So, how many rods do you need?

[a23fish]

I was fishing last week at a small local creek and ran into a gentleman older than me and far more experienced in fly fishing. He said he had been fly fishing somewhere between 50 and 60 years. We shared the same run for a while, each of us catching a fish or two, and having a relaxed conversation. I've been fly fishing slightly less than 3 years, and already have 4 fly rods.

1. An old 8'6" 5wt Sage offered to me for $50 by a fishing acquaintance I met trout fishing 4 years ago (I blame this fly fishing interest all on him, great guy too)
2. A 9' 5wt Orvis Encounter beginner's combo my wife decided I needed for Christmas 3 years ago (after using a spinning rod for 60 years)
3. A 9' 6wt Echo Carbon XL I bought in Colorado this summer after deciding I "needed a more powerful rod" for tossing slightly bigger streamers to slightly bigger fish in CO lakes & rivers
4. A 9' 5wt Thomas Dynamix because it would be a "step up" from my Encounter rod but in reality probably wasn't needed given my level of casting, fly selection, and line management expertise.

I figured a guy who had been fly fishing for 50-60 years probably had a number of fly rods, so I asked how many he had. Two. The 9' 5wt he was fishing and a shorter 3wt for smaller streams. Not the answer I was expecting but instructive. It made me think, how many do I really need? For the type of fly fishing I've done in 3 years and can reasonably expect to do going forward, the brutal answer is one. I could have done everything with that old Sage rod, except take it with me to CO since it is a two piece rod. A slightly less brutal answer is two rods, adding the Orvis Encounter which is much easier to transport via airlines.

So, how many rods do you need?

 

[CRB]

1 the one your using.

 

[tjsingle]

Honestly the amount of rods you need really depends on what you are fishing for, style of fly fishing and what flies you are casting.

If you are fishing for trout, the argument could be made that all you need is a 9' 5wt rod. That'll cover you for almost every fly you'll cast for trout, with the exception of big streamers. Obviously there are exceptions, like if you are euro nymphing you might want a lighter weight longer rod.

Once you start getting into fishing for bass or saltwater, a heavier weight rod is necessary because of the flies or species of fish. Or if you want to throw big articulated streamers, you might want to consider stepping up to a 7wt.

I find myself using my 9' 5wt for trout, and 9' 7wt for warmwater and streamer fishing the most.

 

[Nocktavius]

Older guy is spot on.

Find a single rod or two that can do everything you want it to with minimal leader changes or knots. Nothing good comes from dragging a second or worse yet third rod with you. And if you leave it in the car, you can rest assured the action will be over by the time you come back 😂. Fly fishing is about right place right time right system.

 

[dudemanspecial]

I have:
7' 5w Cabela for small streams
8.5' 5w Sage VPS for all around (most used)
10' 3w Orvis Recon for nymphing
9' 8w Grey's for bass and steelhead

That's all I use. I never feel wanting for rods, however I do want to try bamboo.

The only 2 I paid for were the Cabelas and the Orvis. My FIL gave me the Sage and I won the Grey's at a banquet.

 

[Bamboozle]

Despite owning WAY, WAY, WAY more rods than I need which is especially bad in my case because the majority of them are exclusively trout rods; for decades I only fished with two.

I like having all of the choices and it's fun to use Rod X at Stream X and Rod Y at Stream Y...

...but it's hardly necessary.

 

[Tom1980]

I own too many myself. I was considering letting some go after the holidays. 2 for a few applications and 2 more for others is more than enough.

 

[jifigz]

It totally depends on how many different scenarios and types of fish that you fish for. 99.9% of all of my fishing needs could be done with a 6 weight, but I rarely use a 6 weight. I use 4 weight for trout and an 8 weight for bass.

I could flyfish for all things central PA has to offer for a lifetime and use nothing but a 9' 6 weight, however.

 

[Kyle]

i basically have 2 rods in each weight minus 6 and 7. i bring two rods with me when i fish in case i break one. then i dont have to go home. just have to walk back to my truck

 

[JimNovo]

I’m with Kyle on his approach of carrying two rods just in case.

I have two 9’ 4wt, two 9’ 5wt, for bigger water, and two smaller 4wts for smaller water.

I prefer to fish dry flies, but convert to a nymphing leader/tippet set up when I have to go in that direction.

 

[Bamboozle]

I don't want to get started on how many reels I own...

I found Nocktavius' comment of interest, never even thinking about those guys with the backpacks with two rods lashed to their backs:

Older guy is spot on.

Find a single rod or two that can do everything you want it to with minimal leader changes or knots. Nothing good comes from dragging a second or worse yet third rod with you. And if you leave it in the car, you can rest assured the action will be over by the time you come back 😂. Fly fishing is about right place right time right system.

Despite owning more rods than I'll ever need, I never bring more than one with me TO the water unless I'm on a boat...

There may be a back-up at the car if I have a long drive just in case. There are also times when fishing certain creeks that I leave the house wanting to fish a 2 or 3wt, but I also have a 4 or 5wt back at the car if it's too breezy when I get to my destination. I usually bring a slew of combos with me on a multi day trip but still chose one rod to fish with all day.

Maybe at the end of the day I'll say, "I wish I fished Rod X today instead of Rod Y," but the only time I have ever walked back to the car to get a different rod was to switch from a conventional outfit to a fly rod or vise versa.

 

[Tom1980]

I don't want to get started on how many reels I own...

I found Nocktavius' comment of interest, never even thinking about those guys with the backpacks with two rods lashed to their backs:



Despite owning more rods than I'll ever need, I never bring more than one with me TO the water unless I'm on a boat...

