How Many Rods On This List Do You Have?

[FiveWeight]

The Fenwick Glass. Bought right here in Lititz from the Woodstream outlet. And the Trailmaster. I've had them both since the early 70s the Eagle Claw is pretty clunky but it'll do in a pinch. The Fenwick glass is a sweet rod I always take it with as a back up.

 

[Night_Stalker]

Back in the late 70's I built 2 Fenwick glass blanks. I need to get them out and put them to use on some panfish. The rest of the list would be a nada...

 

[jay348]

untamed_spirit wrote:
I have a Fenwick HMG.

+1

the 8 footer

I must have been 12 or 13 when I got it. Didn't touch it until a few years back when I picked up FFing again, and its still my main trout rod.

Never been able to find much info online about these. I've recently been debating an upgrade, but I haven't brought myself to it. I love the thing.

 

[tomitrout]

Where did this guy get the creds to be able to pick the ten best rods of all time?

Well, he has a pretty popular, well written website, years of experience and an opinion. Sooo, pretty much the same creds as any others who compile these lists. And if you don't like his list, he did write this at the end of his 'criteria' section:

Of course, it’s possible the assembled Undergrounders have different ideas, and if you can write a solid-but-snarky justification (see below), I may create a followup “Underground Reader’s Choice” post (and who doesn’t want to be famous)? Naturally, saltwater and spey (two-hander) fly rods are wholly underrepresented in this list (with one exception), and I want to say right now that I’ve managed to avoid the slightest twinge of guilt about that.

That said, it's an interesting list and I'm lucky to have a couple on it...

Though not an original, I have a Perfectionist clone in my quiver, a quad by Zietek. I just picked it up last fall on a trade and I'm thinkin' it's gonna be that go to all arounder I've been looking for.

And I also have a 4pc EagleClaw Trailmaster that was my father's and is pretty much the rod I first learned to flyfish with, definitely belongs on the list.

Oh, and though it's not an exact fit, I also have a "Reasonably tapered 8.5-9' 6wt"....but it's an 8'er, T&T Classic.

Others that I'm close on, the Payne 100, would love to try one out someday, but I'll settle for my 7' Payne 98 clone for now. I had a Powell graphite rod back in the mid-90's, pretty sure it was the Light Touch he mentions but it's long been traded out from my aresenal. And I still have my Scott 4wt G-series, but it's not the 8'er, it's a 6'10" model. Those older G series rods are pretty sweet and I don't ever see parting with that stick.

Never owned a Fenwick, might have to remedy that someday...

 

[gulfgreyhound]

I didn't see where trout care about rod labels. GG

 

[The_Sasquatch]

I have the Fenwick Feralite 5wt and I use it often.

Pcray, I only have a handful of rods too.
Brookie-Eagle Claw Featherlight 6' 5wt
All purpose trout rod-Fenwick Feralite
Warmwater/Steelhead-Shakespeare Wonderrod 7wt
Then I have some Sage 9'5wt, not sure of the model, and I use that for warmwater canoeing and such, and an old first generation graphite rod built by a friend of mine in the late 70s. 8.5' 6wt. I use that on streams like The Pine where the extra length helps mending and such.

 

[dc410]

I don't have any of those, but I do have some fly rods.

 

[Swattie87]

Fun to read and talk about, but this is clearly a subjective topic. All that matters is you like the rods you have and they work for the type of fishing you do. I have the common cover-all from the list - 9'0 6wt, but that's it.

I have a couple more backups, but in reality I use the following 4 rods for my PA fishing:

LLBean Streamlight Ultra 6'11 4wt, 2 piece - Brookies/Small Stream

Redington Classic Trout 7'6 3wt, 4 piece - Backpacking/Long Hikes

Redington Pursuit 8'0 4wt, 2 piece - Workhorse Trout Rod

Cabelas L-Tech 9'0 6wt, 4 piece - Warmwater/Big Trout Water

While fishing them, the two little rods essentially serve the same function...I prefer the LLBean, but the 4 piece Redington is easier to hike/bike with.

 

[rrt]

I guess my old HMG Fenwicks are only marginal rods. I do have an 8/6 that fits the no name category. Otherwise, I am just the plebeian fly-fisherman I've always been.

 

[PennypackFlyer]

I guess the old saying is still very true,"What is one man's trash is another man's treasure."

 

[afishinado]

I would venture to say most FFers today would not appreciate many if not most of the rods on the list. It never ceases to amaze me how varied FF anglers tastes are for Fly rods. Yup PP, one man's Leonard is another man's TCR.

 

[shortrod2]

Swattie87 wrote:
All that matters is you like the rods you have ...

True that.

rtt wrote:
I guess my old HMG Fenwicks are only marginal rods.

Not at all, at least not according to the blog, the Fenwick HMGs almost made the list. They were probably beaten by the Winston and Sage rods, which are far pricier.[/quote]

afishinado wrote:
I would venture to say most FFers today would not appreciate many if not most of the rods on the list.

I don't understand that. In my book a good rod is a good rod. I would fish with any of them.


For those that missed it, in a list of 12, there are at least 3 completely different sets of criteria applied.

For most of the list the rods are the authors pick for the "best" available rods during their era.

One selection is for a whole class of rods "any reasonably tapered 8.5'-9.0' 6wt".

The "Eagle Claw Trailmaster 7.5? Pack Rod" was selected not because it really was a "best" or even good rod, but because it was available for so long and so affordable.

 

[Chaz]

My line-up includes an IMX 4 weight 9 ft. Loomis. But my favorite is my 7'6" Trilogy made by Loomis. But for water like Pine Creek, I do like the 4w. 9' IMX. I used it on the Madison this fall and it was flawless, unfortunately, the weather wasn't. Neither was the Government.

 

[NedZeppelin]

Sage 389 LL built from a blank, great rod.