[Geocritter]

Hi all,

I've got several low-end rods running from 4 to 8 wt, fishing for trout to bass. Now...as a gift, my wife has offered to let me spend about 350.00 for a "good" setup.

I'm trying to decide between getting one fairly nice outfit with a good warranty, like a Scott A2 7wt (to cover my bases as much as I can), or, getting a pair of something less expensive, like TFO's, say a 4 and 8 wt.

I do want an unlimited warranty, and I want a really good rod (as much as I can get in that range, anyway...I think the scott is right at 300.00). Ive thought about other brands, too, like St. Croix, etc.

Believe it or not, thinking about this has made me go nuts. So any advice would be welcome, esp. for breaking the tie in my thoughts.

My cheap rods aren't too bad; mostly Pflueger Trions, so I've got backup...

HELP!! Thanks!

[Frank Whiton]

Hi Geocritter,

I think we all go through some distress trying to buy gear that we don't have a lot of experience with. You need to decide what your target fish is that you fish for the most. Then buy your rod accordingly. You will find a 7wt to be heavy for trout unless you are fishing Steelhead but works better for Bass. A lot of people try to buy a rod to do everything and it ends up not doing anything well. My choice has always been to buy the best I can afford for each type of fishing. It may take longer to acquire the rods you want but you will be happier with your selections.

You should consider the St Croix Ultra and the Sage Fli besides the Scott A2. If you must go the all around route and you fish for trout the most, I would think about a 6wt. If you fish for Bass the most you may be better off with the 7wt. No one can make the decision for you. What works for one person may not work for you.

So decide if you want to try and get an all around rod or if you want to target a rod for a certain fish. Then find a fly shop that lets you test cast the rods. Then make your choice.

Frank

[Rip Tide]

It sounds like you have all the entry level rods that you need
Pick the one size that you use the most and upgrade it as much as you can afford.
You won't be sorry.

...then save up and do it again


(Personally I hate to pay retail
If it were me, I'd wait until after the first of the year and try to find a good "close-out" when the new models come out)

[Geocritter]

Thanks guys. You are both correct; I guess that's where I'm having my distress. It's mainly over the type of fishing; I love my trout fishing (and small creeks at that, 4wt stuff), but where I live is mostly smallies in the river. I can't say that it's better than 50/50 for either of them, in terms of how often I fish for one over the other. That's why I'm so frustrated.

The truth is, I really need to have two rods (ain't that always the case?), one for the river and one for the creeks.

I think I'm gonna go nuts.

[Rip Tide]

Sounds to me as if you need to start building your own

The last rod I build cost me $60 to put together
(close-out blank, graphite reelseat, bottle cork butt)
It's become my go-to 8wt.

[Geocritter]

I've thought of that before, but considering I've just started getting into fly tying, I think my wife would nix me getting another expensive hobby. lol!

Plus...I don't know that I really have the interest or the confidence to build a rod.

What's ya'lls thoughts on TFO rods? Reason I'm asking I could do the two-for-one compared to Scott or St Croix or something, and I've always heard they're really good. But I've never had one...I just wondered if they are that much better than my budget Trions enough to make it worth my while...

[peregrines]

Hmmmmm.... just a thought, and to add to the dilemma, given where you live, you might want to think about an 8 wt outfit for smallies as well as local saltwater if there's a chance you'll do that in VA or make occasional trips to FL (with decent moderately priced dual drag anodized machined metal corrosion proof reel), I think you'll find an 8 to be a much more versatile weight than the 4 and tad more so than a 7 just in general in terms of multiple species (smallies, LMB, stripers, bluefish, redfish, bones, snook, sea trout, steelhead etc)

Your wife sounds like a keeper. Good luck with whatever you get.

peregrines

[Geocritter]

hehe...I've mulled that one over too...that's my dilimma...I fish around here for smallies (since that's all we really have) in the river, but then when I do get to go to the mountains, less frequently, it's for trout. It's kind of a tossup, and I've been pondering getting two TFO's, say, for that price (roughly), in which case I would probably go 4 and 8, for the reasons you mentioned.

I think a further question, and what would clinch it for me, is where does TFO fit in, performance wise, to the mid-range rods? If somebody told me that they compare really well, as Lefty says :-), then I'd be foolish to buy a Scott or a St. Croix for 300.00, instead of two TFO's.

PS: she's a really great gal. This is her anniversary gift to me for our 5th. :-)
PPS: and don't worry, she's getting what she wants, too... I'm just not as big on jewelry and/or vacation t-shirts like she is.

[BlueDun]

You've got it bad! I see multiple new rods in your future!

You've been given good advice about buying a rod to target what you fish for most.

Also, Orvis did a nice job with the updated version of the Clearwater, now called the Clearwater II. I purchased one for my nephew b/c it reminds me of my Helios. If you purchased one Clearwater II now and saved the rest, you would not need to save very much more money to buy a second rod in a different weight.

[peregrines]

I think if you asked 10 people for advice on rods you'll get 20 different answers. The best thing to do is to try as many rods as you can and see what fits your casting style, and your fishing conditions. Get a feel for different actions. For example you might be casting small flies 20-30' feet with the 4 weight, and might want a rod with more of a progressive, or medium fast action (fuller flex of the rod with shorter amounts of line) for accurate short casts, and sensitive to light tippets. For the 8, you might want a faster action to throw longer, carry more line in the air, with a stiffer butt to turn fish with stronger tippets.

Just my take on TFO.... Performance wise, I think TFO rods give a great bang for the buck. If you're looking for the sweet spot in terms of price/performance, I think the TFO Pro Series at around $150 are the bees knees. They have a medium fast action which is more forgiving than a fast action rod for beginning-intermediate casters. But it's not as wimpy as some other brands with the same label of medium-fast in the same price range and a bit higher, which start feeling a little noodly as your casting improves and you're carrying more line in the air. This is more of an issue in the 8 weight rods as casts with the 4 are likely to be at shorter fishing distances anyway. But the point is, it's a rod you can grow into. I think you're likely to feel the difference compared to the Trions. By all accounts they have excellent customer service, and turnaround is fast on repairs (they charge $25). They don't come with rod tubes though so, factor in another $20-30 bucks per tube.

As you go up in price, at some point you end up paying more and more for less and less improved performance. Sure $650 rods may have "better" performance, but frankly, all my rods are better casters than I am.... and it's not like a $600 rod will catch 4x as many fish as a $150 rod.

My advice would be to try as many rods as you can, again keeping in mind the different conditions you'll be using them. In addition to the TFO Pro 4 and 8, I would also look at the TFO Finesse in the 4 weight, which is also a medium fast action (about $175) and see if you like it. If you can get your hands on TFO rods, also try the 8 weight TiCr ($230) and TiCr X ($240) for faster actions (TiCrX faster than TiCr), which is about the same $ as the more progressive (slower) action Sage Launch, which is another option and entirely different feel.

If you go the one rod $300 route, I would also take a look at the Sage FLi
(fast action) as a rod to compare with Scott's A2 in the 4 and 8 wts, and the Winston Vapor 4 wt (fast action) if you want a few more options for comparison to see what works for you in the same $ range.

Good luck!

peregrines