brookie rods

[pcray1231]

Well, I'd much rather catch an 8" wild than a monster stocker. Just like I'd rather kill a barely legal buck on public land than go to some fenced place and pay money to kill a monster. But thats just me. I see very little difference in catching a trout raised to 20" in a hatchery before release vs. catching one that was only raised to 10". Catching fish is fun, including stockers, and I'm not above that. But in the "pride" category, level of wildness comes way above size. And yeah, there are levels of wildness. For instance, adult fish stocked as fingerlings are nearly wild, holdovers are more wild than fresh stocked, etc.

For the brushy streams, distance is still the name of the game, but all is relative. Being able to pull off a 30' cast is a rarity. Having to throw a 15' cast sidearm with no backcast while positioned like a pretzel in some rhodo is more common. Yeah, you could approach to 10' and maybe get an easier cast, but you'll spook more fish and catch less that way.

 

[troutbert]

I do a lot of mountain stream fishing and if you are going to get one rod for that type of fishing I recommend a 7 1/2 ft, 4 wt.

Regarding rod action, that's a matter of preference. I prefer fast action. I've never had the problem with the rod not loading on short casts, as some have described.

 

[stevehalupka]

8 '' over stocked trout if on dries without a doubt... but nymphing for those small fish is not for me. I see others here don't seem to believe wilds take dries in winter, but I catch all species in the dead of winter on dries all the time. Just don't see the point in nymphing for wild freestone trout. They will eat anything.

 

[evw659]

well, just ordered the ll bean 6'6" 3 wt. with a reel and line for $100. the main reason i bought it is cuz it was cheap and ill only use it on the smaller of small streams and on ones with a lot of brush. for the larger brookies streams with minimal brush, ill use my brothers 7'6" 4 wt. i know the reel and line im going to get are CRAP but i dont care. ive used very cheap line before, its not that bad till it cracks, in which case ill just buy 20 dollar junk line to replace it. thanks for all the info and help guys.

 

[gfen]

I think you'll be happy with it. The lifetime satisifaction is the nicest part, and their quest 2 reels aren't as bad as you might think.

I prefer the rod with a 4wt line, but the only 3wt I use has a very long, slender front taper so it doesn't load fast rods too much. It might be better with a different, less gentle, 3wt line. Or, I dunno, I like slow more than fast.