"I think I fish, in part, because it's an anti-social, bohemian business that, when gone about properly, puts you forever outside the mainstream culture without actually landing you in an insitution."- John Gierach
It's almost mid-February and I've been tying flies, well, nonstop for the last year (it seems like it's the same every year). I consider fly tying to be a separate activity from fly fishing as tying is separate from painting your house. I love fly tying and hate painting houses!! But something else enters the seasonal picture and that's going over my collection of fly rods.
Thankfully that collection hasn't grown that much in the last few years. There will always be room for a deserving bamboo rod or three but that will not include trying to resurrect some sad old factory rod that stunk as a casting tool 70 years and is best left on the mantle,
I will also fish a rod that fits the water that I'm fishing. Tenkara can be fun but it's no fun on the Swift or the WB of the Westfield with all the overhanging foliage. I've come to the conclusion that you need a BIG river to fish any rod over 10 feet long if you need all that length in the first place. The truth is that the VAST majority of trout that I have caught in over 50 years of fly fishing have been while using rods between 6 feet and 8.5 feet long and I never felt undergunned. I think that the drive towards longer rods has been, in part, driven by manufacturers trying to create a need which will increase sales.
Ken