streamer rods

[lycoflyfisher]

Thanks for the advice guys, I am not in a hurry on this purchase and want to make sure I end up with a set up that I like for reasons mentioned above. I have accumulated 4 5wts because I would find one that performed more to my liking under certain situations or I found a deal to good to be true.

A local shop has several St. Croix Imperials left from last year that he's running a nice sale on, a couple 6wts and an 8wt. I am going to try casting these, but does anyone have experience with these rods?

 

[Swattie87]

Imperials are VERY fast. Sport car of a fly rod, red blank to match.

Too fast for me, even for a streamer rod, but there are plenty of guys who like them. It’s a good, well made rod from a reputable company. Excellent value for its price range, even more so if on sale. But yeah, it’s fast.

 

[allan_s]

I have a 9ft 7wt imperial I bought as a back up streamer/steelhead rod 3-4 years ago. I have only fished with it one time, that is when I broke my 10ft 7wt while out on the river, but I found it very pleasant to fish with. Nice action and can fight into the butt - which a lot of fast action rods fail to do because of whatever reason (poor rod design).

My 10ft 7wt is a Helios 2. Does everything well and you put a fish into the butt of the rod and access that power very easily. I have yet to catch a freshwater fish that actually challenges it.

I might be willing to sell the Imperial since I use it so little. It is brand new minus one day of use. I don't think I ever filled out the registration either.

 

I use a Scott E2 9' 7wt, its a moderate fast rod , but the LINE is what makes it shine, Rio Outbound Short and a Borger Uni leader with some 0x tippet ...It will shoot and turn over an entire chicken.
I use a lot of rabbit strip laden flies, it will turn over a bunny rabbit as well. Trying out different line on your present equipment will save you hundreds of dollars.

 

[BrookieChaser]

There is a new 890-4 Sage One for sale in the "Swap" section.*



* - I'm not the seller, nor do I know the seller. I just know I've fished streamers with those rods.

 

[tomitrout]

I just picked up an Echo Base 9'/6wt for use similar to what the OP describes. It showed up on the doorstep yesterday and appears to be one hell of a nice stick for $90. The living room waggle indicates an action on the more medium side of medium/fast, which will suit me fine, definitely mellower than the Redington Path and Imperials I've tinkered with, I'm not a fan of fast action rods.

Got it for general boat fishing on medium sized floatable waters, wanted a do it all trout/smallie rod to compliment my 7wt which is better suited to bigger water and flies. The 7wt isn't as versatile for me for covering lots of scenarios, great for heavy streamers and big bass bugs, but not much fun for nymphing or dry flies. The 6wt is a nice do it all compromise with bit more oomph than a 5wt to punch thru the wind or throw a bigger fly. Primarily gonna use this rig for normal sized trout streamers/smaller smallie flies with the ability to comfortably fish dries or swing a brace of wets should a hatch be encountered.

 

[krayfish2]

Lyco,

What are your plans for the rod.... beautiful long false casts or pick up and shoot? You fishing #6 Clouser or #2 sex dungeon?

I have a St Croix Legend Ultra saltwater 6 wt that I'll use for tubes or Clouser type of stuff. Fish it on a 10' sink tips or short poly-leader. Fuller flexing and easy to cast. If I'm in the boat tossing big junk on a 7 IPS sink line, I have a totally different setup. More stout 7 wt with a faster action. It's more of a strip in, pick up, shoot on backcast and let it go type of fishing.

You could get one of those imperials, and older Scott S3S, Sage RPL, Redington Path, TFO or other rod and not be into the bank account too deep. Like flybugpa said, line will make the difference. You'd be better off dropping your money on 2 lines of different taper and a poly-leader or two for your vest.

 

[lycoflyfisher]

Kray,

Mostly looking for a rod to handle larger streamer patterns, I got into fishing some bigger sculpin patterns this winter on some smaller water and my 5 wt setup is lacking the backbone to put the fly where I want to efficiently. If the rod can also handle dry flies on some of the larger creeks (big pine, loyalsock etc) in a pinch or in the event I get out west that would be great.

I actually found a local shop that had some killer deals on imperials from last year and I got to cast it. I want something I can pick up and shoot line and this seemed to shoot line really well. I am looking at line now considering Cortland troutboss, SA Frequency Boost and SA Mastery MPX. For the price I got the imperial for if I end up not liking it I can probably sell it for what I have in it and try again.

 

[krayfish2]

Deals can be found on textured gpx which is a closeout. That would work well for day to day fishing. It's a great line. If you got an RIO outbound short, Rio Smallmouth, Wulff TT, Wulff Ambush or SA SBT in addition to the good, you have 2 very different setups with the same rod.

 

[fishhead]

Blew up my older Helios1 9'#7 a few months ago. After casting a bunch of rods i wound up falling in love with the Sage Foundation 9'#7. It handles 250 grain Airflo Streamer Max that i throw out west and on larger water locally like a dream. I was skeptical at first,thinking that Sage must have skimped on quality to get into the lower/mid price range market. The rod is an absolute cannon. I love it.