added a screw in fighting butt. I have a bit of arthritis in my casting shoulder and it's lighter than the two 8 wgts I built on Lamiglass blanks. I have no idea who was making rods for Cabela's back then, so I'm not sure what the blank is.

 

[pcray1231]

Small stream - 7.5 ft, 4/5 wt Cortland. It's med/fast action, and I typically toss 7 wt line on it. I love this rod, it's been my go to beat the brush brookie rod for some time. Easy to roll cast/snap cast. Everything just feels.... natural.

Tweener - 8 ft 5 wt St. Croix Imperial. These rods, for being on the cheaper side, are pretty fast. I could have a whole quiver of Imperials and be happy. But it doesn't get enough use to really know it well like I know the Cortland or Loomis.

The workhorse - 9 ft 5 wt GLoomis GL3. This has been my favorite rod overall for a LONG time. It does everything fairly well and has become an extension of me.

Dry fly rod - Dreamcatcher (Dietrich Bros) 8 ft 5 wt bamboo rod. It's fast for a boo rod. I am CRAZY accurate with this thing, and love dry fly fishing with it on medium waters, and I just love casting it, plus it has sentimental value (was my graduation gift). But it's somewhat of a one trick pony. High stick nymphing with it is not it's forte, your arm will get tired holding it up, it is HEAVY. On big water it won't bomb out casts like the Loomis, and you notice missing that foot of rod when needing to mend and such. I don't beat brush with it on small water either, it's too nice and expensive to beat on like that. Plus on the slow side. That said, when lawn casting, or just wanting cast dries at medium distances to rising fish, it's a dream.

I have a 10 ft, 7 wt bass/steelhead rod as well - nothing particularly great or bad to say about it, it does it's job.

Overall, I'd say that I don't know if there's ever a rod I've cast that I was just totally in love with the first time I cast it. I think it takes time to get to know a rod. You adjust to it, get a feel for it, know exactly what it's going to do with every motion without even thinking about it. And then it becomes the one all other rods are compared to. Any time you cast a new rod, it's always the differences between it and "your" rod that you take note of. My GL3 is that rod for me, with the Cortland close behind. Both have been with me, and my most used rods, for 20 years. The boo comes out as a treat on occasion, and the Imperial and 7 wt are used as specialists.

 

[shakey]

I tend to use bamboo or fiberglass from 7-9 feet .

I guess I favor a daiwa 456
Or another fiberglass rod built on Dale clemmons blank.

They’re each 8 feet

 

[shakey]

Although I might use 8.5 foot bamboo rods for months at a time .

 

[Dr.J 1952]

I've been fishing 4wt. lines the last few years. I have a Redington 7' 3/4wt. and a Redington 8'4wt. that I use on smaller streams. I also have a Redington 9'4wt. which I had been using the last two years, but recently I went back to using a Cabela's 9' 4/5wt. of IM6 graphite which I bought nearly 28 years ago for $95. It casts nice and I'm able to land some big fish. I only use an Orvis Battenkill reel. For steelhead, I use an Orvis 9'6wt. Silver Label HLS rod that I use with a Lamson large arbor reel. My favorite rod is an Orvis Rocky Mountain 8' 6wt. that I bought in 1993. Sweet caster. Fly rods can be like guitars: You wish you would have bought that 30 years ago, but you didn't have the money and now that don't make that model anymore. LOL

 

[brain]

i was into st croixs offerings years ago, but then stumbled into old fenwicks and have been stuck there since...present fav is a 2nd gen 5wt hmg

 

[riverwhy]

I noticed a couple mentions of St. Croix. I am looking for a good rod for Penn's. Have been fishing an 8 ft. Fenwick Iron Feather for probably 30 years as my only trout rod. I am tired of not being able to reach risers in big pools. I saw the Imperial is 280 dollars and made in the U.S. I thought they had a more expensive model. Any thoughts?

 

[falcon]

Taylor Fly Fishing. Models for every budget. Really nice casting rods.

