7 wt

[poopdeck]

So my wife bought me an 11' 7wt rod. I really wish she didn't but I really appreciate the effort.

I wanted a 7 wt for fishing the delaware river for SM and LM bass with Mostly clousers, poppers and baitfish streamers. 11' seems long to me. I was looking at about 9' or 9'6".

Before I return the rod and make my wife feel like she screwed up the gift I figured I'd ask those who know considerably more then I. What's the benefit of an 11' foot rod? Is an 11 footer actually better suited for my intended use? Could my wife be a closet genius when it comes to fly rods?

All opinions, good or bad, will be much appreciated.

 

[Millsertime]

Is it a double hand rod?

 

[Perkasiezeb]

with that length it is likely a switch rod. Love mine for casting heavier sink tips and flies. Much less energy than traditional one handed rods. Should be perfect for swinging clousers and the like

 

[poopdeck]

It is not a two hand. Wait a minute. I just pulled it out again. It's got about a foot of cork in front and about 4" of cork in the butt. It's kinda of a tweener. It's a cabelas TLr.

Thanks for the help. It's definately a switch rod. I'm not getting Into all that so I will be returning it for a tfo. Thanks for the help.

 

[afishinado]

Hey Poop, my go-to rod for big river smallies is a 10' 7wt but a 9'6" 7wt would also work well. I suggest you try casting the rods, if you can, to find the one that works best for you. Good luck with your new rod.

 

[poopdeck]

Crap, I knew this would happen. I'm thinking of keeping it now but I'm getting confused over line.

 

[moon1284]

You've got a switch rod. Airflo and Rio have charts you can Google to show compatible lines with switch rods and 2 handers. SA may also have a chart. If you don't see your rod on any of the charts, contact cabelas and they should give you line recommendations. You could also ask on the speypages site.

I don't do much warm water fishing, but this rig could be pretty good rig for your application. You should be able to cast farther using spey casts than overhead casting with a 9' 7 weight, and you can definitely turn over heavier flies.

 

[poopdeck]

Okay I'm keeping it. I guess weezy is a closet genius. Ill have to ak her what she thinks of shooting heads, sink tips, and whatever else I have to figure out with this thing.

 

[PennKev]

poopdeck wrote:
I wanted a 7 wt for fishing the delaware river for SM and LM bass with Mostly clousers, poppers and baitfish streamers.

I would go ahead with the exchange and get a 9' 7wt.

If you are in any way serious about bass fishing, you will end up getting a conventional 7 or 8wt rig anyway. A switch rig is just not going to get it done.

Kev

 

[afishinado]

PennKev wrote:

poopdeck wrote:
I wanted a 7 wt for fishing the delaware river for SM and LM bass with Mostly clousers, poppers and baitfish streamers.

I would go ahead with the exchange and get a 9' 7wt.

If you are in any way serious about bass fishing, you will end up getting a conventional 7 or 8wt rig anyway. A switch rig is just not going to get it done.

Kev

+1 ^

A 7wt single hand rod is better suited for the type of fishing you plan to do.

 

[Fishidiot]

My 11' 7WT switch sees less use these days on SMB rivers. I like it for nymphing but matching a line to it has been a real headache. There are lines designed for switch rods but they are more costly than I'm willing to spend on fly lines (many of the rods I build cost less!). Initially, I just used it with a regular 7WT WTF line and this worked decent but getting the rod to work as a spey rod has been disappointing for me.

These days I do most of my river bassin with a basic 9' 7WT rod. I still use the long switch from time to time (it's not bad for swinging streamers on big trout streams too) but I'd definitely go with the standard 7 if I had only one bass rod.

 

[poopdeck]

After reading about the various line choices I'm back to returning it. Plus there is no way my wife is a closet genius. She one time scraped ice with a plastic ice scraper off the hood, roof and trunk of her car.

I'm going to stick to the original plan of getting a TFO 7 wt.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[poopdeck]

I took it back and exchanged it for a 9' 8wt lefty Kreh signature rod, a cabelas TLr reel and rio outbound line all for a little under 240.00

I figured why screw around since my plan is to toss large poppers and streamers with it. I can also hit the back says with it for some blues.

 

[afishinado]

poopdeck wrote:
I took it back and exchanged it for a 9' 8wt lefty Kreh signature rod, a cabelas TLr reel and rio outbound line all for a little under 240.00

I figured why screw around since my plan is to toss large poppers and streamers with it. I can also hit the back says with it for some blues.

A 9' 8wt is a great general purpose heavier rod. I used one as my bass, steelie, light SW rod for years. It should be up to the task for all the fishing you plan to do.

Good luck with your new rod.

 

[poopdeck]

Now I have to tie bigger poppers. It's a viscous circle.