looking for a new rod

[chazx208]

Looking for a little assistance. Im looking into upgrading my rod for the 2015 season. What im looking for is something for fishing trout in NE/Central Pa. (Penns, Loyalsock, Muncy, Fishing Creek). I currently have a 9' 6wt TFO signature series with a lamson guru reel and cabelas premium wf line.. I was leaning towards a TFO 8'9" 5wt finesse rod and either RIO gold or RIO trout lt line on my guru..Or should I bump down to a 4wt rod and reel?? And what are your takes on the line selection ??

 

[Longbow]

depending on what you decide, I just listed a TFO rod and reel setup in 4wt. I bought it new in March of last year. Only selling because I got me a custom glass rod. Good luck in your search.

 

[Aducker]

I know this is not what your asking for but if it were me I would keep what you have and try upgrading your fly line to SA GPX.

If you really want a new rod I would say get a TFO BVK 9' 5wt and still get the SA GPX line.

I have a similar rig and upgrading my fly line made a huge difference for medium to big stream fishing.

That's my 2 cents.

 

[Stagger_Lee]

Have 3 rods and love my Finesse 7'9 4wt

Aducker wrote:

That's my 2 cents.

< $.02 :-D

 

[SteveG]

What/ how are you looking to fish? Do you want a rod that can do ok with a couple different tasks, or something more specialized like only tossing midges?

 

[chazx208]

Im looking for a lighter outfit to toss some drys and nymphs (size 12 and up). I already have a 9' 6wt and believe its an overkill for the trout in pa. I mainly bought this for erie stealheads but used it for trout last year. The problem is on short casts, I cant feel the rod load...im looking for a setup for the limestone and freestone creeks in pa and to fish some ponds for pan fish, something i can use up close and maybe make some casts to 40'

 

[ryanpgh]

I do the same type of fishing. I use a TFO 9' 5wt. I use it for just about any type of PA trout fishing other than Steelhead. You don't have to break the bank either. First place I would research is Cabelas. They offer great combo deals. That's where I got mine. It comes with a very solid Cabelas reel and SA GPX line and backing. You can't beat that for the price because you save over $100 if you don't buy it separately. Here's a link if you want to check it out.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Fishing/Fly-Fishing/Fly-Fishing-Rod-Reel-Combos%7C/pc/104793480/c/104721480/sc/105571980/TFO-Professional-Series-IICabelas-RLS-Fly-Combo/1585289.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ffly-fishing-rod-reel-combos%2Ftfo%2F_%2FN-1102570%2B4294750139%2B4294389096%2FNe-4294750139%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_105571980%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104793480%253Bcat104721480%26WTz_st%3DGuidedNav%26WTz_stype%3DGNU&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104793480%3Bcat104721480%3Bcat105571980

 

[Chaz]

8'9" isn't far from being a 9' rod, except for Penns Creek, you don't need a rod that long for the other streams.

 

[PennKev]

chazx208 wrote:
The problem is on short casts, I cant feel the rod load...

How close is close?

Changing to a lighter rod with a lighter line is not likely going to lead to having a rod that casts easier at close range. You won't feel a 9' 4wt rod load at 15ft any better than a 9' 6wt. If anything, things will get worse since you are also losing line mass by going to a lower line weight. So then you'll have a rod you can't feel loading and also have poorer turnover do to a line with less mass.

I think your best bet is to try a line like a Rio Grand which is a half line size heaver then listed. This will put more weight out beyond your rod tip with less line out, thus loading your rod more on a short cast. You can also over line by one line weight, the principle being the same.

Again, I don't think your situation will improve simply by switching to a lighter rod with a matching lighter line weight. Perhaps going to a 4wt rod and 5wt line, or a 5wt rod with a 6wt line will achieve the casting characteristics you want, but again this is the same logic as i mentioned before. Over lining.

 

[PennypackFlyer]

What's the budget?

 

[Chaz]

You don't need a long rod for most of the streams in PA. An 8' or a 7'6" rod is sufficient for 90% of the streams in PA. If you'r primary focus is large streams and rivers then a 9' is fine, you just have to determine what weight will work best for you for the size of the streams. I have 3 9 foot rods a 4 a 6 and a 9 weight. Guess which one I use the most? The 4 weight, the 6 weight is used on big water like the Delaware, Lehigh, Pine Creek, etc. The 9 weight is for salt or salmon. But not Land-locked Salmon, I use the 4 weight for them.
My suggestion is always the same, don't buy a rod without casting it first, and try the rods with different weight lines. The best place to cast a large number of rods is at the FF Shows.

 

[PennKev]

Chaz wrote:
You don't need a long rod for most of the streams in PA. An 8' or a 7'6" rod is sufficient for 90% of the streams in PA.

No, most streams don't require a 9' rod, but im willing to bet that the majority if fishing, done by the majority of anglers is done on creeks where a 9' rod is well suited.

So with that in mind, get the longest rod practical for your fishing. Being able to throw longer mends and keep your backcast up with less effort/skill makes a long rod worth it, particularly if you are newer angler.

 

[afishinado]

PennKev wrote:

Chaz wrote:
You don't need a long rod for most of the streams in PA. An 8' or a 7'6" rod is sufficient for 90% of the streams in PA.

No, most streams don't require a 9' rod, but im willing to bet that the majority if fishing, done by the majority of anglers is done on creeks where a 9' rod is well suited.

So with that in mind, get the longest rod practical for your fishing. Being able to throw longer mends and keep your backcast up with less effort/skill makes a long rod worth it, particularly if you are newer angler.

+1. In fact I find myself fishing my 10' rods more than any other rod length for both dries and nymphs.

 

[krayfish2]

By PA standards, Penns and Loyalsock are bigger waters and that 6 wt should be fine on those waters except at the lowest summer flows.

Going from a 9' 6wt to an almost 9' 5wt won't be life changing if the flex and line remain the same. From what I'm reading, it sounds like you may not be overly thrilled with a fast / stiffer blank. As Kev suggested Rio Grand or SA GPX might give you a little more feel of the the bend deeper into the blank.

The finesse (little softer rod) loaded with a Rio Gold might be what you're looking for. Try to get a few casts in with any rod you intend to buy....if possible.

 

[AkDan76]

I have the tfo finesse 4wt and used it this past trip, actually had 2 of them along. I really like the rod. It casts extremely close to my sage LL 3wt. It has everything I wanted and has landed some toads as well at a fraction of the LL price tag! Though I, at least in my head, wished I had brought a 7'6" 3/4 wt along for a few spots in particular.

I'm surprised at the amount of rio recommendations though. I've had nothing but poor luck with rio lines. I just returned 2 rio trout lines that were new for this trip, both were sinking by the end of 2 weeks...one lasted 1 day. Rio backed their product and sent two new ones...I'm not sure if I should sell them or give them a go. Again I haven't had good luck with Rio lines.

I've always liked SA mastery lines, though it looks like SA is cleaning house now that orvis owns them. Hopefully they keep up the quality lines. I know everyone says nothings going to change, but we all know how that works. What I do know is you can find some smoking deals on fly lines. I just spent 120 bucks on 3 spey lines tonight that normally would have run me closer to 300 bucks!

 

[riz]

I have the TFO Finesse in a 4wt and love the rod for most of the way I fish in PA. I would not hesitate on using it on water like Penns or even Pine creeks. For casting large weighted streamers and triple nymph rigs with shot, I would not use the Finesse. However, regular beadhead woollybuggers and beadhead nymph rigs is all good. The BVK is a great rod if your primary fishing techniques is heavy nymph rigs or streamers.

Cast the Finesse and if you like it, use it.