 

[krayfish2]

Croy used to have a lineup of the imperial, legend ultra and the legend elite. I've owned all three models. They've moved away from the fly fishing aspect so much and only offer the imperial which is a newer and different version. I currently have a 10-ft 6 weight of that in my boat for throwing big nymph for eggs and everyone that uses it mentions how nice it casts. I would call it a medium to medium fast action which is pretty forgiving and the tip is fairly soft. For the price, I think it's a very nice ride and seems to be well made. If you wanted to keep it a little more budget priced, and 9 ft 5 weight gr60 from Gray's or in aetos from Fenwick might get you similar results and save you a few bucks.

 

[dryflyguy]

My favorite is still a vintage Orvis Far'n Fine - 7' 9" 5 weight.
For a graphite rod, it has a nice soft feel that is quite unique
Great for small to medium size streams only, though.

Years ago, a forum member put a rod up for sale here that was different.
Wright and McGill 8' 6" 4 weight - made out of Boron.
It's a 5 piece rod, and I bought it mainly to use as a back up travel rod for trips out west.
And really hadn't used it much

I decided to start using it again this spring.
And have grown pretty fond of it too.
Nice action with plenty of power.

Just curious - any body else have a Boron rod, and what do you think?

 

[lestrout]

My favorite is still a vintage Orvis Far'n Fine - 7' 9" 5 weight.
For a graphite rod, it has a nice soft feel that is quite unique
Great for small to medium size streams only, though.

Years ago, a forum member put a rod up for sale here that was different.
Wright and McGill 8' 6" 4 weight - made out of Boron.
It's a 5 piece rod, and I bought it mainly to use as a back up travel rod for trips out west.
And really hadn't used it much

I decided to start using it again this spring.
And have grown pretty fond of it too.
Nice action with plenty of power.

Just curious - any body else have a Boron rod, and what do you think?

yo dry - yup, that Far'nFine is the ideal fly rod for PA, period.

But boron - yup, got maybe a dozen of the things. I even have some of the old Don Phillips blanks (which I need to get rolled up) which were the original solid sticks when he was still in Connecticut. Fenwick Boron-X had some wonderful models, especially the 8'6" 5wt. I also have an experimental Boron-X which is 9'4wt which is actually kind of soupy. Ted Simroe, when he was at Rodon, made a 8'8" 4wt which had its own particular and demanding rhythym, but was very sweet when you got in tune. Jack's Tackle had some Kunnan borons which I liked so much that they had to come home. Even Browning got into the act, and I found two nice trouty ones in Oregon while ffishing the Deschutes. Orvis had some big models for awhile, but I never did find one in a size that I wanted. These days, Winston is the main player with this space-age stuff. I need to get on the stick, and...

But Wright & McGill with boron? Wow - thought I'd seen them all, but that's a new one on me. Maybe at the next Jam, we need to compare borons.

 

[coyoterahn]

+1 on the 7’ 9” 5wt Orvis Far and Fine.
My first rod. Lots of memories with it. Still one of my favorites.

 

[dryflyguy]

yo dry - yup, that Far'nFine is the ideal fly rod for PA, period.

But boron - yup, got maybe a dozen of the things. I even have some of the old Don Phillips blanks (which I need to get rolled up) which were the original solid sticks when he was still in Connecticut. Fenwick Boron-X had some wonderful models, especially the 8'6" 5wt. I also have an experimental Boron-X which is 9'4wt which is actually kind of soupy. Ted Simroe, when he was at Rodon, made a 8'8" 4wt which had its own particular and demanding rhythym, but was very sweet when you got in tune. Jack's Tackle had some Kunnan borons which I liked so much that they had to come home. Even Browning got into the act, and I found two nice trouty ones in Oregon while ffishing the Deschutes. Orvis had some big models for awhile, but I never did find one in a size that I wanted. These days, Winston is the main player with this space-age stuff. I need to get on the stick, and...

But Wright & McGill with boron? Wow - thought I'd seen them all, but that's a new one on me. Maybe at the next Jam, we need to compare borons.

As much as I love that Far N fine, fishing the Delaware and Youghiogheny rivers would be pretty challenging with it.
But I get your point.

As for that Wright and McGill rod:
It's very nice looking too.
The blank is a very nice shade of maroon.
With a lovely rosewood reel seat.
And nickel silver hardware.
I'm regretting not fishing it very much until recently

I'll remember to bring it to next years jam. And would enjoy seeing yours also.