trouble casting 3wt,6' rod

[rodman]

purchased a new 6'3wt rod,with a 6' leader. Having trouble roll casting this new rig. Bought the rod for wild trout streams. Can't seem to get the line to lay out on the water. Need tips on how to make this work. Thanks Rod

 

[BrookieChaser]

Rods like you have are pretty much "one trick ponies" and roll casting ain't that one trick.

 

[Dave_W]

rodman wrote:
purchased a new 6'3wt rod,with a 6' leader. Having trouble roll casting this new rig. Bought the rod for wild trout streams. Can't seem to get the line to lay out on the water. Need tips on how to make this work. Thanks Rod

Welcome to our online community rodman and welcome to our Beginner's Forum - we're glad to have yuh.

With respect to your question, if you're new to fly fishing (FFing), understand that a 6' fly rod set up for a 3WT line is an unorthodox set-up.

Is this your first fly rod?

A rod such as this is really a bit of a novelty rod that is really geared to some very specialized applications. For one thing, it is very short. Now some of us really like very short rods (I tell people they're an aquired taste) but they are difficult to use. However, if you're really itching to get this rod to roll cast, you might try a heavier line, maybe a 4 or even 5WT line.

 

[afishinado]

rodman wrote:
purchased a new 6'3wt rod,with a 6' leader. Having trouble roll casting this new rig. Bought the rod for wild trout streams. Can't seem to get the line to lay out on the water. Need tips on how to make this work. Thanks Rod

Agreed above, a very short rod is a specialty rod which is more difficult to roll cast and overhead cast. A longer rod is a longer lever for both types of casts.

When roll casting, your cast depends on the rod being loaded by the line hanging behind the rod in the shape of the letter "D". Below the first illustration shows that the longer rod carries more line to load the rod and cast during a roll cast.

The second illustration shows the advantage of a longer rod being a longer lever in an overhead cast. In the same casting stroke, the travel is greater with the longer rod making for easier casting.

In addition, the same is true with mending; a long rod is easier to mend, plus it aids in being able to keep more fly line off the water for a better drift when fishing both nymphs and dry flies.

You may want to consider trading in that rod for a longer one that would be more versatile. A 9' 5wt is the standard rod choice for most medium to larger stream and rivers. It can handle most trout fishing situations and can double as a rod for bass or panfish in small to medium streams and lakes.

As a second rod for smaller streams many anglers opt for 71/2' 4wt.

Hope that helps.

 

[rodman]

Thanks for the info. I bought this rod for those small mountain steams. I have a 7.6 5wt. Do you think that I should go with that, as opposed to the 4wt line on the 6'

 

[BrookieChaser]

I would go with the 576 over the 360, if roll casting or casting weight is required.

 

[troutbert]

rodman wrote:
Thanks for the info. I bought this rod for those small mountain steams. I have a 7.6 5wt. Do you think that I should go with that, as opposed to the 4wt line on the 6'

Yes.

A 7 1/2 ft rod is a much better tool for fishing small mountain streams than a 6 ft rod.

 

[outsider]

BrookieChaser wrote:
Rods like you have are pretty much "one trick ponies" and roll casting ain't that one trick.

Totally agree. However 6" can actually make a difference if the 6'-6' rod has a slow action.

I have a Fenwick FF605 and it is a one trick pony, but I can make a decent short roll cast with my Shu-Fly Skip Storch 6'-6" rod.

 

[bigslackwater]

Save your 6' rod for when you are primarily throwing dries on mountain streams. For most of my PA trout fishing I use a 7'6" or an 8'6" 4wt.

 

[PennKev]

rodman wrote:
purchased a new 6'3wt rod,with a 6' leader. Having trouble roll casting this new rig. Bought the rod for wild trout streams. Can't seem to get the line to lay out on the water. Need tips on how to make this work. Thanks Rod

I'm guessing you are also trying to make short casts too?

Any casting is more difficult with lighter line weights, if you are also trying to cast with only a short length of line out, the difficulty becomes greater IMO.

I'm encouraged to see so many who agree that longer, heavier line weight rods are better rods for fishing small streams.

I'm also guessing that purchasing another rod is not in your immediate plans, so my recommendation is to go ahead and give over lining a try and see if that helps when casting at distances you typically fish.

An NO, WF vs DT doesn't matter in this situation, you likely aren't going to be fishing small streams at distances where the rear taper will come into play. The front tapers and weights of DT's and WF's don't vary all that much, if at all in many cases so just use whatever heavier line you have and don't worry about it too much.

 

[JoeE]

If the rod is fast action the only thing is to over line the rod. IMO Short rods need to have a slow action which helps when short casts or in tight areas. I fish 4’4” to 6’9” rods on small stream and found for me Bamboo or glass works out the best. Joe E

 

[JimKennedy]

If you think you are having trouble casting the 3 wt, wait until you try to set the hook when a fish hits. Damn near impossible. My 3 wt rarely sees action.

 

[ryguyfi]

Hey Rodman. I'm in your neighborhood. I work in Beaver and live in Patterson. I'll give you 2 tips on this. First is maybe adjust your technique and not roll cast on small streams. I know other people who say they do, but for me it causes too much of a disruption on the water and isn't as accurate as a single cast. Most casts are 10-15 feet max and I feel that simply hanging the fly in the air or even hold the fly in my off hand and casting from there. I think it's more accurate than a roll cast and more delicate too.
Next piece of advice would be to upline the rod with a 4 weight, That will add some weight to the line and slow things down to help load the rod and may get you the roll cast you want.

I'm assuming you're travelling to hit these small streams because there is NOTHING around here lol.