Fly Fishing Rods the Main Arsenal in Fly Fishing

Fly fishing rods are the most important tools for fly fishing. Choosing the wrong rods can be very frustrating and might even spoil the joy that otherwise will bring in your fly fishing career. You need a fly rod that you find pleasure holding and casting with it the whole day on the water. Nothing will put you off fishing faster with a wrong rod that instead of pleasure but pain in your hand. It’s like choosing your life partner!

The length, the weight and the action of the rod that you’ll be having largely depends on the fishing situation, the fish you want to catch and casting styles.

A balanced outfit which consists of a rod, reel and line is very important. The rod and reel must be of the correct weight and the line must be also of the correct weight for the rod that you select. In fly fishing the thick line acts as the weight for casting the bait or in this case the flies.

Fly fishing rods come in a wide selection of length and line sizes, from as short as 6 ft. to as long as 15 ft or even longer. Since the line must be of the correct weight for the rod, fly rods come with specifications, especially the weight of the fly line.

Shorter rods are lighter which don’t cast well into the wind and distance. They’re marked with lower weight fly line (#1, 2, 3 or 4) used for small body of waters for catching small trout and small fishes or panfish. They’re considered ultralight rods used to cast very small flies. A little rod is a joy to use but it won’t give you the power to control a very big fish. An 8 wt. rod is considered heavy which enables you to cast with bigger flies and landing bigger fish.

If you’re fishing on a small stream of less than 30 ft wide, a 7-81/2 ft long rod is adequate. It has enough power for you to cast the distance. And for a wider river of more than 40 ft. you might need an 81/2-10 ft. long rod. Longer rod enables you to cover greater area of water.

For saltwater fly fishing, however, might call for a 10 ft long rod with line rating of 9-10 wt. class and above. Most experienced saltwater fly fishermen prefer longer fly fishing rods over shorter rods. Saltwater fly rods are built with longer handle for distance casting with both hands unlike normal fly rods; they’re built without handle for better casting.

Understanding the action of the rod is also vital; because the action of the rod helps you in many ways, like controlling your catch and the distance. And there’re 3 types of rod actions: slow or progressive, medium-fast, and fast.

Slow-Action

A slow or progressive action is a good close range rod when fishing in a small tight little stream where you don’t have to cast the distance. This action has much more bend throughout the whole rod. It has much more feel and it’s an excellent rod for trout fishing.

Medium-Fast Action

The medium-fast action is the best and most popular choice amongst fly fishermen. It has enough power as well as stiffness for most casting styles and fishing situations. For a one rod for all purposes angler, this is a great choice.

Fast-Action

Fast-action rod is stiff and heavy. Sometimes called a tip-action rod you can achieve great distance with it, but only when you’re very experienced. It’s not a good recommendation for beginners; they’ll find difficulty with this action.

Nowadays, most fly fishing rods are made from graphite. And only traditional rods were made from bamboo or cane. But we can forget about this kind of rod, it’s not intended for beginners.

Graphite is light, sensitive, powerful, easy to maintain and most of all cheap and good. Buy one with high quality graphite from an establish brand and of course it won’t be cheap but you won’t regret. Remember, the rod is the most important weapon.

Ask for one with long guarantee, better is one with a lifetime guarantee. So, if you happen to break it, you can return it and it’ll be repaired or better still replaced with a new one, free of charge!

Some of the brands that I can recommend are: Orvis, Redington, Sage, St.Croix, G.Loomis, Winston and many others.

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