Rod for brookies

The_Sasquatch wrote:
Your normal go-to fly rod will work fine. Save your money.
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My normal go to fly rod is a 9' 6wt. It would be stupid trying to catch 5" brookies with that rod. Can you do it? Sure, but its not going to be nearly as fun as a cheap smaller lighter rod.
 
I'm old and set in my ways... I like the punch of a 5 wgt. on small water. I do most of that fishing with an Orvis Small Stream Special 7' for a 5 or my old FF605 glass. I understand the popularity of lighter rods for this sort of fishing, but when you are talking about trout that average 6-7", the difference between a 5 weight and a 4 or even a 3 sort of strikes me as a distinction without a difference.
 
My favorite small stream rod, and the only one I have left, is a 473. I had a 363 but found it a one trick pony.
 
I use a St Croix 6 foot. 3 weight which I over line with a double taper 4 weight line which I find improves roll casting.
 
Since we are talking brook trout...

Here is the way I look at it.

For brook trout I rarely use flies smaller than a 14, and almost never smaller than 16. Brook trout are not picky where I have fished for them. It's more important that they don't see you, than it is to match any hatch. Chunky stuff works.

IMO (when talking trout) rod "weight" has more to do with what flies you will be using, not what fish you are trying to catch. Lighter weight rods are great for lighter weight flies, so unless you are casting midges and things like that to brook trout, you don't need a super light rod. Rod weight doesn't matter if the trout is 5 inch or 12.

Johnw and maybe a couple people mentioned over-lining. I think this helps and John explained why. In the tiny brook trout streams I used to fish (It's been several years), you aren't going to be doing a lot of back casting, but you will likely be doing some roll casting and flicking or shooting the fly short distances. I don't know if I am using correct terms or not. Whatever it takes to get the fly in front of the trout without spooking it, and it often does not permit a back cast. Over-lining helps.

Also, I think rod action is important when it comes to this type of fishing. IMO, a more moderate action rod is going to "work" better than a fast action (IMO). St. Croix makes great moderate action, which explains why reference johnw's response. If I were to buy a new, reasonably priced rod, specifically for this type of fishing, it would be something similar to what johnw is using.

Then again, I never was a fan of fast action rods.

Others might disagree, which is fine. This is just opinion.

 
Make that 4 of us with the batson 2wt 6'6". Its a great rod! I build all my rods with batson blanks.
 
I would be hesitant about using a bamboo rod in brookie country, I snapped my tip poking it through the bush, I also built a 6'6" 2 wt (hook & hackle) and is a blast for brookies.
 
I have several but my favorites are my Sage TXL 7' 4 weight and a G. Loomis GL3 6'6" 3 weight. Last year I fished a bit with my Tenkara USA "Rhodo" and it worked just fine also.
 
Rod, why hell, you can use a stick. flies or bait.

This is what makes me mad. Use a rod if your okay on water. Use a long stick if you have to run on posted water.

brookies feed always. if there in the stream, you will catch them.


Generally, I take my daughter, she is now 15, we always catch some.
we take about 3 home and I cook them for her.

we use a spin rod mainly. if fly rodding, any fly rod.

They bite, the only way they don't, spooked. caught native as big as 19". Never got any bigger, pal, neighbor got one 21"

caught 1000's.

all those little streams. they run between all those mts. in pa. evwry george gap. Well i am older now and it is tougher to get there.

back in the day, no rod, we fingered them. that's another story.
 
tomgamber, your getting on my nerves. don't you make me mad.

I make a little sense. although, it's been a long time I have made any sense
 
maxima12 wrote:
Rod, why hell, you can use a stick. flies or bait.

This is what makes me mad...
Click to expand...

Your first line is true, but about the second line ... seriously!

You get mad when people give advice on what fly rod, to a question that implied that he was asking about fly rods, on a fly fishing site.

Hmmm.

News flash. You aren't the only person on here who likes all types of fishing.

Cept maybe Tenkara. ;-)

Tom gets on everybody's nerves, but once you get to know him ... well ... I got nothing. ;-)
 
I’ve been fishing with some folks that use short rods that are really just noodles that appear to be difficult to get the fly where you would want it to go. I prefer a 7 1/2 foot 4 weight fairly fast rod for 2 reasons,1 because you can easily get a cast in a corner of a lie that is under a branch, 2 you can lift the fly off the water and cast with only 1 backcast. That is important because you don’t want to make a lot of passes over a lie and spook fish.
 
I love my Cabela's CGR 6'6" #4, if you can find one they go on sale often. I have 4 of them that I paid anywhere between $40 -$80 for. I have the #4, #5, #5/6 and 7/8.

I think the 7/8 has gotten the most use for bass but the 6'6" #4 feels like the sweet spot for the smaller rods of the CGR series. Great little all around small stream rod.
 
Thanks for the feedback much appreciated
 
I picked up a Cabela's fiberglass CGR 2wt 6' rod for half off and really liked it. Overlined it with 3wt line so I could get a bit more distance. Was a nice setup, until I left it on top of my car after a day of brookie fishing, never to be seen again.
 
If you go to Sierra Trading Post, they have the Powell "Sweet P" 6'6" 3wt fiberglass rod on sale right now for I believe $54. Comes with sack and tube...I just picked one up, but haven't had a chance to try it out yet. That said, it looks like a pretty sweet stick for little dough.
 
I just bought me an Orvis' Superfine glass 7' 3 wt 3 piece. I did go to the creek by my house however nothing was biting. It casts quite well.
I am seriously looking forward to testing it out during trout season.
 
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