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CHOOSING A FLY
ROD
April 21, 2006 - Beaver - G'day y'all
from the Beaver
Dam Store crew!
We still remember the feeling when we took home out first flyrod
and then our first REAL flyrod. We may be in the business of
retailing fly fishing equipment but for Steve and Bryce they
would still be playing with and thinking about fly fishing stuff
day in and out. You won't find lunatics like ours, proudly showing
callused hands from casting day in and out, at the big box stores.
Steve, as a new gear columnist for Australia and New Zealand's
premier fly fishing magazine Flylife <http://www.flylife.com.au>
also brings a unique attitude and a real font of experience so
we thought we would pick his brain on fly rod selection.
"The first thing is deciding what you are going to be doing
with it which around here is mostly trout, smallmouth or largemouth
bass so anything from a 00 weight to a 9 weight and from 6' to
14' long, so there are oodles of choices. and plenty of specific
tools for very specific jobs. On the other hand if its your first
rod a 9' is hard to beat. Go for a 5-weight for trout a 6 for
smallies and an 8-weight for largemouth. After you have a basic
rod in a class then you can look at more specific tools, or if
you fish a particular style all the time. Generally shorter rods
are fun for small streams, longer rods for bigger water.
"Then work out what do you want to spend. Budgets are important
to all of us. Are you going to need a new reel and line as well.
Buy the best line you can, save money if you need to on the reel
(unless its for saltwater). For this reason I'm not generally
keen on manufacturer combo packages, where they cut too many
corners on the fly lines. We can put packages together which
will work better and fit you better to most budgets. Then comes
the fun part, go find out what you like to cast. Never, Never,
Never buy a rod without casting it.
"When you go looking ignore brands and to a certain extent
price tags, or reputation. I cast a lot of rods from a lot of
manufacturers and I say it over and over _ spend around $130
and better from any of the major fly rod manufacturers and you
will get a quality product. Some brands like TFO have some rods
under $100 which are worth buying but they are the exceptions
to the rule. If you go cheaper or try the big box brands your
probably going to outgrow the rod in a few months _ its what
happened to me on my first outfit, I spent for me a good chunk
of change and three months later I basically threw it away and
bought my first Sage and 11 years later I'm still using it. That
is why you go to a real flyrod company!
Choosing a rod is really about what feels good in your hand not
reputation or brand marketing. Now I love our Sages and TFOs
and in fish with them all the time, but there are other great
manufacturers out there too. In a way its like choosing a life
partner, what is right for me isn't always right for you, but
the search is easier and won't require therapy or legal advice.
"Often the rod you really like might be not the one you
dreamt about or saw in a magazine ad, it might even be a cheaper
model. Keep and open mind and try as many as you can in the category
you are looking for. And remember even within a rod series there
are some variations. For instance generally I prefer SAGE XPs
over SLTs, even though they are both great rods, its a personal
thing. But I have just ordered my own 8'9" SLT 3wt which
I have fallen in love with and fits me to a t and blew away my
misconceptions about all SLTs.
"Don't be hesitant about casting in front of the fly shop
"expert" we all get that performance pressure. It took
me 18 months here in the store before I got comfortable with
casting for people. We can all gain from casting advice, and
if your "expert" is any good he will be able to offer
some tips as well along the way _ everyone likes a freebie.
"Finally you might have the choice down to 3-4 rods. Look
for the one which is a "no-think" rod. By that I mean
the one you can cast without having to concentrate on your casting
technique. You will fish better and enjoy it more on the water.
And fly fishing is supposed to be fun, right? _ Steve
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