What rod and reel are you using?
- This topic has 57 replies, 39 voices, and was last updated Apr 18, 2008 at 8:41 pm by
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I say if a man wants an Elvis scrimshaw and a purple tassel on his rod,
by god more power to him.Sign me up. I really like the purple tassels, make mine velvet to compliment the Elvis theme and I’m in.
OK, my current stable:
Scott G2 9′ 5wt, Ross Rythm reel
Sage SLT 7’6″ 3wt Orvis BBS II reel
Redington 8′ 7wt Cabelas reel
St. Croix Premier 8’6″ 5wt Ross Flycast reel.
Eagle Claw Fibreglass 8′ 7wt Cabelas reel (beater but fun to fisy)My son uses a Cabelas stow a way 7piece 7’6″ 4wt with a Ross flycast reel.
Wow, didn’t realize I had accumulated that much hardware. Hope the wife is not reading this.
Jeff
Fly rods are fun! It seems no two are exactly the same.
I have a couple rods in my arsenal and really like them all, but these are my fav’s:
Sage SLT 8’3” 3 wt use a HardAlox 1.5 with Rio Selective Trout
Sage LL 7’11” 4 wt same reel/line as above
Winston 8’6” WTIt depends…I for trout its usuallay a 9′ 5wt Sage SLT, but sometimes a 9′ 6 or 7wt on bigger water. On small water its usually a 3 or 4wt bamboo. Cheers.
My goto trout rod is a Scott Voyager 5 wt with Rio 6wt line and a Ross flystart reel. For smaller streams I go with my Scott A2 3wt with Rio 3wt wf line and a Ross flystart reel.
For windier days and pond or lake fishing, I’ll go with my TFO Pro 6wt, line Basspro special, and no name reel. Works good except on some of those zonkers and big plugs. They make one appreciate a jacket and full rimmed hat. ::)
Nice work Matt. So I guess you go after those Susquehanna smallies pretty regularly.
Scott G 6’10 ” for 3 wt ,small mtn. streams with CFO 1/2/3 click & pawl,wulff TT
Winston IM6 8’6″ for 4 wt
I fish Rplxi’s for the most part and I have several weights(6-10) all loaded with Ross cayon reels of some size. I fish for SM/LM Bass and Stipers so I find the need to fish saltwter rods on the bigger Tenn river impoundments and creeks. Big wind sucks!
Rod Selection,
Most often used: Scott G 885/3, Bauer M2,SA trout line.
Bigger trout stuff: Scott G 886/3, Bauer M3sl, SA trout line.
Streamers: Scott STS 906/3, Ross Canyon 3, Galloups sinking line or RIO 250 st 10′.
Smallmouth: Rio big nasty line on above outfit.
8wt: Scott STS, Bauer M4, Big nasty floater, SA 250 Sinking.
10wt: STS, Bauer M6sl, RIO Bnasty, SA 350 gr ST, Musky, striper, bass, northerns.
4wt: Pack rod backcountry Scott G804/4, Bauer M1, SA trout line.
3wt: Scott 803/3,Bauer M.5, SA trout line.
I have others but these are the rods I use often, well not the 10 wt, not often enough!My “go-to” rod has been my 3/2 Battenkill(sp?) – Wes Jordan era with a Phlueger(sp?) 1494. She’s never let me down!
For freshwater I use a Cabela’s 3 Forks 7.6″ 3wt with an old Martin 63 “tuna can” reel. Light and easy.
For saltwater I load my pontoon or yak up with several rods for quick change of different flies.
Orvis Clearwater 8wt with an Okuma 7/8 with 9wt line.
Shakespeare 8′ fiberglass with a ’60s Pfluegar 1495 1/2 with 8wt sink tip.
J.C. Higgins 8’6″ fiberglass with another Pfluegar 1495 1/2 with 7wt floating line.
Rainshadow RX7 6wt that I got from Carter Simcoe with yet another Pfluegar 1495 1/2.The fiberglass rigs cost a total of $20-$30 each including the reels. I have 5 of the Pluegars and a dozen or so spools for them that I got off ebay for a total of about $100. I have a bunch of the Martins set up with different lines. I spend more on line than I do reels and rods..
Thramer Fe Thomas 3wt for small steams
New Scott G2 5wt with Ross Rythym reel, this will be my primary trout rod. Absolutly the nicest combo I have ever fished.
DougI’d have to say that the rod that I do the most fishing with is my St. Croix Avid 8’6″ 5 wt. I fish mainly the streams of PA and it gets me where I need to be in most cases. If I’m fishing off the jack damn on Dunbar Creek I take my Sage VT2 3 wt which I find to be a nice rod. 😎
8 WT TFO TiCr-X With Lamson Radius Hybrid, Overlined X1 with Orvis Silver Label Hi-Float
10 WT TFO TiCr-X with Scierra XDR, Overlined to 11wt.
5 WT St Croix Regin with Original Orvis Battenkill 5/6 Disk, Overlined X1 Airflow Ridge 6
6 WT Orvis Green Mountain with SA Series 1Various rods in 4 – 8wts. all Scotts
Various reels to match all Lamson (Velocity or Litespeed)
All SA lines (floating) and RIO (sinking)Fish on!
It is currently river trout season…so here is what I am currently carrying around.
For dry fly fishing I have a Sage Zaxis 8’6” 4wt, with the original Lamson Velocity and Rio Classic Line
For nymphing I use a Scott Alpha with Orvis Battenkill Large Arbor and Airflo line.
I am jumping in on this conversation late but I must add my two cents worth in regards to custom rods and the “cost” of building them.
I for some unknown reason find myself with the ability to do things with my hands…fairly well. I used to hold to the philosphy that some of you others have expressed in regards to building rods for yourself. You can do it for much cheaper than buying a high end rod. I must admit that my philosphy has changed a bit on that over the years.
The GLoomis example is well spelled out…but one thing that is not factored in is the value of your time. I used to value my time at $0. “Hey, I built this great rod for $215!!” That has all changed.
Well, I spent 11 months putting on a 600 sq/ft addition to our home. Sure it ONLY cost me $35,000 when a contractor would have charged $70,000+. But the stress took about three years off my life and the strain on the marriage was not fun. So…my time proved it had value.
I have always wanted to build a custom driftboat. “I can get a kit and build a boat for about $1,800! What a deal!” Well, yeah, but it would take me 80 hours in my dusty garage, and not going to kids soccer games to get it done. Again my time has proven to have value.
So, with the GLoomis example. Even though you can in theory build the same rod for $475 that sells for $650…the $175 difference shrinks very quickly when you factor in your time.
Now of course there is the personal enjoyment that some of us get by doing these projects and that helps balance things out but I have learned the hard way that when doing these kinds of things you time should always be factored in.
Here is a great quote from a buddy of mine:
“My only fear is that when I die, my wife sells all my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it.”
That’s why I have appointed a curator… with integrity, got to have integrity…
Here is a great quote from a buddy of mine:
“My only fear is that when I die, my wife sells all my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it.”
That’s why I have appointed a curator… with integrity, got to have integrity…
Since our house burned, we learned quickly what we had and what we had paid for it. $12000 worth of camping gear alone and another $14000 worth of fishing equipment. “YOU CANT DRIVE THAT… That is how much my Subaru cost” to quote my wife. The fly boxes we carry is much like the jewelry the wives wear but we do not insure them the same way. We should.
About half way there, we now have the receipts for everything and it is all filed away – Locked in a fire box… until the flood comes.
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