Best Rod Or Rods To Get

[marty]

hey guys and gals

i'm still trying to decide what rod or rods to buy. these will be my first rods but i'm not sure what weight and length to get. the spots i'd like to target will be the embarras, bighorn, blackstone, nordegg, shunda, north and south ram, red deer river, raven and north raven and dogpound. plus all the little creeks these rivers have as well as the little pothole lakes around town. the feed back i'm getting is about 50/50 as to the rods i should buy. they're saying 5 & 7 weight, 9' rods. and the other half are saying i should buy 4w 8'6" & 6w 9' rods. based on the areas i would like to fish could i get some opinions?

[RangerBob]

Again, my sound advice to you **same given here recently -- http://forum.nlft.org/index.php?showtopic=2505&hl=6wt ** would be to attend the Beginner's casting course. Try out as many rods as you can. Meet and greet other members, introduce yourself and express your desire to learn all you can about rods.. and I am certain you'll find that most folks will be willing to let you try casting their rod to see what kind of action suits you. I would especially ask Vince to try out his new Sage ZXL rod... I know I will be.

 

http://forum.nlft.org/index.php?showtopic=2492 <-- Info Here

 

Last year there were like 40 folks out.. that's a huge selection of rods you might be able to potentially try casting. Also, before you buy any rod at a reputable flyshop.. ask to have it strung up with the demo reel and line.. take it out into the parking lot. If they don't let you do that, I would suggest finding the next fly shop that does.

 

PS - Do also a forum keyword search on 'rods' as their has been much discussion about this topic in the past.

 

http://forum.nlft.org/index.php?act=Search...p;highlite=rods

[dave robinson]

Marty:

 

I think we had a short chat about rods a couple of weeks ago at a meeting.

I suspect at this point, you're wondering more about line weight and rod ength than action or manufacture.

Typical recommendation for a beginner is to buy an all round rod, most often a 9 ft, 5 or 6 weight,

and one with a medium action that's not too expensive from a reliable manufacturer.

Reasons:

You don't know yet exactly how much and where you will fish so an all round performer gives you flexibility.

9 foot is a common length and offers a good compromise between distance and maneuverability in brush.

5 or 4 weights can cast a decent size fly a reasonable distance but can still manage short presentation casts.

medium action for the same reasons as above, plus it won't magnify casting errors like a fast rod would.

 

If you can afford two or more rods, then the choices open up.

For small creeks, a medium action 3 or 4 weight is nice, but personally I wouldn't go shorter than 8 ft

(I have a slow action 7'6" 4 weight that I seldom use )

For medium streams a medium action 9 foot 5 weight give the most flexibility

It can cast distance and handle wind OK but isn't overkill for smaller fish on smaller water.

For bigger water a medium fast action , 7 weight 9 foot provides backbone without killing your arm.

 

Of course, those are my opinions.

Your question will probably evoke as many opinions as there are rods to buy.

 

One opinion you will probably find common is try before you buy if you can.

Rod feel is a very personal choice.

If you can attend one or more of our casting clinics you will have a chance to try a few different rods.

[vince]

Marty

 

Sage words (did I say Sage, yes I did) indeed from RangerBob and Dave. Vince's ZXL requires a Casting Permit and we're out of those for the next 3 years...darn I knew we should have stocked up on those. One thing for sure Marty is if you ask 10 fly fishers that question you will, for sure, get 10 different answers. So, my thoughts echo RangerBob's and Dave's.

 

Vince