"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message
...
Bob La Londe wrote:
"Ken Fortenberry" wrote:
... The last week of May and the first week of June
is a good time to use everything in the bag. All the fly rods, 1wt
to 9wt, will get a workout. ...

You know Ken. I actually own two fly rods. A 5wt which I pretty much
use for everything, and 7/8 that I use for giant rabbit fur streamers
(look like worms in the water to me) and large poppers. They aren't Sage
or St Croix or anything like that. The 5wt which I like better and has a
much better feel is a Wal-Mart special, and the 7/8 is a Scientific
Angler special, and feels like using a soggy log. I can lay down some
pretty tiny flies with the 5wt so I never saw any need to get a lighter
rod. After experimenting I have found I can do pretty well with the
larger stuff with it too. The only good reason I take both rods on the
rare occasions when I fly cast is so I do not have to stop and change
leaders if I decide the monster size bugs will produce a bass or some
good size panfish. In open water I can pretty much land anything on the
5wt and as an experienced bass wincher I already know if something gets
back in the trash its just patience and luck to get it back out. P.S. I
used to own three fly rods, but when my rod rack got knocked over a year
ago that was one of the rods that didn't make it back out of the melee.
I wouldn't even own the 7/8 or the one that got broken (a 6/7) if it
weren't some comments you made a long time ago on ROFF.

Of course I almost never do any really long line presentation on a fly
rod so a lot of the subtleties are no doubt lost on this bass wincher.

Yeah, having a rod rack full of fly rods is more luxury than necessity
but they do accumulate over the years as you get them for specific
situations. For largemouth, read big, honking, wind-eating bugs, a
lot of folks like an 8wt. In fact, there was a fly fishing magazine
devoted to largemouth fishing titled 8 Wt Journal. For smallies my
preference is a 6wt and if I were allowed only one fly rod (shudder ;-),
for trout it'd be a 5wt.

But all this is changing as fly rod manufacturers all seem to be
migrating to the "faster is better" philosophy, especially in the
bigger weights. Part of the reason is that the higher modulus boron,
graphite blends allow them to make faster rods and part of it is
keeping up with the Joneses. If Sage makes a fast rod, Loomis will
make one faster and Scott will try to one up that. And of course,
there are fly fishermen who always have to have the latest and greatest
so there's always been a market for "new and improved" when "old
and traditional" still works just fine.

Is there any truth to the faster is better? I guess it would certainly help
with hook setting on some species like largemouth, but I've always just
loaded up the rod and hung on trying to gentle the fish in. How about for
presentation? It seems to me if the rod is too fast it would make it hard
to make full casts because you couldn't feel the rod load up right on the
back cast. I guess I have to find one and try it now.

Bob La Londe
www.YumaBassMan.com