Hello All,

I often see people mention that they need many different rods for all the different fishing situations they encounter....

Taking saltwater and all the different fish species other than trout out of the equation.... How many different situations are there?

Small & Big water
Small & Big fish
Small & Big flies
Float Tubing & Wading
Moving Water & Stillwater
Travel

I can see it all being done with a longer 6wt and a shorter 4 wt.

Did I miss something?

CG

That's cause you limited it to trout!!!

Or if for only trout-how about 1 really good and versatile 5 wt? A Boron 2X or a Loomis GLX or a Redington CPS??? Others?

McCfly,

Short rod for small streams say around 8' wide at best... long rod for the big streams or sitting in a float tube on a lake. I don't think just one rod is sufficient to cover this.

I can also add "backup rod" to the list so now I am up to 4 rods total.

CG

I sometimes fish a 9' 3 wt on small cricks if there is short vegetation on the banks I need a longer rod to back cast over it. If a small stream is not overgrown and brushy...I like a longer rod there.
Needs and wants have always been a inner struggle for me...I could probably get by with 3-4 rods but I don't want to.

CycleGuy,

Don't let anyone fool you. Probably 99.9% of all trout fishing can be done with a good 9' 5 wt. fly rod. All those different situations are just excuses to buy more fly rods. I must admit having some of the specialty sizes in different weights can make your fishing time more enjoyable, it is not neccessary.

Believe me, I have lost count of the number of trout rods I have collected over the years. I try to explain all the differnt situations to my wife but she is not fooled. I equate it to collecting art.

Trout; 0wt. for delicate presentation of small flies to picky fish
1wt. 6'6" for very small streams
3wt. 7'6" for midsized streams
4wt. 7'6" bamboo for everyday fishing
5wt. 9' for bigger water
A couple of other outfits for spares and to fill in the gaps and trout should be pretty well covered

Let's call it about seven outfits for trout. Now when we add in panfish, freshwater bass, salmon, carp, and a plethora of saltwater species, I think more than about thirty outfits starts to encroach on overkill !

CG,
Are you going through an existential crisis again? I seem to remember a similar minimalist type question that preceded the "buying and selling and buying again of thirty rods" stage you went through a little while ago> *G* .
All( well most) kidding aside, I suspect I could go through life with 3 graphites,a cane and a glass and have most ,if not all of it covered.
Best,
Steve

Hi CG (et al)...


Will humbly remind you of the standard rod-ownership formula used by the denizens of this board since Time Immemorial...

1 - 1-wgt.
2 - 2-wgts.
3 - 3-wgts.
4 - 4-wgts.
5 - 5-wgts.
and etc.

Of course if you don't want, for example, 2 - 2-wgts., you can utilize the unwanted "2" by buying three 4-wgts. and then one 6-wgt. - thus accounting for the unwanted "2" plus the fourth 4-wgt. Naturally you may still want another 6 - 6-wgts. but you can cover that by buying an 18-wgt. and a 6-wgt. thus eliminating one of the two dozen 24-wgts you are required to buy. As you might guess, this system was perfected by Wee Hooker and explains why he does all his fishing with 8-wgts. but owns 512 of 'em.

But please be sure to get a second opinion - which, thanks to being bi-polar, I will now provode for you free of charge.

My experience such as it has been has convinced me the "one rod that does it all" is a sales myth - that a rod that is "the best of both worlds" is usually more like a "jack of two trades but master of neither" (a lot like that abomination, the "fish 'n ski" boat) - and that buying separate rods for situations that are "different" only on paper is a quick way to waste a lot of money. And then there is the favorite quandry of my psychopathic mind - the hallowed "back-up" rod.
I recall a thread here quite long ago in which someone gave a very detailed description of their fishing and fishing requirements and then asked the venerable question "which (expensive) rod/reel - the rod X with reel Z or rod Y with reel Q?" Long did we debate the esoteric merits of the equipment as it would relate to his rather complex fishing situations - even though the real difference between the rods/reels in review was practically non-existant. At long last the decision was made and shortly thereafter the poster posted again - praising his new (expensive) XKE rod/reel and asking now "what rod/reel should he buy for a "back-up" to it? Off we all flushed again, chiming in with our favorite (cheap) rod/reel combos that we were certain would make a perfect "back-up" for his (expensive, ever-so-carefully-debated-and-selected) rod/reel.
I think it was TomTx who called me up and said; "Uh, 5, ... uh, what are we doin' here? If the $69 rod/reel combo is a "perfect back-up" rod/reel for that guy, why isn't it the perfect "primary" rod/reel for him? Why isn't the "back-up rod" for the carefully-selected $700 outfit another identical $700 outfit?" Truth be told, I still haven't figured out how to respond to that one.

HTH
5/0

I have 1-4wt, 2-5wts, 1-6wt, and 2 7wts. By far I fish the 4wt and the 6wt the most. I am a tackle collector, money and wife permitting. I could go crazy if I had money. I do have to say when I started learning to fly fishing I fished one rod. A 5/6wt stcroix pro graphite. I fished that thing for everything that swam and it did just fine. Whether it be trout, bass, carp, whatever. I sometimes miss that simplicity. I guess I fell into the gambit of there not being an all purpose fly rod. Thats what all of the fly shops want you to believe, but I honestly believe that a person could get by with a nice medium-fast 6wt for freshwater and an 8wt for all around salt water purposes. At any rate I am sure that I will be adding more to the collection someday.

Mike

Pelcrk,

There was something of an invisible P.S. at the end of the post that read: "Don't ask me how many rods I own".

Add another selling and buying to the buying and selling and buying that you already mentioned. It is great entertainment, much better than Hollywood, and lots cheaper than a flathead, panhead, shovelhead and so on...

CG

eric,
thought you were "gearing" up for another buying/trading frenzy.I don't disclose either, how many rods I own. way more than I need but still a few short of what I'd like.
Best,
Srteve