Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

Derek Roxborough

Re: Long single handed rods?
« Reply #15 on: 15/07/2018 at 21:59 »
not a new IdeaTerry ,the late AH wood used a 12 ft rod for all his fishing and this was a cane rod, som of my best fishing in a boat was done with an 8ft 4wt while my shoulder healed after using a heavy 10ft-6in rod for a number of years ,it's a bit like archery, 2 new starters came to my group asking about bows I told them to get a light manageable bow but these too were two macho and bought heavy draw weight bows one of them now has a Damaged back and cant draw a bow, the other did something similar, these were men in middle age, I will stick to what I know I can manage, and continue to enjoy my fishing, so don't over bow it will only hurt in the long run,  :z18 Derek Roxborough

Rob Brownfield

Re: Long single handed rods?
« Reply #16 on: 16/07/2018 at 08:23 »
If I could get hold of a Drennan Acolyte 15' blank I would get it built into a fly rod just to satisfy my curiosity. It must have been done before? Maybe the blanks have not been available and 15' makes people think 'salmon'? Fly rod blanks are made to cast with, hence they tend to be a bit heavy at 15'.  So, who is going to build me a 15' ultralight dibbler special?
.

I can do you a 15 foot Harrison GTi if interested ;)

Rob Brownfield

Re: Long single handed rods?
« Reply #17 on: 16/07/2018 at 08:33 »
So, when I first moved to Scotland all those years ago I came with a van load of coarse gear, including a couple of Poles.

At 11m I could "dap" flies right on top of trout from the bank :) I did very well on Loch Saugh off the dam wall. I als used it at a shorter length of plopping worms into pocket water on a local burn.

But wait, there is a better option. Have a look at Bolognese Rods. These are designed for fishing the deep rivers of Europe and are anything from 15-20 feet+, telescopic, but built on high end blanks. Shimano and Daiwa both have a range in the UK. They would easily handle the methods you describe.

Shimano even have a Trout model already at 15 feet... http://fish.shimano-eu.com/content/fish/eu/eu/en/homepage/Product-detail.P-AERNOS_TROUT_GT.html

Terry Coging

Re: Long single handed rods?
« Reply #18 on: 16/07/2018 at 10:36 »
Thanks Rob. The problem with Bolo rods is that the rings are too small for a fly line. I already have a 17 footer. Even the best from Shimano are considerably heavier than the three piece 15' Drennan  or even the Shakey Agility 2.  I am looking for something light that will work a team of 3 better than an 11 footer. I envisage a long top dropper dancing a daddy for a few yards.

What is a Harrison GTi and how heavy would a 15 footer be?

Terry Coging

Re: Long single handed rods?
« Reply #19 on: 16/07/2018 at 10:44 »
not a new IdeaTerry ,the late AH wood used a 12 ft rod for all his fishing and this was a cane rod, som of my best fishing in a boat was done with an 8ft 4wt while my shoulder healed after using a heavy 10ft-6in rod for a number of years ,it's a bit like archery, 2 new starters came to my group asking about bows I told them to get a light manageable bow but these too were two macho and bought heavy draw weight bows one of them now has a Damaged back and cant draw a bow, the other did something similar, these were men in middle age, I will stick to what I know I can manage, and continue to enjoy my fishing, so don't over bow it will only hurt in the long run,  :z18 Derek Roxborough

Derek - my intention is to avoid casting and to fish in a crossover manner  with a light rod - something between dapping and  traditional team of three Loch style.  15' seems about right for that.

Rob Brownfield

Re: Long single handed rods?
« Reply #20 on: 17/07/2018 at 08:15 »
Thanks Rob. The problem with Bolo rods is that the rings are too small for a fly line. I already have a 17 footer. Even the best from Shimano are considerably heavier than the three piece 15' Drennan  or even the Shakey Agility 2.  I am looking for something light that will work a team of 3 better than an 11 footer. I envisage a long top dropper dancing a daddy for a few yards.

What is a Harrison GTi and how heavy would a 15 footer be?

Ah, sorry, I thought you were after a dapping style rod for use with floss/mono. Have you considered a Euro nymph fly line? Whilst not tapered, you can still cast them 10 yards or so.

