Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

Mike Barrio

2pce - 3pce - 4pce - 5pce?
« on: 06/09/2006 at 01:15 »
How many sections do your favourite fly rods have?

We have touched on this subject before when discussing the most popular sizes and line weights.

If I remember correctly, I think we came to the conclusion that 3 or 4 piece rods were more practical, as they fitted in the car boot etc and that modern multi-sectional rods were far better than they used to be.

I have been doing quite a bit of research and development lately ( for reasons that will hopefully become obvious in the not too distant future ) and am finding that my favourite blanks, from both my existing personal rods and those being explored in the project are two piece ones.

Is it just me, or do you find 2 piece rods just that little bit sweeter too?  :z11

Best wishes
Mike Barrio
 :z2

Peter McCallum

How many bits
« Reply #1 on: 06/09/2006 at 08:29 »
Must admit I'm now a fan of multi piece rods. When I started fishing 3+ piece rods were heavier, slower & generally not as nice as 2 piece.

However, last year, I built a couple of rods, one 10' 3piece #5 and one 9' 7pce #5, last year and they are super, particularly the 10'. The 7pce is fast and throws a long line but the 10' is a really sweet fishing, as opposed to casting, tool.

Peter

Euan Innes

Multi piece rods
« Reply #2 on: 06/09/2006 at 08:53 »
Four piece for me thank you very much.

I can't remember the last two piece rod that I owned and I've never had a problem with rod action since I sold my Dave Shipman Drifter about nine years ago. Now that was a stiff rod. I keep wanting another one (I'm sick in the head) but I don't actually need a #7 in my life.

Now if someone did a 4-piece, 11', #4 that might be a different story......

Euan  :z1

wildfisher

2pce - 3pce - 4pce - 5pce?
« Reply #3 on: 06/09/2006 at 09:06 »
3 piece for "out of the car"  work. There is no  real advantage I can see in more pieces in that case as a 3 piece fits in the car easily. For my "real wild fishing trips" (i.e.  up the north face of the Ben and the like)   I now use a 7 piece "March Brown". A  nice rod that  fits discretely into my rucksack. The action (that  indefinable quantity  that is  all things to all men) is not as "good"   as my many 3 piece rods, but still OK.

Rod Mackay

2pce - 3pce - 4pce - 5pce?
« Reply #4 on: 06/09/2006 at 14:33 »
Currently using a 3 pc rod (#7 10.5ft).  Switched from a two piece early this season cause it didn't fit in the boot and the wife was getting fed up of having the rod on her lap in the passenger seat.  :grin:

The 3 pc has a nice feel to it and is great on the bigger lochs but I need to get something a bit lighter for trips to haddo.  Don't suppose you know anyone who sells a #5 4pc 9 footer do you Mike?  :z4

Had a 6 pc in the past as well but spent longer setting it up that I did fishing (probably lack of talent on my part).

Anyway I guess 3 or 4 suits me best.

Cheers

Rod

Irvine Ross

4 piece please
« Reply #5 on: 06/09/2006 at 20:22 »
I have two 2piece rods which I often use and often wish were 4 piece. You just can’t hide them in the back of the car and they have to sit by the passengers feet where they are in danger of getting broken. I certainly won’t buy another 2 piece rod.

Both my 4 piece rods feel just fine and I suspect that a good modern blank with well designed spigots will have as good an action as anything you can get.

We await the unveiling of the new toys with baited breath  :grin:

Irvine

Iain Cameron

multi-piece
« Reply #6 on: 07/09/2006 at 08:43 »
hi all,

i guess for most of us, the practicality of a 3 or more piece rod is important -- of course, it is a given that these multi-pieces have a performance so good that makes it hard for me to differentiate from 2-pieces

for me, 2-piece rods are cumbersome since they don't fit easily in the car, and always have to be brought back in to the hoose after a fishing trip, along with neoprenese and water bottles and fishing bags etc  loading up the car earlier this year, i carelessly closed the boot on the 2-piece. crunch :-(

much easier,  i keep a couple of 3 piece rods in the car boot. where the cordura tubes fit perfectly and provide proteection. and currently thinking of adding a 4-piece (or more!) rod to my collection for foreign fishing trips.

