Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

danbruce

4/5 wt Rods.
« on: 28/11/2011 at 17:17 »
Right guys, i know that it is best to try before you buy but was just wondering if someone could point me in a general direction.

I will be hopefully joining the ADAA for this coming season (can't come quick enough) and i am looking to buy a rod to fill the gap between my 3 wt and my 6 wt.

The 3 wt is a 9' custom made rod made on a harrison blank which i love.
The 6 wt is a 9' 6" shakey travel fly rod.

Was looking for what would be a good starting point to try for a 4/5 wt rod?
Would have a budget of up to £150 possibly £200 at a push.

Cheers, :z18

Dan

Sandy Nelson

Re: 4/5 wt Rods.
« Reply #1 on: 28/11/2011 at 17:37 »
Watch ebay for a decent bargain :z16

That Budget should bag you a really nice rod.

I guess if you have a 9ft6" 6wt then you'd be better with a 9ft 5wt to fill the gap in your rods, although i don't see much of a gap to fill, the 3wt will cope with almost everything the river throws at you unless the wind is blowing, then a 5 would be handy.
I prefer to fish off 4's these days as it saves me carrying too many rods about it kinda bridges the best of both worlds (still love my 3's as well though)

Brands and models would depend on personal choice, but Winston, Scott, Sage, Orvis should all crop up on ebay for the budget.

How do you like your rods??

Sandy

danbruce

Re: 4/5 wt Rods.
« Reply #2 on: 28/11/2011 at 17:49 »
Cheers for the reply Sandy.

have been looking on ebay the last few days and have seen a few tempting rods, but will do a bit of looking around before i decide.

Pretty new to fly fishing, next seaon will be my second year, loved using my 3# towards the end of this season can fish all day with it no problem.

As for how i like my rods i guess i havent really used that many to say what is my ideal rod is, length, action ect...
Not really needing to be casting any more than 30ft or so, so anything that will suit delicate short to medium casting when it's a little windy.
Pretty vauge i know but just looking for a few suggestions to try before i decide what i'll do at the start of next year.

Dan

Sandy Nelson

Re: 4/5 wt Rods.
« Reply #3 on: 28/11/2011 at 17:59 »
I reckon you might surprise yourself with just how far you may be casting :wink
If you are fishing the Don, then 50ft casts are pretty common, you probably don't even realise you are doing it.
30-50ft would probably be about right.
Difficult to suggest products as we all like different things, the trick is to try a few. not so easy to do i know but worth finding out.
If we get an Outcasts day organised for the winter that would be a good start and then take it from there :z16

Cheers

Sandy

danbruce

Re: 4/5 wt Rods.
« Reply #4 on: 28/11/2011 at 18:04 »
Thanks again Sandy,

Might pester a few of the guys that i kow to let me have a try of what they use and see what suits me.
If there is an outcasts day during the winter let me know, would be very interested in coming along.

Cheers,

Dan

Loxiafan

Re: 4/5 wt Rods.
« Reply #5 on: 28/11/2011 at 20:58 »
Hi Dan,

Although I have often been accused of being a gear slut (especially where guitars are concerned) if I were you I'd keep your £200 to soften the ADAA joining fee (county membership for you ?) !

If you are planning on mainly fishing dries I think your 9 foot 3wt should be okay - wind is as much a problem with a 3 or a 4 wt I would think, though a five would possibly make some difference.

Your 6wt would do on windy days or for targetting Sea Trout. Have you tried "underlining" it with a five 5 wt line to see how it feels ? Maybe try a Barrio GT90 #5 if you are wanting to fish "lighter" on that rod ??

I used a 10 foot 4 weight Streamflex XF2 all last season - dries, spiders, nymphs etc I just compromised and got on with it. I used different lines though, Barrio GT90 was really good for short work, and ironically I found a Mastery DT better for distance (loaded that particular rod more smoothly with more line out). Regarding distance, for me anything over 45 feet (15m) and my conversion of sucessful hook ups landed drops, unless I can keep line off the water and fish from stripping too much out, but that is maybe just me. Two or 3 rod lengths all the way if I can but as Sandy says you'll often find fish much further out, sometimes closer to the other bank. I just leave them and stalk those in those in 'my' range. Jeremy Lucas defines the optimum range as 6 to 10 m, though not everyone appears to agree with him !

I was going to get a 9 foot 4 wt for next season for dries, and may still, but after speaking to John Walker yesterday I am inspired to just stick with the one set up and continue to 'make it work' - the man uses gear older than me and only a couple of fly patterns and still catches more than me. That is a lesson !

Hope to see you out and about in 2012 !

