Recently I was at a fly fishing camp where I took some instruction from a guy who was both a very accomplished competition caster, as well as being a popular fly fishing guide.

Of course he was a fabulous caster, fast and accurate, casting effortlessly in all sorts of wind with stunning accuracy. We talked a lot about rod actions, and what basically surprised me was the way he referred to fishing rods or casting rods.

He had magnificent fast action rods, the brands we discuss on these forums, but he would only use them for competition casting. He states they are useless to fish with. Conversely he used fairly slow action and soft rods for fishing, claiming the benefits of softly landing dry flies; lighter tippets used due to the energy absorption of the rod on a strike; better fighting ability; much easier to keep a fish on; more forgiving in fishing conditions; and so on and so on.

This is from a guy who really knows what he is talking about. (Several books, competition titles, national team and $700/day fee)

Interesting to me - any thoughts in favour or against?