Ever go ultralight?

[drlaser]

Did i ever tell you guys that this fly fishing thing is addicting? My birthday was Friday October 5th and on my way home from college I decided to stop by Bass Pro and just happened to browse the clearance rack back in the fly shop. Out of no where I spotted a couple two weights by TFO for a measly 86 bucks. I decided that, what the hell it was my birthday and all so I bought the rod and an Orvis batten-kill reel and waited for my SA supra line to come in the mail. A few days later the line came in and the next day I went fishing at a pond not even 2 minutes from campus and let loose. On the first cast I caught a fish it felt pretty decent on the new 2 weight. (pics added later) All and all I ended with 15 fish in the span of an hour (bluegill, and a few unidentifiable s) Needless to say I'm addicted to my 2 wt now so much so its my new truck rod. On a side note I'm thinking about taking a road trip up to broken bow or up to Colorado over winter break any suggestions?

 

[williamhj]

Love my 2wt. Wonderful for small stream dry fly fishing, though I do toss nymphs with it too. Something about taking a nice brown trout on a 14 parachute adams that makes me smile. Do try to be careful not to fish for large fish with it, especially in the summer. Can take too long to land and wear them out.

 

[mudbug]

I fished the Rio Grande in CO with a 1 wt for a couple days. Caught a 14" brown on it.

 

[tpo]

I picked up a 7.5' 3 wt last year. My first fish was a 15" largemouth taken on a small popper. Yes, its addictive.... I take that rod with my on most trips now and love to break it out.

Tom

 

[jack crack jones]

Bought and fished a 6.6' 3wt this fall. Took lots of stocker trout on them. Most were under 12 in., but oh what fun!! Hoping to take it out soon to throw some poppers on the rivers for google eye and assorted panfish.

 

[chased]

I frequently use my 6'6" Scott F2 fiberglass rod on the tiny creeks here in western Nebraska. A 10 inch trout puts a nice bend in the rod, nearly doubling it over. When you hook the rare 15"+ monster in these tiny creeks, you are in for a battle. Light rods have their own time and place. I wouldn't even consider using the F2 at the tail water down the road.

-Chase

 

[thewalker1013]

On a side note I'm thinking about taking a road trip up to broken bow or up to Colorado over winter break any suggestions?

The Blue in OK is close enough for a day trip, though not as pretty as Broken Bow. I regretted even taking my 4711 LL up there on the day that I did, too windy and too much weight needed (though I may try again, just take a stiffer stick as a backup.

Hucking the junk one usually needs to for the stocker trout there, I generally take my sage 599. It's a little heavy, but then again they stock some huge fish, and I'd hate to be that guy that killed one of 'em, especially as long as the c&r section runs (check the regs).

Side note, there is a great group of guys in a yahoo group (blueriverflyfishers) that I'm on, and lots of great sportsmen there. They're always happy to offer tips, etc. to a new guy. I highly recommend joining, especially if you're in the DFW area. I've taken many Blue trips when I couldn't take an overnighter

 

[MoscaPescador]

My smallest stick is a 8'3" 3 weight. It is my favorite rod in my quiver.

Please continue to enjoy your new stick.

Dennis

 

[FunkyFlyTying]

One of my go to rods is a Scott G2 7ft 7" 2# and i just love it.
Perfect for the tight overgrown rivers that i fish in the UK.

T

 

[noreaster]

Eagerly awaiting the arrival of my first 3 wt. 6'6". Allen Myth.
Mind you I have to wait till April to christen it. Can't wait.

 

[schiff]

When I was on a rod building kick a few years back, I built myself a Lamiglass 7 foot 3wt. It quickly became my go to rod for small streams and often some of the bigger streams, plus Blue-Gills with small poppers. It is too much fun to feel every twist and turn a fish makes with the light rods.
Hope you really enjoy yours.

 

[tbblom]

7'6" TFO pro 3wt. Landed a few fish toward 15" on it with very little hassle. Plenty of backbone toward the butt. If I have to do a slingshot cast in tight overhanging branches, this is the rod. When I have fought larger fish with it I just try to get them on the reel quick and keep the tip low on the water.

Once I forgot my reel and just tied leader to the end of the rod. caught about 10 browns in an hour doing fake 'tenkara'. It was actually way more fun than I thought it could be.

 

[turbineblade]

Do try to be careful not to fish for large fish with it, especially in the summer. Can take too long to land and wear them out.

I'm not sure I would target large fish with a 1-3 weight rod, but I think on the other end of this statement is the folks who target trout with a 6 weight rod using 6-7X tippet and who will either underplay the heck out of the fish or break off on 'em.

It seems like with a 1-3 weight you'd be MUCH better at protecting the tippet just simply due to the increased 'bend' these rods have and you might actually be able to land fish quite quickly by not having to underplay them.

I've fished my 6 weight quite a lot now and I would say that any tippet thinner than 3X really shouldn't be used on this rod if you actually want to use the full bend of the rod to play the fish....which is kind of the point of using a fishing rod . Maybe not smaller than 2x actually. I mostly use my 6 weight for warm water species with 6-8 pound mono tippet. If you use smaller tippet than that for fish like trout and you are worried about "exhaustion ethics", you should probably be using a 3-4 weight rod in my opinion -- but that's just me.

 

[jborn]

I fished yesterday on a small stream with a 2 wt 7’ 10” rod and had a wonderful time. The stream was most productive in an area where there were lots of overhanging trees and I fished with about 2’ of line and a 71/2 ‘ leader. I just flipped the leader forward and let it drift back to me and I caught fish after fish. The fish were browns and lots of rainbow stockers. The light rod made things more interesting and a lot more fun. My major problem was loss of flies for when I missed a strike (often), the fly eating trees were everywhere.

 

[cowpokey]

I got a TFO Finesse 2wt recently, 7' 3", it's a good stick. Before that my BPS CV2 7'9" 3wt was my favorite...I don't care to fish with anything bigger if I don't have to.

 

[plecain]

I got a St. Croix Imperial Fly Rod Model: I602.2 (6' 0", 2 wt., 2 pc.) last month.
I used this rod for the first time a couple of weeks ago.
My plan was to do some small-water, small-trout fishing first, then go to a different larger river for some larger fish.
I didn't catch anything in the small river, but I wanted to try this rod on some real fish. So, I continued to use it on the bigger river.
It was a little windy, so the 2 wt line and rod took some effort to land a fly where I wanted, but I found I got used to it pretty quickly.
The first fish I hooked was a 1 1/2 lb. brown trout. It put a lot of bend in the rod, but the rod handled it fine. And, it's kind of fun to work a relatively large (for NH) trout on such a short, light rod.
I continued to use the rod all day. Probably caught 20 trout of varying size, the best being 12-15 inch browns and rainbows.
Windy conditions make casting this light rig a challenge, but it was fun, nonetheless.

 

[ib me]

2 wts are a blast I have 2 8ft 6in for floating & wading & a 5ft 6in for mt. trout. Just wait until you try a 1 wt. It gets even better
Dennis

 

[wichaka]

I just picked up a Redington CT 3wt 7'6" rod, have yet to use it...but will before the season is done here.

I have been using a 5wt rod, but the small creeks I fish, the lighter & shorter rod will do much better.

 

[bigjim5589]

I've got 2 custom rods, a 3 & a 4 wt. Either are my preferred rods for trout fishing, the little that I do, or for panfish. But, I don't mind chasing Smallmouth with them either in some of the smaller streams. Light rods are a lot of fun!