Cheers,

Lindsay

danbruce

Re: 4/5 wt Rods.
« Reply #6 on: 29/11/2011 at 19:49 »
Sound advice as usual Lindsay. Well i am in the process of moving into aberdeen so will be a city membership rather that a country one.

Might just work away with my 3wt and 6 wt with various lines and see what i can achive.
The new season can not come quick enough i really looking forward to my first proper season.
Would be good to catch up with you on the river sometime to pick your brains for some info and spend sometime fishing.

Will keep you all updated if i do decide to buy something new.

Thanks again Lindsay and Sandy.

Dan

Loxiafan

Re: 4/5 wt Rods.
« Reply #7 on: 29/11/2011 at 20:55 »
Hi Dan,

Great news about ADAA membership - remember you can now pay the joining fee over two years as well ( I couldn't and had to pay £500 !).

I think you will be fine with the 3 wt and especially as you seem to really like it. You could still fish spiders and even czech nymph with it too.

If I go for a new rod it will be a Streamflex XF2 9'  #4. The Streamflex's are 'marmite' rods and really come in for some stick from some quarters. I love my 10 foot, great feel and very responsive, but a 9 footer would give me more control with dries ( I think). As a new ADAA member you will possibly get a 15% discount card for Somers, Orvis, Bains so worth waiting until then - I got quite a bit of my XF2 from Somers and the guys there were really helpful swaying me from the gimicky (and more expensive) Streamflex plus.

Cheers,

Lindsay

PS the only thing you'll learn from me is how not to cast, fish etc   :z4

Peter McCallum

Re: 4/5 wt Rods.
« Reply #8 on: 29/11/2011 at 21:11 »
If you can get discount from orvis have a wee peek at the access rods very nice for the price!

danbruce

Re: 4/5 wt Rods.
« Reply #9 on: 29/11/2011 at 21:47 »
Sure i'd learn more than that Lindsay.
Thanks for letting me know that i might be able to get discount once i am a member.

Rabbitangler will have a look at the access if i decide to take the plunge for something new.

Might also speak to Mr Barrio about getting some of his highly regarded fly lines. :z16

Dan

Rob Brownfield

Re: 4/5 wt Rods.
« Reply #10 on: 30/11/2011 at 17:57 »
If you like your Harrison it would not be impossible to get someone on here (loads to choose from these days :)) to build you another of the length and weight you want for around £200 or less

Infact a quick search of my suppliers site shows Harrison Traditional blanks for £64, Harrison Ballistas, which are a bit crisper than the T range at £80 and Harrison top of the range Lohric blanks for £129 or other US manufacture blanks starting at £53.

Go on, jump aboard the rod building train :) You know you want too.

danbruce

Re: 4/5 wt Rods.
« Reply #11 on: 01/12/2011 at 19:28 »
Never though of that option Rob quite like that idea.

Having looked at some of the pictures of the custom built rods shown on the forum they certainly look the mutts nuts. :z14

Guess i have more to think about now than i thought, tweek what i already have, buy new online/tackle shop or look into getting something made........... :z8

At least i have a while till the season starts to think about it.

Dan

Ewan Lindsay

Re: 4/5 wt Rods.
« Reply #12 on: 03/12/2011 at 03:41 »
...guitars? :shock Guitars...  :grin! I'm a guitar tart too Lindsay. Come on spill the beans; what have you got? :z12

Ewan

Euan Innes

Re: 4/5 wt Rods.
« Reply #13 on: 03/12/2011 at 17:48 »
...guitars? :shock Guitars...  :grin! I'm a guitar tart too Lindsay. Come on spill the beans; what have you got? :z12

Ewan

Me too.
Come on out with it. Just stand up and say "my name is....and I'm a guitar slut and a tackle tart".

I'll start.
Tanglewood Folk Rosewood reserve acoustic
Fender Strat
Fender Tele
Ibanez black acoustic
cheap classical nylon string
Fender Deluxe amp (heavily customised, man you would not believe how customised!  :z16)

The only thing is that since I got the Tanglewood, the rest have hardly been touched  :z4 :z4 :z4 :z4 :z4

So come on, spill!

 :z1


Ewan Lindsay

Re: 4/5 wt Rods.
« Reply #14 on: 03/12/2011 at 23:53 »
 :z3 Nice Euan.

My toys are:

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Gibson SG Standard
Gibson SG Special (Pete Townsend sig model)
Fender Stratocaster (in paisley pink - my Hendrix fetish!)
Rickenbacker 360 12 string
Yamaha SC800 with Kahler Flyer Tremelo
Gretsch Jet Fireglow (Malcolm Young sig model)
Martin D-14
Martin O-16 NY
Yamaha 12 string acoustic
 And my pride and joy:
1967 Gibson SG Special (they just don't make them like that anymore)
Marshall JCM800

Ewan

 




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