Small stream rod on a budget

Wildfish

Wildfish

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Joined
Sep 4, 2009
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427
Hey guys,
I have a cabelas gift cert and $20 off coupon burning a hole in my pocket and I just discovered they put the 3w vantage rods on sale. However, I see the rod is medium/fast. Are there any slower budget rods on the market? I know slower means fewer wraps of graphite, which means better, more expensive graphite. But is there anything in the $250 range that fits the bill? Not a noodle, but something med/slow, 3w, maybe 7'6? I don't need to shoot any line, this would be for close range, stealth, ninja-style brookie fishing...

Of course I'd head to the shop to play with the rods first. But I want to do some research.
 
7'6" 3wt 3 Forks: $49.99.
 
I would go with a 4wt over a 3, lined with 5wt line.
 
look at the avid or tfo finesse
 
eagle claw 7ft 4-5wt, walmart, 20 bucks, sloooowwww action. can't beat the price and you won't be bummed if it breaks! check st croix, good rods for the money, good warranty, made in usa!
lots of good rods for well under 250 bucks. problem is finding one with the action you desire, industry pushes faster faster faster FASTER!!! fine for some, not fine for others.
 
I second the Three forks 3wt due to the restriction to cabela's. Have a price limit on what you're buying?
 
My main brookie rod is a Cortland GRX 4/5 wt, 7'6". It was under $100. Great rod for brookie fishin. Its fairly quick, though, I'd call it medium fast.

The thicker and smaller the water gets, the faster you want your rod to be, and the heavier you want the line to be.
 
Those GRX Cortland rods are nice...I don't think you can go wrong with an Avid. Both are really nice for the price.
 
I like the action on my echo 7'6" 3t. I'd call the action on it moderate. Lifetime warranty for under $200
 
Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

JayL--why would you go with an overloaded 4w? This would be for tiny flies and tiny fish.

pcray--why do I want thicker line for thinner water? I was thinking in terms of sensitivity not so much casting. Will I have a harder time making roll casts or more likely the cast where I pinch the fly, bend the rod, and shoot it a few yards with a slower rod?
 
I second or third the Cabela's Three Forks, 7'6" 3 wt. I've used it for five years, the action is vey good for small stream fishing as well as larger streams. I've taken trout as large as 27".

I fish midges as small as 32s with 10x tippet and have no problem with the flex not protecting the tippet. I would suggest that you do not buy any of the cheap Cabela's fly reels that go with the combination. I purchased a Battenkill and it makes a great outfit.
 
Dale49 wrote:
I purchased a Battenkill and it makes a great outfit.
Click to expand...

On that front, a Pflueger 1492 for $25. Add a Cabela's Prestige line for $30, and you've got gift cards left over for tying materials or whatever.
 
just got a 7'6 albright A-5 4 wt and as jay said it , i put 5wt dt line on it , wow does it cast very very easy. handles big fish like a champ in fast water. albright does make a cheaper GPX rod , with a wood inlay reel seat and alumin. uplocking hardware , i think there rods are medium fast but for brookie fishing tight close quarters in the brush i would re-think the slow rod for a bit and try out a nice medium fast first
 
I just bought the the St. Croix imperial at Cabela's on Wedensday in the 7' foot 3 weight (179.00) and it is a great little brookie trout rod. My buddy had one and I fished it a lot this summer on some small streams. It is a faster action rod than I'm use to using but I really found that I liked the fast action on the smaller streams where I needed the rod to load a little faster. I also fished the rod with a 4 weight line and it handled it very well.
Justin
 
Wildfish,

It depends on the type of water you fish. My small streams are high gradient infertile mountain brookie streams, and often thick.

I rarely use small flies on them. I'm using 12's and 14 dry flies, occasionally a 10-14 prince nymph or a small streamer. The fish are not picky about pattern, nor drag shy, nor line shy. They are extremely opportunistic and aggressive. Some people use 8's and 10's to catch 4 inch fish. The name of the game is simply to put a fly in front of them without having them see you first. Meaning the distance has to be as far as possible, which still isn't all that far.

Overlining the rod helps it load properly at short distances. If you put, say, a 4 wt line on a 4 wt rod, it is properly lined at 30 feet but underlined at 10 feet. That Cortland 4/5 wt I mentioned, I usually fish it with a 6 wt line.

The heavier, and faster rods are for power. Drag is always somewhat important, but less so here than in a smooth flowing limestoner. It's gotta be pretty bad to actually spook the fish, and if he isn't spooked he'll hit. Power is very important. It's likely you'll have to throw tight loops through small windows and hit a pocket the size of a dinner plate, all with no backcast.

If you're seeing yourself on slower, valley streams, then what I'm saying doesn't apply.
 
bikerfish wrote:
eagle claw 7ft 4-5wt, walmart, 20 bucks, sloooowwww action. can't beat the price and you won't be bummed if it breaks!
Click to expand...

good call.the 201o's have a nice real seAT.
 
Wild,
The Cabelas Stowaway is a 6 pc available in 7.5' for a 4wt line - breaks down into sections of 15" - good for hiking mountain biking etc. Retails for about $130. I've built a few rods off the Stowaway blanks and they're basically medium action, not too fast for what I think you're looking for.
 
Wildfish wrote:
Hey guys,
I have a cabelas gift cert and $20 off coupon burning a hole in my pocket and I just discovered they put the 3w vantage rods on sale. However, I see the rod is medium/fast. Are there any slower budget rods on the market? I know slower means fewer wraps of graphite, which means better, more expensive graphite. But is there anything in the $250 range that fits the bill? Not a noodle, but something med/slow, 3w, maybe 7'6? I don't need to shoot any line, this would be for close range, stealth, ninja-style brookie fishing...

Of course I'd head to the shop to play with the rods first. But I want to do some research.
Click to expand...

I'd spend that gift card on general tackle and look for a decent piece of glass..If you want slower action, nothing like glass IMO...You can sometimes find glass rods on ebay...Fiberglass is ideal up to 8', and perfect for small stream tactical presentation..
 
Fishidiot wrote:
Wild,
The Cabelas Stowaway is a 6 pc available in 7.5' for a 4wt line - breaks down into sections of 15" - good for hiking mountain biking etc. Retails for about $130. I've built a few rods off the Stowaway blanks and they're basically medium action, not too fast for what I think you're looking for.
Click to expand...

Dave,

I thought the Stowaways were either 5 or 7 piece?

Anyway, I have the 5pc, 7.5 ft 4wt stowaway for several years now. I really like it for small streams, often attaching the tube to a fanny pack until I hike/walk to get to a fishing area. For me it's a great rod.

I've already broke the tip off in my tailgate, luckily only an inch, so I just put the same tip-top back on.

John
 
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