[jmrf]

I need some recommendations. I'm looking for a very short rod to fish a tiny spring creek. It has speckled trout in it. It is a very tight area. Lots of trees and brush. I have a Hardy Flyweight reel that i will use on it. I was thinking a 2 or 3 wt, medium-fast action, between 6.5' and 7.5'. I don't need to spend a fortune but at the same time I want a quality rod. Any good ideas?

[Joni]

I bought a WW Griggs 6 fot 3 wt for $29. at Sportsmans Warehouse. Great for those little creeks. Not sure it is worth that Hardy, but it is a great rod. Mine has a CFO spring pawl on it

[dougm]

Suggest you take a look at http://www.dorber.com and most especially the brunsell "li'l streamer."


Keep in mind that these little rods, 4.5 to 5.5 feet in length, are typically weighted for heavier lines than you might ordinarily think ... a 2/3-weight is apt to be a poor choice, as opposed to a 4/5, simply because the close environment will not allow the rod to load. Short light leaders are also the order of the day.


Doug

[Joni]

Interesting little rods

[mojo]

Originally Posted by jmrf

I need some recommendations. I'm looking for a very short rod to fish a tiny spring creek. It has speckled trout in it. It is a very tight area. Lots of trees and brush. I have a Hardy Flyweight reel that i will use on it. I was thinking a 2 or 3 wt, medium-fast action, between 6.5' and 7.5'. I don't need to spend a fortune but at the same time I want a quality rod. Any good ideas?

Don't rule out glass rods for that size. Diamondbacks Diamondglass would be one to think about. Steffan Bros. and McFarland are others. A glass rod is slower than plastic and a glass 6'er will load better than a graphite 6'er.

[dougm]

Mojo’s comments are good, and I do love the Diamondglass … however, in really close environs a 6-footer simply won’t cut it, at least in my opinion. That’s why I pointed to dorboR’s little rods in the 4.5 to 5.5 foot range.

For really close in work – 15 to 25 feet – 4.5 to 5- foot rods are hard to beat. The dorboR that I own is 5-feet in length and designed for 5-weight DT-F lines. I cut the front taper off mine so that the heavy belly is up front to increase the short range load factor.

Because leaders don’t load much of anything except grass, brush, and tree branches, I use a short piece of 25# Amnesia as a leader butt fronted to an Orvis Mirage Bimini 4-foot tippet. When I reach a spot that enables longer casts, I switch spools to a SciAngler Ultra 4 DT-F ... If Mr. Wind isn’t up, this rig is fully capable of casts to 50-feet or more.

In the day of old age and bad backs, I sometimes think that the cutting edge of fly fishing is in the close in work, not going for distance.

Anyone been dapping lately?

Doug

[BigCliff]

Not sure if they still make it, but Scott used to make a 6' 3wt in their voyager series that was a sweet little rod for the kind of thing you're looking for. That series has been reincarnated as the V2.

A still shorter rod will work better for normal casting in heavy brush, But remember that roll casting can work best of all, and I doubt a 4.5' rod will do that very well, unless you incorporate the tomahawk chop as well. (incorporating your whole arm into a roll cast inorder to extend the functional length of the rod by the length of the rod)