I was perusing the fly fishing web the other day when I noticed that this well known rod maker was selling the personal fly rod of the late, great fly reel creator Stan Bogdan. The rod was bamboo, of course, and was only 6 ft, 6 inches long which harkened back to a different time when rods were shorter and lines a bit heavier.
Backcast to the early 1970's before graphite took center stage. The old bamboo "factories" were dropping like spinners leaving only the individual craftsmen working with cane. Fiberglass owned the market and with good reason - glass was cheap, strong and easy to work with. If it had a problem it was that it had a weight problem in the longer lengths just like bamboo. (the odd 7.5 ft length was an American attempt to push the length of a trout rod out to where it was still a trout rod. 8 feet was the practical limit). Then graphite blew everything out of the water and overnight fly rods became l o n g e r and lighter.
The fly fishing industry embraced this stuff and pushed the "longer and lighter" mantra to the extreme (maybe that's why we have so many reports of broken euro nymph rods). But was it really necessary? The industry will say YES because it's their job to promote new products but personal experience would tend to disagree. Back in the day my 7 foot 5wt Fenwick glass rod conquered tiny streams where it was easy to fish in close quarters, and held up well on larger rivers. The truth is I didn't know that a 7 foot rod put me at a disadvantage because I was still catching lots of trout and with casting adjustments I could handle most casting distance easily..
I have realized that my average rod length has dropped in the past few years. My 9 and 10 foot graphite sticks are gathering dust and have been replaced in the lineup with 6.5 to 7.5 foot cane rods. I still fish graphite in the Winter (bamboo and ice don't mix) but my rods of choice are graphite, a 7ft 3wt or an 8 ft 6wt depending on what I'm throwing.
I can truthfully say that my shorter rod length doesn't handicap me. On a 30 foot wide stream how could it? And on larger rivers I'm only concerned in that first 30 to 40 feet. I have no problems mending line or with line control Now, I'll draw the line at some of these "trick" rods that are in the 5 foot range. Novelty has its limits.
The Rivers
Every river is now within the "good flow" range. Even the Millers has stared to behave (537 cfs as I write) and with a dry forecast things look great this week. The EB, the Ware, especially the Ware have been producing well. And don't be a 9 - 5er. Fish through dusk!!
Ken
3 comments:
Hi Ken:
I always like reading your views on rods. However, I was wondering if sometime you can talk a bit about lines? There are so many out there in size and types and I know you have a great deal of knowledge as well as a bit of opinion which is always enjoyable to read.
Thanks for all you do for this sport.
I use a 6'6" Orvis Bamboo and at the other extreme a 10'8" T&T. Regarding broken nymphing rods, mix lead headed flies with tight loops (bad technique resulting in chipped rods) and short landing nets (big bend in rod) and its no wonder that more don't break!
Hi Ken- Until now my #1 rod has been a 7' 3" LL bean 3 weight. I'm very comfortable with it for the same reasons you stated. I successfully fish wets without indicators with it thanks too stealthy wading, short close drifts( within 25'or less of the rod) and strike on every strange leader movement. maybe not the most prolific approach but not having a clunky indicator certainly makes casting a joy. I said "now" because I ordered a 7'6" 3 weight bamboo blank and it should become my go to when I complete it. I currently have a 7'6" bamboo 5/6 that I restored and love but it's just a bit heavy for the type of small stream fishing I usually do. I have a really expensive 9' 5 weight Hardy that I usually find myself reaching past in favor of the short Bean rod. The main exception is the fall land lock run on the Still water where bigger flies and roll casting distance become factors.
Great blog as always!
Dean
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