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Date: February 26, 2008 at 14:12:57
From: ken, [pool-64-223-43-111.prov.east.verizon.net]
Subject: picking a fly rod my opinion |
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Fly Casting
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Date: February 19, 2008 at 10:36:30
From: ken, [pool-64-223-43-111.prov.east.verizon.net]
Subject: Re: my opinion
Picking a fly rod.
When I pick up a fly rod the first thing Id is wave it back and forth with the butt of the rod stuck in my belly so that I can feel its flex with one end anchored so it does not move. That way I can feel the power in the flex of the shank of the blank.
I like it to move throughout the rod all the way to the butt.
I like a rod to load with the weight of the line all the way to the butt and even so I do not cast the rod from the butt but I use the tip for casting and making oops even with a softer rod. The tip is what I use to cast with.
I like the rod to have flex throughout its mid section as I use that flex to load the rod for mending while fishing which is a very important part of fly fishing to me.
A rod that does not mend is not a rod I will even consider as one I would like to use.
I like the rod to have flex in the butt for fighting fish.
Fly rods are not powerful fish fighting tools and I do not use the bend in the rod to fight fish with as there is not any strength there. I point he rod at the fish at a sight angle and use the flex in the butt and the reel to put direct pressure on the fish.
That way the rod is never stressed and never breaks and fish are fought to a standstill quickly. This is true even with very light rods like two and three weights. The butt and the reel are the tools I use to fight fish with and it is extraordinarily effective.
If I am using a very light tippet I will use the bend in the rod to cushion the tippet and play with that fragility through the softness of the rod but that is a compromise I make because of the light tippet.
If I have a heavier tippet on a light rod I will not use the bend but only the reel and the butt
What this allows me to do is to fish for larger fish with lighter tackle and I am able to fish more delicately I n presentation and yet still have the power to land large fish quickly even with very light rods.
Another thing I look for in a rod is that it can handle several line weights without strain on the rod or strain on my body through excess physical effort.
I want the line to load the rod and cast easily with one hand in my pocket.
If I have this then I can add to the power with a double haul or extra false cast but I do not have to cast that way and I prefer to have that as an option not as a necessity.
The next thing I pay attention to is length...
Longer rods cast further with less effort, Always.
Longer rods mend more easily and further distances.
They pick line off het water and carry longer lines in the air with less effort than shorter rods do.
I like short rods for close work up to about fifty feet with nine footer and with that rod length I can cast further if I need to but I like to fish close and a nine foot rod is great but it falls short in handling line at distances over fifty feel.
IF I am going to be mending in a river or in current I prefer a longer rod but I often use shorter rods for short presentations in places where accuracy and quick changes in direction are in order like in trout fishing or in small tidal rivers.
When I was a kid I used six foot rods for everything and learned how to extend my arm to make the rod longer.
I was heavily influenced by Lee Woolf’s theories at that time.
IT was like a religion to me.
The first nine foot rod I bought was traumatic.
I felt like I had committed a sin against the fly rod gods.
That first nine foot rod was a pleasure to use but it did get some getting used to at first ad my reactions to strikes and to fighting fish were geared to a short quick move and that did not work with the longer rods.
My movements had to become larger and a little more forceful and that took some time to get right and I missed a lot of fish and then started breaking off many on the strike.
I did learn though and I am glad I did.
I do not like tip action rods although I once did when I was younger as they have a quick reaction time but I found that they did not fish well except with dry flies on short casts which was fine but limiting due to their lack of grace in mending longer lines.
Also they did not have the softness needed for fighting fish with lighter tippets. I did manage but over time I moved away from them to softer longer rods which had more capacity to do different things well.
Learning how to use the tip to cast with was the biggest factor in being able to use any rod in any situation that calls for casting accuracy and distance. All rods can be tip flex in function if you learn how to cast with the tip and they do not have to be fast rods to do that.
Even bamboo rods can cast tight loops if you learn how to cast with the tip.
I have recently designed a seven foot trout rod that I am looking forward to using as I made it with the same taper I use in my long rods and I believe it will cast several lines from a 2 to a 6 and yet will still have the power to mend and fight fish and not be too stiff to cast easily and accurately with the weight of the lines alone. I also know that it will not be too harsh for using light tippets. I also have a nine footer based on the dame design and that will also be able to cast light lines effortlessly.
That is a big thing with me and fly rods. Ease of casting.
I want the line to load the rod and I want the rod to cast with no extra effort added from the muscles of the angler no matter what size the rod.
I like a rod to load because the flex in the shank of the rod will continue to bend as more weight comes on line. I like the rod to have the capacity to store the energy within itself so that if becomes available to the caster on a gentle and graceful forward cast and can be released through the tip with a flick of the wrist and not through an abrupt shock to the rod or to the arm.
That is why I design rods to have the strength and flex within themselves to transfer and store the mass of the grain weight of the line, no matter how light or heavy it into the flex of the rod to cast several line weights effortlessly with no strain on the rod or the angler.
I know that fly casting is easy if the balances are there and are available to the caster through the flex of the rod and the grain weight of the line.
I do not prefer adding velocity to the line to compensate for too little mass to load the rod from the mass at normal velocity from the rod alone.
Newton’s formula of F=MxA (or) V says it all.
To increase V to compensate for less mass is added work to get the same result and that added work is tiring and excessive and inefficient.
I want a rod to be able to do anything - rather than one thing.
I also want to do those things efficiently with little effort on my part.
I want a rod to be able to single spey and fish pocket water and cast big flies and tiny ones at will.
So I like rods that flex all the way to the butt that bend in the middle for mending and line handling and that have power in the butt for fighting fish.
They must be able to cast several line weights effortlessly and they must have big guides big tips and be weighted in the butt by the reel or through added weight in order to balance in the hand to eliminate strain on the wrist or arm for prolonged casting ease.
I also prefer a simple subdued set of windings, no shiny glitz.
I love bamboo and graphite that mimics bamboo but with the added power of graphite and that is why graphite was first used for fly rods. It had the same loading characteristics as bamboo but with more strength...
When it is fully loaded it stops flexing. Stiff graphite does not load or flex it stops and needs added flex from your muscles. I do not like to do that so I avoid those kinds of graphite rods. They make great conventional rods and spinning rods but in my opinion they do not make efficient fly rods. The flex in a fly rod is critical.
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