The GIi  is a lovely blank, super action and capable of handling decent fish if one is hooked by mistake. Has a bit of a cult following for river specialists. There are no fancy weaves or wraps, its a good old, super reliable carbon blank.

It is not the worlds lightest blank compared to the top end £500+ match rods, but it is still lighter than a 15 foot salmon rod. It has a lot more low down power that a one of these modern light match rods, more than capable of stopping a big barbell in a heavy flow. They also so it in 17 foot and 20 foot but I think they are special orders now and subject to a surcharge.

Blank at 15 foot is around £150 (ish) and comes in matt or gloss carbon, or a lovely gloss chestnut brown.

Some images of the 14foot SU version. https://www.lureofthefloat.co.uk/blog/14-foot-harrison-su-float-rod-build/



Terry Coging

Re: Long single handed rods?
« Reply #21 on: 17/07/2018 at 08:43 »
Thanks again Rob.  I'm thinking about a 14' GTi ringed with fly Fuji's and with a 12" extension. If the fly experiment fails it will be used for barbel - probably still use it for barbel if the experiment works  :cool: Can you pm me a price please?
The Euro nymph line sounds interesting.
I am really lucky to be in a club that have a 20 acre trout lake with boats, a 20 acre coarse lake (be there tomorrow) and over a mile of barbel river all on the same site.  The perfect place to flux game and coarse ideas.

Terry Coging

Re: Long single handed rods?
« Reply #22 on: 06/08/2018 at 16:53 »
Tried a 15' Bolo tele rod  with a DT #2 line.  The fishing on our res is dour - like most waters at the moment, so it was a good time to play. I messed around with different leaders and flies and proved that 'wafting and lifting' can work a team nicely, with the top dropper dancing for a fair few yards. I will persevere with this method for a while.  Still on a steep learning curve. The Bolo telescopic rod was quite heavy and dead and not pleasant to fish with . I have aquire'd a much lighter 15'/17' coarse rod and it will be tried out this week. The weight 2 line runs through the rings nice and smoothly and it 'wafts' a straight and delicate line on my lawn. Just need to rise a few fish to see what playing a troot is like with a 17' rod  :wink
I'm also going to try a w/f #5 line fitted belly first on the reel and experiment with different lengths of running line out of the top ring.  This may help the 'waft' and lengthen the dibble.  We shall see. 

Terry Coging

Re: Long single handed rods?
« Reply #23 on: 17/08/2018 at 14:16 »
The 'long single handed rod' topic has turned out to be 'Very long d/h trout rods' .  I've been using a 17' coarse rod with a d/t #2 floater to 'waft' a team of three out. I've toyed with various combinations of leader lengths and flies, along with variations of waft and retrieve/dibble/dap. 
Fishing buddies and reservoir staff are having a giggle at my antics, but a couple of boat partners are now watching seriously. The giggles and p..s takings are turning into interest  :wink
What does long rod 'wafting' do?
Typically, fishing a team of three from a boat an average angler will be able to -
Achieve a beautiful turnover and feather like presentation with a #2 wt., that an expert would be very pleased with.
Start working the flies better further from the boat with more control with varying winds and drift speed.
Also, for the less able or elderly angler 'wafting' with both hands can put a nice line out with little effort.
More trials needed. I learn a lot every trip.
Oh! playing and landing average sized rainbows on a 17' match rod is OK and I think that finer leaders can be used  :z16


Hamish Young

Re: Long single handed rods?
« Reply #24 on: 20/08/2018 at 18:47 »
Duncan Pepper of http://fishinguide.co.uk/ had a 12' #4/5 rated single hander when Euan and I saw him last week, think he said it had come from Poland  :z8
I didn't cast it, but looked quite sweet in Duncans hands.
H

Terry Coging

Re: Long single handed rods?
« Reply #25 on: 22/08/2018 at 07:02 »
Hamish. That rod is likely to be an EGO 3.45m #4 Polish nymph rod. Looks nice but not what I'm after.
On the reservoir today testing my mk3  Wafter creation,  now at 17' 4" and counterbalanced.

 




Barrio Fly Lines - designed in Scotland - Cast with confidence all over the world

Barrio Fly Lines

Designed in Scotland

Manufactured in the UK

Cast with confidence all over the world

www.flylineshop.com