rods for 3 foot streams

[buckbarrett]

I recently started brook trout fishing in some very small runs, and have caught several, but find that my rod (7'9") is very clumsy in these areas. I tie my own, and stumbled across something successful I have talked to people that use 9's!!! and basically call me a sissy. There is no room for any casting whatsoever. Are there any of you that suggest a modified rod? And, if so, how and what?

 

[beeber2]

I've been fishing a 8 foot 4 piece 4 weight and on tight streams I'll just fish with the top half of the rod. It actually casts quite well.

Bill

 

[Padraic]

Some folks don't cast at all. They "dap" the fly on the water, by crawling close and dropping the fly on the water without the cast. Personally, I think that sounds like a lot of work.

Still the more you fish those types of streams, the more you will learn how you want to approach them. You may find the rod you have is just fine. It's just that fishing those small streams is a big change from anything you've done in the past.

 

[Coughlin]

I use a 7' 3wt. St. Croix I built. I overline it with a four wt so it loads faster. I do like small stream wild brookie fishing, but I'm with Padriac...I don't mind hunkering down or getting into position on my knees, but if I have to crawl around it's too small for me.
Coughlin

 

[Kweaver]

I have been fishing 6'6" Cabela's LST in 4 weight. It has worked well for me.

 

[abbrod]

If you build rods. Rainshadow makes a 5' 4wt and a 5'6" 4wt. that is great for what you are looking for. I use one myself. Send me a PM if you need any additional info on it.
Paul

 

[JoeE]

On a 3’ stream tight space I would use a 4’4” up to a 6’3”.


Joe E

 

[djmyers]

what weight rod would you go with on these small streams?

 

[tabasco_joe]

I bought a 7' fiberglass rod at Ketttle Creek Fly Shop that works great on small streams. I had all graphite prior to that but met a guy on Cross Fork who let me try his fiberglass. What is nice about fiberglass is that it doesn't take much to load the rod. I would thnk a 2 or 3 weight would match a 3 foot stream.

 

[OhioOutdoorsman]

7' fiberglass 3 or 4 wt.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

well if ya dont already know i recommend the orvis superfine series. while they can be moderately priced these rods are great all around fishing rods. i currently own the superfine trout bum 7' 4wt and i absolutly love this rod for small stream fishing. it is delicate enough to present flies lightly and also durable enough to handle the occasional occurance of large wild trout.

but if you dont want to go there. i would recoomend a st. croix in the 7- 7'6" range. cheaper and still very nice rods. the action faster but they can be delicate also.

i suppose iam lazy. i use 12 ft flourocarbon (leader and tippet) for almost all fishing. when i come to a brushy stream i simpily cut back to 7-9 ft. i dont like having to change rods or leader or tippet when fishing multiple streams in one day. so i can fish a brookie stream with my flourocarbon leader/ rod and then hit say Big Spring close by and dont have to change anything.

just my opinion but do what feels rightor works for u. if the rod doesnt feel right for brookie fishing to u, then it isnt. and u dont want that or the sun to expolde....so heres to short rods and the sun not exploding int:

 

[OhioOutdoorsman]

Do yourself a favor, don't buy a new rod, get yourself the shortest leader you can find, 7 1/2 ft or less, try it out and then decide if you need a shorter rod.

 

[JoeE]

4 or 5 wts for me on small streams.

Joe E

 

[dano]

6 ft glass rod built for a 5 but fishes well with a 4.
Also, I use one of those shorter braided leaders which seems to lay out better for me when I have only a foot or so of flyline past the tip.

 

[Padraic]

OhioOutdoorsman wrote:
Do yourself a favor, don't buy a new rod, get yourself the shortest leader you can find, 7 1/2 ft or less, try it out and then decide if you need a shorter rod.

I really like this advice. For one thing rods are expensive! Mono is cheap. :-D

If you tie your own leaders, here is a great resource:
http://flyfisherman.com/skills/brleadercalc/
The shortest dry fly leader is 7'. The shortest nymphing leader is 4'. You can find both in the PDF. To modify the leader for different line weights or teminal tippet size you'll want the excel spreadsheet.

 

[scotto]

I use a 6'6" Scott F sreies fiberglass 2 wt or and Orvis Superfin Flea -6" 4 wt - both are slow action that load easily. Shortish leader help also, I use approx 6-7'.

 

[longbow64]

I use a 6'3" 3 wt. from bass pro. it is a white river classic. My wife gave me it for fathers day a while back. It does well when i do. A great rod for the price. Personally anything over 7' is just awkward and cumbersome. But try a few, it's all preference anyhow. Consider a double taper line for larger brookie streams, it has a more suttle presentation, and doesn't get you in as much trouble with overshooting your spot.

 

Here, on the coast, we have a lot of fairly small streams, of 3-4-5 foot width, then pretty well........... "un-castable", (God.. is that a word?). Anyway, about 12-14 years ago I broke a beautiful 9' x5wt. trying to land a very hard fighting, 15 pound, Chevy P.U. passenger door.
The rod broke at the grip. Soooooo, what to do with the tip section?
Well, you replace the first guide, with a stripping guide, glue up a cork handle, sand it to fit, add slider rings for the reel and you've got an excellent one piece, 3-4 wt, one piece "Small Stream Special"!
Just an idea. Yes, rods are expensive, true. This little one piece cost me about $17.00 to build.!??!! Neither do I have to cast it, in the usual manner. Because of its short stature, I usually side arm, or, bow and arrow, cast it and get about 20-30 feet.... MORE than enough, on a 3 foot wide stream!

 

[ginkyhackle]

I've been told that graphite rods have never really equaled the delicacy of bamboo and graphite rods under 7'. -- I tend to think this is an accurate statement.

There are a ton of very nice vintage fiber rods on ebay, and the steffen brothers as well as others make some very nice fiber rods. Scott's "Fibertouch" rod is really dreamy as well and would be ideally suited to your purposes.

 

[ginkyhackle]

The "flea" is a very nice rod. Most Orvis stores have them in stock and will encourage you to do some parking lot casting. I'd still say the Scott is the superior rod, however.