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I rock a SAGE TCR 8wt, as my all around Steelhead rod, it's not for the beginner, but once mastered, takes fly casting to a whole nother level! Nothing at all wrong with SAGE rods!
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Interesting, do you suggest buying one of the combo rod/reels like Redington or Orvis or buying everything separately?
How are you connecting the shanks together? Always found that to be the most difficult part.Fly fishing is like Golf - you *could* play with one club, but you'd only have the right tool for one job, and it'd suck for everything else. 9 weight for salmon / steelhead is fine. Heavy PNW saltwater fishing. Heck, I even used a 10 weight for some bass fishing applications - and if you're near Washington or Idaho, you have Pike and Muskie that will test a 9 weight.
Montana / Wyoming / Idaho trout? I'd carry two rods for that - an 8-9' 4 weight for fishing dry flies and small nymphs, and then an 8-9 foot 6 weight for throwing big dries (like hopper patters), dry & dropper rigs, heavy nymph rigs, and streamer fishing. If you were going to go all serious on hunting predatory trout on big streamers, then a 7 or 8 weight would be the right tool (9 still being kind of overkill there)
Of course if you get into small streams, a 6 to 7'6" 2-4 weight is the bee's knees on that kind of water. You're talking short, pinpoint casts, and a 4 weight can toss a 3 inch streamer 30 feet if you feel the need to head hunt on small water.
If you get into spring creeks (slow moving, glassy, gin clear water with picky, spooky trout) you'll want maybe something like an 8 to 9 foot 2-4 weight for longer, delicate casts and turning over long thin leaders with small flies.
And that's not touching on technique-specific stuff, really. You get the bug bad, then you're looking at 10-12 foot Czech nymphing rods, light two handed rods for swinging flies for trout, heavy two handed rods for salmon & steelhead... yeah, welcome to the addiction!
Don't even get me started on fly tying and tackle craft. I just bought a wire former tool from Hobby Lobby so I could make my own articulation shanks.
How are you connecting the shanks together? Always found that to be the most difficult part.
Gotta get me one of those. I've been inspired to get another jetty rod, gear or fly is the only question.The ones I'm making are slightly less pretty clones of the Fish Skull Fish Spine Shanks
View attachment 825895
Hobby Lobby was running a 40% off coupon for their jewelry making tools, which included the wire former I got.
View attachment 825896 Regular $33 (plus tax) it was $21 after tax.
Gotta get me one of those. I've been inspired to get another jetty rod, gear or fly is the only question.
Those articulated patterns are killer on the Metolius too!
I also found the sizes in the packs to be lacking, I think I looked ages ago and I would need at least two packs of small and large to make some of the larger articulated patterns I was interested in. One of these days I'll go through my stuff and start tying again. It definitely pays for itself to make your own, and I recall using the spinner wires from Oregon Tackle company to make a few articulated Hexagenia nymphs.I did the math - one spool of the single strand stainless wire on the *high end* was $16 (I already had it from other lure making ventures) and the tool, on sale was $21 - totalling $37 to get started if you get the tool on sale (or find one on Amazon) - Fish Skull Fish Spines are $8-10 per pack, so for the cost of 4 packs, you can make hundreds or at least dozens of shanks depending on how big you make 'em. Then its just the cost of the wire after that, $16 is two more packs, but you'll make hundreds or dozens more vs the 10 that come in each pack.
Like shampoo with conditioner!If you're only rocking a single rod for trout. 9' 5 wt is the do all stick.
Like shampoo with conditioner!
I love my 8'6 4wt.If I could only have one flyrod, I would not be upset with a 5wt.
I really prefer my 9' 4wt to anything else tho.
All hand made here in the valley! The craftsman is long gone now!What manufacturer are your bamboo rods?