cheers
iain,

Sandy Nelson

2pce - 3pce - 4pce - 5pce?
« Reply #7 on: 07/09/2006 at 21:35 »
Well

I have also experimented with lots of styles of rods over the years, and i agree that 4 pc for the boot of the car is indeed a fine idea, however when it comes to rods that actually have the feel i'm looking for then i'm afraid its 2 pieces every time.
The modern multi piece rods are very good casting tools and for the whole they are really sweet, but there is something about a two piece rod that just feels so right. To be honest you only really notice when you cast the two side by side, and particularly the same blank in 4pc and 2pc configurations. Then you notice that there is much greater sensitivity from the 2 pc rod and the feedback is enhanced.I reckon its down to the fact that each joint is a stiff point in the rod(even on the best of them) and most designers alter the makeup of the blank to compensate the action just before and after the joint, the cane rod designers do this too but their ferrules weigh more than a carbon spigot or sleeve and they dont flex the same as they are different materials so they have to compensate for different reasons.The stiff points do affect the feel of the rod when you are casting and you can notice the difference.
Consequently my 3 favorite rods are all 2 pc, and i have always found they fit between the seats in the car without any problems, they dont get in anyones way, i generally only take one rod with me at a time so there is never a rod left in the car when i'm fishing.Plus being between the seats of the car the rods dont move about when your driving.4 piece rods roll about the boot, can get crushed under wellies, tackle bags etc if not in a tube and at the risk of being pretentious you should always take your rod out of the car and tube when you get home to let the cork air dry, or else it WILL rot.
So i see no dis-advantages in 2 pieces, only advantages unless you intend to take the rod on holiday :cool:
Besides has anyone else noticed just how many rods seem to get broken these days (now that most people use multi section rods).
How many of us have broken 2 piece rods while fishing with them - not me (touch wood :wink: )
I like feed back through my hands so i'll stick to my 2 pc rods, but it is a personal thing, i would suggest that if people were to try both together they might just surprise themselves. :grin:

Sandy

Rob Brownfield

2pce - 3pce - 4pce - 5pce?
« Reply #8 on: 08/09/2006 at 09:22 »
My feeling are that the fewer the amount of joints the truer the curve of the rod is and the lighter the blank.

For every join there has to be extra wraps of carbon, extra whipping and extra varnish. On one of my heavy Pike rods this will probably go unnoticed, but on a fly rod it makes a difference.

You also introduce areas of extra stress to contend with and also areas of misalignment which may affect casting.

In Australia we used single piece 14 foot beachcasters, a bugger to transport but very difficult to break and you could cast amazing distances with them.



And thats the reason why most of my fly rods are 4 piece now!!  :shock:  D'oh!!! I like to hide them out of the way in the back of the landy.

wullie42

rod sections
« Reply #9 on: 08/09/2006 at 20:57 »
hiya
i find that 2 peice rods are much nicer than multi section rods i have tried several multi section rods but the 2 section rod has a much better action even although the added length can create problems sometimes

Mike Barrio

2pce - 3pce - 4pce - 5pce?
« Reply #10 on: 12/09/2006 at 08:50 »
Lots of great feedback  :cool:

I agree, modern multi section rods feel great and fit in the boot, but when you build the same rod on a 2, 3 and 4 piece blank you really feel the difference ........... the 2 piece one is almost always much much sweeter!

If I were going to build a very special fly rod for myself, I would certainly choose to make it a 2 piece one. But I would also have a standard multi section rod for travel purposes like holidays etc, or for when the car is full.

Sandy touches on the breakages thing, he is right, I see it happening on a very regular basis at the fishery. Perhaps it has something to do with joints working loose while fishing, I don't know.

Great stuff
Best wishes
Mike Barrio
 :z2

Dave Olley

2pce - 3pce - 4pce - 5pce?
« Reply #11 on: 14/09/2006 at 12:42 »
Message for Soundmixer, if you are serious about the 11ft 4pc 4wt it can be done, and on a fabulous blank at that :grin:
Send me an email on dave@learnforlife.fsnet.co.uk :wink:

 




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