Small Brook Trout Set-Up?

[BradFromPotter]

You all are awesome!! Thanks for the advice. I have a better understanding of how to fish bluelines on the fly now.

so what are you going to do?

 

[CRB]

Key points practice with an overlined rod in your back yard
or wooded area.
You could try a 7 wt double taper if you can find one and mark the line with a sharpie marker to duplicate your loading point of the fly line.
With repetitive practice it will give you the muscle memory to learn that load point.

I do a fair bit of small stream, rhodo tunnel fishing.

My main tool is a 7'6" Cortland in a 4/5 weight, and I throw 7 wt line on it. If the stream is a little bigger or the canopy is more open I use 5 wt line. For slightly larger streams I have an 8' St. Croix Imperial 5 wt, again either with the 7 wt or 5 wt line.

I've never been one for finesse on brookie streams. Finesse is for fishing tricos and midges on slow spring creeks with complicated currents. On a brookie stream I wanna throw a size 12 dry usually, under that thar branch, and a little micro drag is no big deal. I want some line speed and tight loops, but I also want it to load with just a few feet of line off the rod tip, and I want it to be able to roll cast and bow and arrow cast well. In my experience, a stiff rod with a softish tip, and a heavy line is the answer. I"ve considered adding something a little shorter to the arsenal, in the 7' range.

You're rod seems fine. Maybe a touch long for the thickest places.

I personally like a deep flexing rod and use different lines wts to give me the ability to shorten or lengthen the line out side of the rod tip.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

I also recommend a glass rod.
They are just perfect for what you are looking to do.

If I had to recommend more, I would say a 6'6" is a great length in 3wt.
I also recommend Cortland sylk line or the Cortland Spring Creek line. Just perfect for these rods.

Let us know what you choose to do.

 

[glamcaster]

Hello all, just a quick update! One of my dear coworkers at L.L.Bean gifted me a 3 weight rod . I suspect he made it for me. So I'm getting there! I also agree that my current 5wt is probably fine, and I just need to hone my skills. Any reel recommendations for a 3wt? thanks and tight lines

 

[sixfootfenwick]

Hello all, just a quick update! One of my dear coworkers at L.L.Bean gifted me a 3 weight rod . I suspect he made it for me. So I'm getting there! I also agree that my current 5wt is probably fine, and I just need to hone my skills. Any reel recommendations for a 3wt? thanks and tight lines

What the length?
I personally like click pawl.
You can use most anything but a hardy featherweight or an old jw young would be good.
A CFO 123 or CFOlll would be excellent as well.

 

[glamcaster]

What the length?
I personally like click pawl.
You can use most anything but a hardy featherweight or an old jw young would be good.
A CFO 123 or CFOlll would be excellent as well.

 

[glamcaster]

Hi sixfootfenwick, thanks for the quick reply! the 3wt rod from my coworker is 7'4" from butt to tip, and narrow rod part 6'4". Thanks for the recommendation. I heard someone else recommend the battenkill II, so I'm also flirting with that. Out of curiosity, is left-hand retrieve the standard for right-handed fisherman? thx

 

[Bamboozle]

...Out of curiosity, is left-hand retrieve the standard for right-handed fisherman? thx

No, there are still more than a few right handed folks that prefer to switch hands when winding. Fortunately for right handed klutzes like me, there are plenty of LHW options.

Chose the handing that works best for you...

 

[sixfootfenwick]

Hi sixfootfenwick, thanks for the quick reply! the 3wt rod from my coworker is 7'4" from butt to tip, and narrow rod part 6'4". Thanks for the recommendation. I heard someone else recommend the battenkill II, so I'm also flirting with that. Out of curiosity, is left-hand retrieve the standard for right-handed fisherman? thx

What was said above and a Battenkill ll would serve you very well.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I'd have to see/feel the rod to offer a good reel option. I'd be willing to let you, @glamcaster try a few of mine on for balancing/aesthetic purposes. For me I like a light clicker as the creek rods I fish are insanely light, 1.6oz to be exact, so I am literally looking for the lightest reel possible (I use a Battenkill I). I would say it would be neat to rock a vintage mildly expensive reel on your new rod if that sort of thing appeals to you.

On a side note, I've never understood the fear of using high end stuff in the brush. I've never broken a rod on a small creek and only scuffed an Abel twice on rock and the scratch wasn't as bad as the sound it made when it hit the rocks. Do people actually have reels explode on contact when falling? Let's stop treating gear like it is made of literal glass. I fish with a Rolex on my wrist that has never smacked on rock and a cigar in my mouth. Small creeks are not that slippery and one can often break a fall by grabbing surrounding vegetation.

 

[salmo]

On your 3wt. rod, I suggest overlining it with a least a 4 wt. line, so a larger arbor reel will be needed for a double taper line. If you go with a 4 wt. weight forward line you can actually use a smaller reel.

 

[Bamboozle]

...the 3wt rod from my coworker is 7'4" from butt to tip, and narrow rod part 6'4". Thanks for the recommendation. I heard someone else recommend the battenkill II, so I'm also flirting with that. Out of curiosity, is left-hand retrieve the standard for right-handed fisherman? thx

Glamcaster:

Is the rod graphite or fiberglass??

