What's your favorite Penns Creek rod?

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kbobb

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Specifically thinking about the month of May when flies can range from 16/18 up to the big drakes and coffin flies? Also dry/droppers are in play. There is usually some higher water so I find my back to the bank a lot with not much room for back casts and the fish are invariably rising on the far bank.

One rod only please - length and line weight too.

Thanks for playing!
 
Dear kbobb,

Though my successful Penns trips are few in number they all have been accomplished with a 9-foot rod in either 4wt or 5wt. I've tossed streamer and buggers on a 6wt but have never bothered with anything lighter than a 4wt.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂
 
I use my 10' TFO Blue Ribbon 4 weight more than any other rod on Penns. But I'll use any rod on that stream, preferably at least 9' in length, and usually a 4 weight.
 
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WM Granger 8642 with a DT5 Cortland Peach 444 or a Sage VPS 8.5 5w are the only 2 rods I fish on Penns. For what it's worth I probably only fish Penns 3 or 4 days a year, but it's always in May / June.
 
8’6 5wt. I don’t own a 9’0 5wt but that’s probably the most common middle of the road answer you’re gonna see, and if I owned one, I’d likely fish it on Penns some.

For Drakes specifically, I fish a 9’0 6wt. Can get away with heavier tippet, and less line twist when casting those monsters. And if I know I’m likely gonna be nymphing all day, and not just killing a little time until surface activity starts (I’m probably not going to Penns at all in those conditions usually) I’d use a 10’0 5wt. All of those rods are versatile enough that they could switch gears if they needed to, but yeah, if you made me fish Penns all year with just one of my rods, I’d pick the 8’6 5wt.

Edit: No right or wrong, but I only want to carry one rod at a time, and as such, I tend to prioritize versatility in my rods, over super specialized ones. Realistically, I could fish Penns happily for a day using any variety of tactics on all 3 of the above, though some are marginally better at particular things than others, which usually guides my choice for the day.
 
This:
IMG_1433.jpeg

It does what ANY 5 weight can do and weighs in at three ounces - it can handle the metal head streamer in the photo - but can punch a size 16 Suphur on a 5X tippet 50 feet with a mere flick of the wrist - I love this design and have two of them - one thing that is important to remember on Penns is that you are fighting the current at all times - especially when in “fish on” mode - not all 4 or 5 weights have the lifting power needed to fight a broadside Brown in typical spring flow -
IMG_1776.jpeg
 
JG63 said:
This:View attachment 1641253685
It does what ANY 5 weight can do and weighs in at three ounces - it can handle the metal head streamer in the photo - but can punch a size 16 Suphur on a 5X tippet 50 feet with a mere flick of the wrist - I love this design and have two of them - one thing that is important to remember on Penns is that you are fighting the current at all times - especially when in “fish on” mode - not all 4 or 5 weights have the lifting power needed to fight a broadside Brown in typical spring flow - View attachment 1641253686
Click to expand...

I’m a big 6 weight fan myself too.

Significantly better than a 5 weight at doing heavy stuff, and only marginally less effective doing lighter stuff. If I’m stuck between the two for what I expect for the day, give me the 6 weight.

Edit: If you said I could only keep one rod for ALL of my fishing in PA, including super tiny Brookie stuff, the 9’0 6wt is the one I’d keep.
 
Thanks guys. Like many I'm generally in the 5 wt camp but have seen the benefits of a 6 wt with higher water/heavier current and larger flies like the drakes on 3x tippet. Also when the water is up and I can't get to where I want in the stream I find myself wanting to have a 6wt that I can roll cast with a larger fly cause I don't have room behind me for a proper back cast.

I don't really have a decent 6 wt for that and last year took an old softer 7 wt that did OK with bigger flies and fish in the heavier current, but kinda felt like overkill and the 7 wt line was sorta "rope like". Will be on the lookout for a reasonably priced 6 wt that is a good "fishing rod" that can roll cast well and not so much of a parking lot line cannon.
 
kbobb said:
Thanks guys. Like many I'm generally in the 5 wt camp but have seen the benefits of a 6 wt with higher water/heavier current and larger flies like the drakes on 3x tippet. Also when the water is up and I can't get to where I want in the stream I find myself wanting to have a 6wt that I can roll cast with a larger fly cause I don't have room behind me for a proper back cast.

I don't really have a decent 6 wt for that and last year took an old softer 7 wt that did OK with bigger flies and fish in the heavier current, but kinda felt like overkill and the 7 wt line was sorta "rope lie". Will be on the lookout for a reasonably priced 6 wt that is a good "fishing rod" that can roll cast well and not so much of a parking lot line cannon.
Click to expand...
Dear kbobb,

Before you drop any coin try that 7-weight with a 6-weight line. It might not work any better, but it might surprise you too! It's definitely worth a try!

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂
 
TimMurphy said:
Dear kbobb,

Before you drop any coin try that 7-weight with a 6-weight line. It might not work any better, but it might surprise you too! It's definitely worth a try!

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂
Click to expand...

Good advice and worth a try. Sometimes, Sulphurs and other mayfly hatches on the smaller end of things, say size 14 or so or smaller, I actually underline my 8’6 5wt with 4 wt line. The short casts get a little sloppier, but it turns it into a cannon at the top end. Only rod, and only situation where I can really bomb most of a fly line. (I don’t pretend to be a good big stream, long distance caster by any stretch, but still.) An underlined rod will hamper its performance out to 20-30 feet or so. From 30-50ish feet you won’t notice much of a difference. But if you need to make long casts with relatively little weight (small-ish dry flies) with regularity, underlining will help you keep things together better on the longer end of casts. Simply a function of weight.
 
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