Broken Rods Part 2 And A Simple Streamer

"Now if fishing larger waters I can definitely see the benefit of using a 9' or 10' rod (so graphite) to keep as much line off the water as possible, but for smaller or mid-size waters, or where I can wade further out, I think an 8'ish glass rod is fine. Now I do think that the best all-around nymphing rod is 10' 4 wt, but I generally grab the rod I want to use on a particular day and just make it work. " Comment found on the Fiberglass Flyrodders Forum. "and just make it work" is priceless!! He's my new hero!!! - Ken

As stated in a previous post there seems to be a rash of broken nymph rods within the last two years. Although most of the damage is caused by operator error one has to question the design of a rod that is longer than most and lighter than most. Are we reaching the end of reliable construction and design to reach the dubious longer/lighter goal? Maybe!

The fly rod industry has made quick use of the single foot guide (photo on the left) in nymph rod construction. There are a few advantages to single foot guides. First, a lot of the labor disappears because you are only wrapping one foot instead of two(advantage manufacturer). Second, and this is dubious, you have decreased weight by having only one foot and only half the thread and thread coating to add weight to the rod. Weight, by it's self, is a bogus argument. What should be of supreme importance is the balance of a rod, not the weight. My 4wt bamboo rods are heavier than  a 4wt graphite but they are effortless to cast and that's balance!!  My 10 year old Orvis Zero Gravity, (ok it's a shameless plug,) is a  9 foot 5wt that has perfect balance and wants to cast by itself!

Could it be that rod breakage may be the result of the lack of wall support that you get by wrapping only one guide foot instead of two?   Maybe!                                               two footed guide

Could it be that a snake guide has more clearance for the line to run though than for single foot guides? Again, maybe!

The quote at the top of the page is important.  You can make almost ANY rod work without a lot of hair splitting over length and weight. It certainly beats sending your rod back with a $50.00 check to get it fixed.  I just don't fish soft hackles but have spent decades catching lots of trout dead drifting weighted flies without breaking an "All Around" rod because I will not fall for the industry belief which is of creating a solution in search of a problem (that's called Marketing). Again, read the quote at the top of the page.  I'll make the rod work!!!

Instead of the goofy idea of carrying two rods with you when you hit the river carry a moderately fast 9 ft, 4 or 5wt rod and you will cover almost every situation that you encounter.

A Simple Streamer
I used this simple streamer in the Florida surf last March to catch pompano, Spanish Mackerel, blues and ladyfish.  It works for salmon and trout too.  The salmon and trout version is tied on a 4x long size 10 or 12 streamer hook with a black or pink floss body with 8 or 10 wraps of crystal flash left long to tie over the body. Then comes white craft fur for the wing and 2 strands of flash over the wing. Dirt simple and very effective! Keep the craft fur sparse. You can still see it as the trout/salmon smack it!!!

I hope that Christmas was good for you.  We only have 5 days left of that 2018 license to play with!!

Ken