There may be a back-up at the car if I have a long drive just in case. There are also times when fishing certain creeks that I leave the house wanting to fish a 2 or 3wt, but I also have a 4 or 5wt back at the car if it's too breezy when I get to my destination. I usually bring a slew of combos with me on a multi day trip but still chose one rod to fish with all day.

Maybe at the end of the day I'll say, "I wish I fished Rod X today instead of Rod Y," but the only time I have ever walked back to the car to get a different rod was to switch from a conventional outfit to a fly rod or vise versa.

Just curious, you never get nervous leaving one in the car?
I've decided against that long ago after knowing people that had rods stolen.

 

[JimNovo]

Just curious, you never get nervous leaving one in the car?
I've decided against that long ago after knowing people that had rods stolen.

Nervous…,sure.

But after driving 1-3hrs to fish, I’d be really upset to break a rod (which I have done), and not have anything to fish with.

I don’t have expensive rods, so the financial pain would probably be on the car repair, especially when the vandal realizes what he just stole!

 

[Tom1980]

Nervous…,sure.

But after driving 1-3hrs to fish, I’d be really upset to break a rod (which I have done), and not have anything to fish with.

I don’t have expensive rods, so the financial pain would probably be on the car repair, especially when the vandal realizes what he just stole!

Maybe that is my issue. Not all by any means, but some of mine are pretty expensive or rare. I won't be replacing them if it happened.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

I think the old timers had a different mindset, and I appreciate it. Heck I remember even back when I first started fly fishing, you basically had "your fly rod". 1 rod, if you had to nymph you could nymph. If you wanted to fish dries, you could fish dries with it. If you wanted to fish streamers, well...you get the picture.

Once I started fishing for other species, then I saw a need for additional rods. A 7/8wt for bass, carp, and so-on.

It was much later on that I started looking for rods for specific applications. My "small stream rod" and so-on. I'm really not sure it improved my fly fishing experience, but the collecting became part of the fun for me.

Now, I find myself slowly going back to the "old ways", scaling down my equipment and all that.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

For many-many years, I fished with the first 8' long 5-weight rod that my father-in-law built and gave to me. His (five) grandsons all got identically configured rods for their 12th birthdays. Three of those boys used those rods exclusively for many years well into adulthood. (The other two grandsons were not my kids and I was unable to influence them enough to continue fishing.) I finally completed a college degree in my 50s, so my father-in-law gifted me with another hand-built 5-weight which was 9' long - "for bigger water."
It was only in the past year that I wandered over to a 7'-8" 3-weight for smaller water - a direct result of my father-in-law's encouragement to start building rods since he decided he's getting too old and wanted to pass it along to someone else. Now I like that hobby so much that I've built three more rods in configurations chosen by each of my sons to use... 9', 8-weight, 9', 6-weight, and 6'-6", 2-weight. The little 2-weight came out so nice and casts so pretty, that I'm working on one of them for myself. So, while I don't need three - soon to be four - rods to fish with, I look forward to using each of them at some time or another in the future. As for "dragging" them around from fishing hole to fishing hole, I find nothing wrong with having a handy spare if something gets loose, broken, or lost --> especially if I'm not fishing alone and a fishing partner breaks something.

 

[Bamboozle]

Just curious, you never get nervous leaving one in the car?
I've decided against that long ago after knowing people that had rods stolen.

Yes...

It's one of the reason I don't drive a fancy car, I never park in secluded spots, I won't EVER adorn my car with any kind of fishing related stuff, I would NEVER buy or use any kind of roof top storage, there is never ANYTHING visible looking into my car, I don't leave the back of my car open when getting ready to fish if there is any chance anyone driving past or nearby can catch a look...

...and I always have surprise sitting on my hip if I catch anyone nosing around my vehicle.

It sounds like paranoia and it is, but to be honest there is always some amount of gear left behind when I fish that I wouldn't want to be stolen beside an extra rod.

Maybe I've been lucky or maybe it's because I grew up in suburban Philly and lived in NYC and I'm cautious as a cat, but I've never had anything stolen from me in my life.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

It sounds like paranoia and it is, but to be honest there is always some amount of gear left behind when I fish that I wouldn't want to be stolen beside an extra rod.

It's only paranoia until something actually happens. We still hide valuables and lock vehicles even if we happen to park in the middle of nowhere. It's not likely that someone can't figure out that I may have fishing gear, when I'm parked next to a creek or in a fishing access parking lot.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

We saw a guy on Pine Creek many years ago. He actually had a flyrod sticking out of his waders and was fishing with a spinning rod. Still cracks me up when I think about it.

 

[Bamboozle]

I think the old timers had a different mindset, and I appreciate it...

I'm sure I could be considered "a gentleman older than me and far more experienced in fly fishing" by more than a few whippersnappers on PAFF. If that means I'm an "old timer," allow me to explain my current situation of having more fly rods than brains...

When I started fly fishing I was a kid with a limited income who had no mentors to give me anything. I started with graphite in the beginning days and really only knew about Orvis and Fenwick so my first two rods were an Orvis & a Fenwick HMG.

As a beginning fly fisherman I also needed everything else associated with the hobby AND fly tying (which was almost essential in those days) so that was an expense as well.

Bottom line, it was REALLY easy to just own two rods because I really couldn't afford to have a bunch.

Fast forward to approaching "old timer" status; I had a better job, I already had my other gear purchases made, I had much more disposable income, much more exposure to tackle choices; not to mention less will power, money in the bank and I have no children, pets or problems to divert funds.

Most of my stuff was purchased in the last 20 years so it is almost vintage but I REALLY like the way it performs. The good thing about that is it keeps me from buying anything ELSE new because you couldn't give one of the latest, greatest rods tempting the whippersnappers.