FWIW - All of my short rods (5'0" - 7'0") are fiberglass or bamboo. Excluding the bamboo, and not knowing much about anything shorter than 7'6" in graphite, the reels I use on my rods around 7' are all click & pawl with a STATED weight of around 3.20 to 3.40 ounces and a narrow spool with a diameter of around 2-3/4".

All of these reels balance my rods nicely at the winding check and ALL of them hold a DT3 line and some backing with absolutely no problem. If you were inclined to over-line, I would imagine you can easily get a WF4 on anything that diameter because I used to have a WF4 spooled on my much smaller vintage CFO II (2-9/16" diameter).

Obviously if your rod is graphite you may want a lighter reel. However finding something an ounce or two lighter WITH the line capacity you are after can be tricky. For that reason more than a few folks that fish small streams using short casts buy a double taper line and cut it in half or they buy a weight forward line and cut off most of the running line to get fatter lines to fit on smaller reels.

I wouldn't even consider that option or the need to over-line until you try you new rod with a 3wt line at the distances you expect to cast.

Have fun!!!

 

[salmo]

Glamcaster:

Is the rod graphite or fiberglass??

FWIW - All of my short rods (5'0" - 7'0") are fiberglass or bamboo. Excluding the bamboo, and not knowing much about anything shorter than 7'6" in graphite, the reels I use on my rods around 7' are all click & pawl with a STATED weight of around 3.20 to 3.40 ounces and a narrow spool with a diameter of around 2-3/4".

All of these reels balance my rods nicely at the winding check and ALL of them hold a DT3 line and some backing with absolutely no problem. If you were inclined to over-line, I would imagine you can easily get a WF4 on anything that diameter because I used to have a WF4 spooled on my much smaller vintage CFO II (2-9/16" diameter).

Obviously if your rod is graphite you may want a lighter reel. However finding something an ounce or two lighter WITH the line capacity you are after can be tricky. For that reason more than a few folks that fish small streams using short casts buy a double taper line and cut it in half or they buy a weight forward line and cut off most of the running line to get fatter lines to fit on smaller reels.

I wouldn't even consider that option or the need to over-line until you try you new rod with a 3wt line at the distances you expect to cast.

Have fun!!!

I yield to Bamboozle, as I suspect his time on the water if more extensive than mine. My actual fishing time is limited.

 

[salmo]

Hi sixfootfenwick, thanks for the quick reply! the 3wt rod from my coworker is 7'4" from butt to tip, and narrow rod part 6'4". Thanks for the recommendation. I heard someone else recommend the battenkill II, so I'm also flirting with that. Out of curiosity, is left-hand retrieve the standard for right-handed fisherman? thx

Whatever you are comfortable with. I learned holding the rod in my left hand and stripping with my right.

 

[pcray1231]

I'm a right hander, and while some do it differently, most hold the rod/cast with their right hand. Reel with their left. Grew up doing it that way with a spinning rod as well.

Nothing wrong with doing it differently of course.

I always kind of laugh if I go down to the beach and go out on a boat or something, with those big rods. They all reel on the right side, so you pump the rod with your left. This is all backwards for me. I can hardly do it!!! And it's like, oh yeah, I'm an avid fishermen, and then I feel all awkward and like an idiot when they hand me a rod.

 

[GANGGREEN]

Yeah, as has been pointed out, there are a lot of reasonable choices for small brookie water. I have 3 rods/outfits that I like a lot. One is a 6'6" 3 Wt LL Bean Double L. One is a 7' 3 Wt custom glass rod from Midwest Custom Fly Rods (I typically overline this one with a 4 Wt. DT or WF line, though you can use it with a 3 Wt as well). Finally, I have a 7' 4 Wt. Sir D Special split bamboo rod that I built that is sublime for small brookie streams.

 

[Bamboozle]

...I always kind of laugh if I go down to the beach and go out on a boat or something, with those big rods. They all reel on the right side, so you pump the rod with your left. This is all backwards for me. I can hardly do it!!! And it's like, oh yeah, I'm an avid fishermen, and then I feel all awkward and like an idiot when they hand me a rod.

Later in life because of opportunities I had living in NYC I got sort of interested in "deep sea fishing" (as they called it in suburban Philly where I grew up) so I wanted to buy my own boat rod & reel.

The reel I was "instructed" to purchase by my fishing cohorts was a Penn Jigmaster but unfortunately for me it only came in right hand wind and everything I owned up to then was left hand...

...I too CAN'T do the hand switching thing...

Before I bought the reel I called Penn and asked if they offered a LHW version and the answer was NO but for $13 they would make my RHW reel a LHW. So I bought the reel, sent it off to Penn and in a week or so I had a LHW Penn Jigmaster!!

The reactions of the mates on the boat the first time I used it were priceless. They kept telling me, "You have your reel on backwards!" After taking a closer look and seeing the line coming off in the correct direction and the retrieve, click and drag functioning properly I would tell them the story of the "$13 conversion."

I still have that rod & reel although I haven't used it in eons...