Favorite Rod you Seldom Fish

Hi All,

Don't know why I was thinking about this, but I was thinking about my favorite rod, and that I very seldom fish it.

The rod is a Sage 389 LL, and I love to fish it. The problem is that being a 3 weight, it is difficult to use in the wind, and here in the Texas panhandle, the wind blows a lot of the time. It is also not a a good choice for throwing a large fly, and I fish a lot of streamers, some of which can be somewhat heavy. Consequently, if I think I will be using a fair size streamer at some point, or the wind is either blowing or the forecast is that it will come up, the rod stays at home.

At any rate, I wish I could fish it more, but such is life.

Do you have a favorite rod that you very seldom fish?

Thanks and regards,

Gandolf

Sage 9', 5 wt., Z Axis, just too much rod for most of my fishing! Last time I used it was late September 2011!

My 14' 8 weight RB Meiser two-handed rod. It's a beast of a rod, but it's really only applicable in a few situations.

I have a Sage 696 RPL that's great for tossing big, bushy dries in the wind but it's a 2-piece and a pain to travel with so it mostly gets used for shad in the spring. Luckily, I'm able to use my father-in-law's (same rod) out here in MT.

Regards,
Scott

For me a 5 wt Sage SLT. It a beautiful rod for dry fly fishing. Hasn't seen much time on the water these past couple of years. I do take it out to the casting ponds to keep my casting rhythm in tune.

St Croix Avid (gray blank) 8 1/2' 4wt. It is a 2 pc so for traveling purposes I tend to take my 4 pc rods. Still I will get it out a couple times a year and fish with it. This is a very nice casting rod and if I were limited to only one 4wt for the rest of my days, this would be it.

The Lamiglas 4wt that my father built for me in 1972

GLX 10 wt. - love the rod, just don't have a lot of call for it...

My main stay fly rod(s) are 5 wt, so much so that I have three of them: two niners, one a fast action and the other a medium, plus an eight footer for more close quarters. These 5wts probably account for 90% of the fly fishing I do.

However, an old favorite (well, about 18 years old?), that seldom gets used ... is an 8'6", 7wt IM-6 graphite Pflueger, bought at (of all places) K-Mart. Beautiful action rod that will handle it's own performance wise against much higher priced/prestige rods. I'd use it more except as already posted, 5wt is more my everyday style. But when I do use this rod it is always a pleasant surprise - so much so that I matched it up with an old (made in the USA) #1494 Pflueger reel - great combination!

I have a Winston IM6 7' 2wt and two 3wts - A 7'6" WT and a 7'6" Biit. Nothing more fun for bluegills and other pan fish, but the Kansas wind does make it tough to bring them out.

I have a Sage SLT 1 wt. that I love to fish, but it's just a bit too light for the bluegill I catch in the lake I live on. Heck, they pull me around with my 3 wt. and keeping a 10-12 inch bluegill out of the brush with my 1 wt. is near impossible:( Jim Smith

7-1/2 foot Phillipson HDH glass rod which was my Dad's, and is the rod I learned to fly fish with, caught my first bass, trout, and panfish with. I haven't fished with it in years, it is put away in a case. I'm afraid I might break it, although If I didn't break it as a kid riding with it across the handlebars of my bike I doubt I'd break it now all these decades later.

An almost 30 year old Sage RPII 6 weight. Far and away the best graphite rod I have owned. I dould use it for any fly fishing ( fresh water ) that I wanted. It would lay out a fairly long line, or fish close in, dry or wet. With all the rods I have collected, that was the one I would grab as I was heading our the door. I dreaded the day would come that something would happen to it. I guarded it jealously. I made it from a blank, along with two others, one for a friend and the other for my son. Each was marked 9/1984. Finally, the day came, whenI strted to put the rod in its tube after fishing for a few hours, I found the tip broken at the first guide. Sage couldn't help, my son wouldn't part with his, even for the offer of a new rod. Myfriend had passed away, as many seem to be doing these days. after 3 years of searching eBay and all the websites I could think of, another friend passed away and his fly gear was being sold to benefit a fishing club. On the list was an RP11 - 6 wt. I got on the phone and made the deal. This one also was made from the blank by a guy with more talent than I have, so I now have an even nicer rod that shows little wear. I'm up to 75YO now, so I expect that with the same care I gave the former rod, the current one will oulast me. Since I broke the earlier rod, I have aquired a beautiful, DT 6 Wt unused Ashaway line, which now rests on the SA 6 ( Marquis) that I always used on that old beauty.

One of my favorite seldom fished is a first run model Orvis 7ft 9in 2wt. I have been fishing glass rods now for a few years, I love my Diamondglass rods.