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When I first started fly fishing I had a 6wt rod and I thought it was great because I didnt know anything else.
A few years ago I went down to a 5 wt....and its awesome.
I am planning on hitting a few smaller streams this year with smaller fish and was wondering if a 4wt rod was suggested for a smaller river (also 8.5 or 8 ft rather than my 9ft).
BUT - I spent some time recently spin fishing with an Ultra light rod and could not believe how many fish I missed because there was not enough spine in the rod to help set the hook. They would smack my lure hard but with so much give in the rod I would lose them.
Would I experience the same with a 4wt fly rod?
For smaller streams - what weight and length rod do you use?
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Go to Fish Tech if you live nearby. Talk to Mickey there on Monday thru Wednesday. He is a wealth of knowledge on small stream fishing. He uses a 8 foot 2 weight with a specially tied 5 ft 5x leader. Ask him for one and he will make one uip for you.
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I work a few blocks from Fish Tech! I'll head on over Monday. Thanks!
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Build the quiver...not all rods do the same thing.
I have my 5 wt, 9' rods. My go to rods. I have them in fast and slow actions.
I have my 6 wt, 10' fast action that I throw streamers with.
I have a 4wt 10' for nymphing.
For small streams I have a 3 wt, 7'. The rod is not what misses fish...just sayin.
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If you still have a functional 9 ft 5 wt and are planning to fish smaller stream that can be brushy then you want to downsize more than just to 8 ft 4 wt. Assuming 99.9% of the trout you’ll hook are going to be 16 inches or under on smaller streams a 2 or 3 wt is more than adequate. I’d suggest a 6 to 7 ft rod length. You’ll probable hook more fish if you nymph without missing any more fish with dries. If you want to occasionally throw streamers with your smaller rod get a few size 12 streamers. With nymphs stick to size 10 and smaller.
My favorite small stream rod gradually got smaller. I now use a 5ft 8in
1 wt. Fishing Southern Utah last week my Nephew and Brother
in law they used it or a 7’6” 3 wt. They both preferred the larger rod as the smaller rod was just too big of a jump from their usual 8 and 9 ft 4 and 5 wt rods they use for trout and bass.
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All great suggestions! One benefit to having a lighter weight rod is the tip will protect the lighter tippits you might be using. You can go down to 6x and 7x and not have to worry about setting to hard. And if you are worried about having enough back bone on the lighter rods. That can be fixed with using the rod correctly. This is just a generalization. but most fly fishers use the flex and not the back bone in a rod.
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[quote Troll]Build the quiver...not all rods do the same thing.
I have my 5 wt, 9' rods. My go to rods. I have them in fast and slow actions.
I have my 6 wt, 10' fast action that I throw streamers with.
I have a 4wt 10' for nymphing.
For small streams I have a 3 wt, 7'. The rod is not what misses fish...just sayin.[/quote]
Exactly right! My general rule is scale the rod weight and length to the size of the fish and water. I have a Fenwick Atos 7' 3wt that is perfect for small streams. With the light rod those 8" native trout feel like sea-run tuna!
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If you are looking for a reasonably priced rod, those Fenwick Atos are a good choice. Both of my 10' rods, the #4 and #6 are Atos rods.
Yes, I feel the difference between them and my expensive rods, but because they are not my "go to" rods and more of a special condition rod, for less than $200, the Fenwicks are not to shabby.
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There is also the issue of flex that comes into play when selecting a rod. I suspect that your ultralight experience had more to do with the flex of that particular ultralight rod. You get a good UL and get good with it, you can fish any small stream and get fish. Takes some practice, but they can be close range killers.
The same comes into play with fly rods. Slower rods flex more, they have flex through a longer portion of the rod, they lay small dries onto the water ever so gently...
Fast flex rods have the majority of their flexin the upper part of the rod, they punch flies through the wind and fire them to the edges of cover but can snatch the fly away on hook set if not careful and may break a light leader on the set of your biggest fish...
Medium flex rods are just that, they are somewhere in the middle of the extremes with each manufacturer having their own definition of medium.
Not to break with Riverdogs advice, but I would be very leery of buying a used rod off E-bay, that's just me. I like to cast them if I can.
If I was going to buy used I would check with all the local shops. Those guys are always buying new and selling their used rods.
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])to do that but the 7 ft one will do it with a cheaper line. My 5 ft 8 inch rod cost me $160 from RDP and is custom built. However Mark finally raised his prices this year and it would run close to $300 now. All these rods can be found used intermittently on eBay. There are even rare bargains on Orvis Superfine rods. Clear Creek Rods haven’t been built in over a decade I believe. These do show up time to time. They almost always sell a little bit above their original price but usually a good value compared to what else is out there. Here’s one on eBay now