Any disadvantage to a 10 ft rod vs a 9ft?

[waynep]

I have been thinking of a new Trout Rod. I mainly fish the White River system in Arkansas. Currently my primary rod is a 9ft 4 wt. I use a 9 ft 5 wt when it's windy or I know I'll be fishing a bit longer distances. I have been thinking of a 10ft 4wt. I think the extra ft would be nice for mending etc. I can't think of any disadvantages other than possibly the tip feeling heavier due to the length.

Any reason to not get a 10 ft?

wayne

[sagefisher]

Wayne,

None that I can think of and I use 11 footers for some of my trout fishing.

The guides that I have also love casting my 11 footers and most of them have 10 footers in their drift boats (note on the 11 foot rods, many drift boats don't accommodate them very well, but one manufacturer is making a newer version that will take 11 and 12 footers).

You will love the ease of the cast, especially the great reach casts and then the ease of the mends of the longer rods. I still use 9 footers for my dry flying, and I use the 11 footers for all of my nymphing and some streamer action.

Another nice feature about the longer rod is what I call the shock absorber action. You will notice that you can let the fish fight against the action of the rod a whole lot more before you have to allow any line out, thus keeping the fish closer to you and actually getting them in and off the hook faster.

Buy it and enjoy it.

Larry ---sagefisher---

[shortcaster]

I have an 11' 8wt that I use for steelhead off of Lake Michigan. The length makes mending easier It also makes fighting big fish easier. Thinking about trying it out on the White later this month. Normally like a shorter rod but on big water a longer rod is generally a better bet.

[planettrout]

I have been using 10' rods for Trout since 1985, when Scott custom made a "G" Series up for me in 5wt. I now have several 10's made by Sage, Winston and Loomis. They have been used all over the West by me and my kids for nymphing, dries and streamers. I have my eye on this one for a next:

http://www.thomasandthomas.com/rods/ats

There is no good reason to NOT have one...



...especially when one wants to work the soft water on the other side of the white water when the flows are blowin' on the East Walker River...


PT/TB

[Silver Creek]

As in many things related to fly rods, the answer lies in the physics of levers. The disadvantages of a 10 foot fly rod over a 9 foot is less pinpoint accuracy for dry fly fishing, and less useful in smaller streams unless you are dappling or bow and arrow casting.

A longer rod is basically a longer lever. The longer the lever the greater the mechanical advantage, but the less precise control you have over the end of the lever. For example, try writing your name by holding the end of a paintbrush that is 6 inches long and one that is 4 feet long. You will have more control of the end of the shorter paintbrush. Greater control of the fly rod tip translates to greater accuracy in casting.

For accuracy alone, you want a fly rod that is long enough to give you enough mechanical advantage to cast the distance that you need to, but short enough to give you the maximum control of the rod tip. Ever wonder why 9 foot fly rods are the most popular? It is because they offer the ability to cast as far as most people need and with sufficient accuracy.

The advantages of a longer 10 foot fly rod like casting further, keeping more line off of the water for direct line nymphing, the ability to mend more line, etc. are tradeoffs for the loss of accuracy over the 9 footer. You need to decide whether the positives of a longer rod outweigh the loss of casting accuracy.

I use a 10 footer for larger rivers, but an 8 - 8.5 footer in my local waters. So in big water, the advantages of a longer rod, especially for nymphing, outweigh the loss in accuracy.

[garthman]

i fish soft hackles and nymphs for trout on a 11 foot 4 weight for trout. on really small, tight stream, i'll downsize to a 10 foot 3 weight. either rod works just fine on dry flies when called upon to do so.

[johnstoeckel]

I bought a 10' 4wt last year and looked at / handled several different 10' rods during the process. I had previously fished a 8' 4wt most of the time.

The thing I noticed first with 10' rods was the extra weight. A 10' rod is probably going to be almost 50% heavier than a 8' rod of the same line weight. Furthermore, the longer lever can make the rod feel tip heavy (depending on the rod and the reel you use with it). Lastly, some of the 10' rods, and it seems like especially those targeted at Euro nymphing, are quite soft / slow which may or may not suit your style.

All that said, I really like the 10' 4wt that I eventually bought. The extra length really helps with line handling and mends. It's most useful on larger water where I'm making longer casts, but it use it a lot more than I expected on small streams.

[rawfish]

Can't add much more that wasn't said before. I bought a 10 footer (Orvis Clearwater) for nymph fishing, but found that in nice open water it cast perfectly well for dry fly fishing. The 10 footer became my go to length for regular trout fishing as it is far superior for nymphy/streamer applications and marginally less efficient for dry fly fishing. An 8 foot dry fly rod, however, can't roll cast or nymph nearly as well as the 10 footer.