need advice

[BWilson]

hello i am fairly new to flyfishing and enjoying it greatly, i am looking into buying a new rod in 5-wt,and have narrowed it down to a temple fork outfitters, here is my question will there be much difference between a 8'-6" and a 9'. i fish mainly ponds for bluegill and bass. any help will be appreciated.

bart

[Eric-WD]

In my opinion if you don't need the shorter rod to avoid brush go with the longer rod.

It will

Lift your line six inches higher to get it above brush behind you.

If you fish from a canoe or pontoon it will allow you a little more distance above the water.



Eric

[Gigante]

9' is easier to use always when casting space is not a problem. TFO is a good choice to. I love that TFO makes pro quality rods at beginner prices.

[Gypsy]

If you are able to, test cast them both and see which one you like best.

[Silver Creek]

Always wise to test cast or better yet borrow rods and try fishing them side to side. I'm in favor of test casting if you know what you are doing.

Generally though, the 9 footer will be better for open water.

[BWilson]

thank you all for the advice, i will see if i can try one out before buying,i know what the 8'-6" will do that is what i have know,i appreciate all that commented thanks.


bart

[James Smith]

One other consideration is that if you ever start fishing from a kayak or float tube, you will find that the extra six inches on the 9 foot rod makes a big difference. The closer you are to the surface of the water, the longer you want the rod to keep your backcasts off the water more easily. Just a thought...

Jim Smith
Conyers, GA

[BWilson]

thanks jim not sure if i will float tube but we do have a 9' pond prowler we are going to get rigged up for fishing. so that may be another factor i can get either rod for the same price and six inches longer is not going to matter a whole lot i dont think so iam probably going to go with the 9'. also next year some time i am going to look into getting a shorter 3-wt so if i need a short rig i will have it.
thanks again for all the comments

bart

[jeffnles1]

With the exception of my 3wt, all of my rods (4wt, 5wt, 7wt) are 9'. My 3wt is 8'4".

One other thing the extra 6" will help is if you're fishing smaller streams and need to "high stick" to keep as much fly line off the water as possible when there are a number of ribbons in the current. I fish the Smokey Mountains several times a year. The brush there is so thick that even a short rod won't allow room for casting so it is a lot of roll castine, bow and arrow casting and just flipping leader out into the plunge pools with about a foot of fly line out past the rod tip. The extra 6" is noticable in these situations.

I also fish a lot of ponds and small lakes for bass, bluegill, crappie, etc. It seems as if I can cast just a little bit farther with the 9' rods

[edit] I started fly fishing with an 8'6" 5wt and have since gone to 9'ers for all but the 3wt.

Hope this helps.

Jeff

[Bluegill222]

Jeff's got a good point. A lot of people go to shorter rods on small water so they can have a back cast when they would probably fish the same water more effectively with a slightly longer rod and a good roll cast. I have rods ranging from 6' to 11' and there are situations where I use them all, but I will generally go with the longest rod the situation will allow.