Rods for Erie tribs

I have been watching a bunch of rods on ebay from England...Flextec...10' and 11' rods...even with shipping they end up being less than $100 US...most are around 60 US....

They claim to be $299 British pounds which would put them around $540. I don't know...haven't won any of the auctions yet...

I have a 10ft 7wt by Echo...fantastic rod for the price...I think it was $125 when I bought it...

Boss
 
Why would you want to fly fish with anything other than a pure fly fishing setup? Two weeks ago we were on the Cat, just outside the reservation. We fished hard in some interesting water flowing around 300 plus, slippery rocky bottom (due to the last flood) and brought in some nice fish between my partner and I. The entire time we were there four guys with switch rods were downstream of us and they pulled not one single fish out.

Stay pure, have fun, stay old style and if your arm gets tired throwing presentations with an 8 wt, so be it; you are in the stream having fun.
 
"Stay Pure...stay old style". So we should all throw out our graphite and fiberglass rods and machined reels and switch over to 15 foot greenheart rods that weigh half a ton with silk fly lines, gut leaders and full dress patterns?

One handed rods, especially those 9 feet and under, for salmon and steelhead, are hardly "old style" at all. LONG rods dominated the salmon and steelhead fisheries for years. Graphite rods, synthetic fly lines and tying materials, and nylon leaders are relatively new advancements in the world of fly fishing.

From what I know about switch rods (which is not a great deal), a lot of techniques developed for spey casting are used, which is absolutely a very traditional way to fly fish. Switch rods are just a new thing on the market. In many ways, it seems the type of fishing salmon/steelhead switch rods are designed for is closer to "traditional" fly fishing with spey casting than a single handed rod with a bobber, a bunch of shot, and a synthetic egg fly.
 
AlwaysWading wrote:
Two weeks ago we were on the Cat..... the entire time we were there four guys with switch rods were downstream of us and they pulled not one single fish out.
Click to expand...

I saw a group of guys on the same creek not catch a single fish while my buddies pounded em with two-handers fishing traditional flies. Hmmm, interesting.

I swing flies on Cattaraugus regularly with a single hander.
My friends have gone to switch and spey rods in the 6/7 wt class. They have a huge advantage in distance and control, especially when there is no room for a backcast.
The last time out, I fished my friends 6wt switch rod with a 10ft. type 6 sinktip and cheater. Shooting 60 ft off a rollcast was effortless once I got the techniques down. I normally throw and mend that same tip off a wf main line with my single hander and usually have to stop once my shoulder feels fatigued. With that long switch rod, I was able to fish pain free the entire day, covered more water more effectively and took some very big fish with some really big patterns fishing the deep pools. I had fun.
IMO, this creek is tailor made for a switch rod. You get the long casts with heavy tips usually reserved for spey rods without all the extra dead weight of those long spey rods.
 
I just got back from Erie to home here in Virginia. I had no problems with my 10’ 6/7 wt bamboo. The flex was the major factor. I saw a lot of guys and girls that were under gunned. I don’t know if it was more of them not knowing how to fight big fish or the rod. When I get settled in, I’ll post a new subject because I have several questions for you pros on Erie.

joe E
 
Both. For some reason 9 foot 5wts and 9 foot 6wts dominate the Erie trib fishery. If you look on the "fisherie.com" forums you see threads pretty often where people ask for advice about what type of rod to buy. MOST of the responses encourage people to buy these light rods. Usually some jerk chimes in cliaming to fish them on a 3 or 4 weight too.

I mainly fish a mid flex 10ft 7wt, (sometimes an 11 foot 8wt) and I NEVER feel over gunned when I hook into a steelhead.
 
Ok so if you had to chose between a St croix avid 9'-6wt (fairly stiff), an Orvis Clearwater 9'- 6wt (fairly whippy) and a 9' 9wt Sage Launch (fairly stiff) for a trip to the Erie tribs in December which would you go with?
 
The Clearwater I have is a tip flex. Not whippy in the least. Very fast rod. I would think you would want the "whippier" rod for steelhead to protect the tippet more. The 9wt would be fine but again as long as you are not worried about breaking a rod, the softer rod would be better for steelhead. You won;t be making many long casts.
 
9' 7wt is my preference - med action to protect the tippets-seems to work for me - got it for $50 closeout at Gander Mountain.
 
I have a 10ft 7wt Echo Ion ($189). I used it this weekend and it has plenty of backbone. My advice to you (one engineer to another) is do your research, However, more importantly, go to a fly shop and test cast a few different rods. That is what I did on the advice of several of the PAFF members. I like my rod, but I liked the $760 Sage also, just wasn't willing to pay that. My buddy who is a huge St. Croix fan and has a 10ft 7wt Legend Ultra said he liked my rod also other than the greenish/gray tint to it. Chuck at international Angler was the one who actually recommended this rod to me. He told me that is what he is now using also. He is the owner of IA and has a choice of many different manufacturers.
Best of luck to you.
 
You can't get a rod that works for both Pulaski and Erie tribs. I would NOT want a rod above a 6 wt. for Erie Tribs. I have a Redington CPS and a Sage VPS. The CPS is too fast and the VPS is perfect. You're flipping sz. 14 sucker spawn on 2-3X tippet MAX. How much HEAVE in a flyrod do you need? My Sage 6 can easily snap that tippet or pull out that hook. An 8 wt is just a hinderance in Erie. Much better with a 5 wt than an 8 wt.
Syl
 
Sylvaneous wrote:
You can't get a rod that works for both Pulaski and Erie tribs.
Click to expand...

I apologize for quoting you twice, in two separate threads, within 10 minutes...

But my 11ft 6wt is great for both places. I would not take it for a salmon run, but for steel, it's fine.

Also, I would say that you'd be in a minority in Erie if you stuck to 6wts and under. There are a ton of 7wts up there, and many would say it the optimal stick for the job.
 
I use a 9 ft 7 wt Sage FLi. It seems about perfect as far as action and fighting backbone, but I wish it were a foot longer for mending purposes.
 
I use a 10ft 7wt for erie and never feel over gunned when I hook a fish. I honestly cannot understand people who use a 5wt rod for steelhead. The only orvis rods in 6wt, according ot their catalog, that should be used for steelheading are the switch rods. I guess I just don't understand the point of purposely using the absolute lightest rod posible for a fish, rather than using the rod best suited for fighting that same fish.
 
i use a st croix 9' 8wt but i really wish it were a 7 but i thought for whatever reason a 7 might be on the light side for fresh fish , so next year i maybe throwing a 7 or a 10" 6 even , not sure yet , but i never found any instances on the mile streams which i fish mostly to need a 10" rod
 
Boss,

My friend broke his flextec on the first trip, before the sun rose.

Not sure if that means anything, but I'm not buying one now.
 
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