I have a 1 wt and a 2 wt and they are both a blast to fish. Melk, a 2 wt would be perfect for fishing for Brookies in the small streams you have in your neck of the woods.
I built a 2 WT 6’6"from a Sevier tiger eye blank. It was a Christmas gift for my fishing buddy Mike. I liked it so much I built myself a 2 WT 7’ from a blank I bought on ebay. They are a blast to chase eastern CA stockers in small creeks.
What size flies, tippet length & X ? Sort of limit to around size #16 or smaller unless using the old chuck & duck cast since the #2 weight is more of a finesse rod.
I’ve caught a few carp with a 6 foot , 2wt fiberglass fly rod. as long as you do not over react to the carp’s first run; it is a blast . bring a net too!
i have access to a lake where a two weight would be fun for bluegills etc. however i am back to using a 6wt and 12 lb tippet in another lake with descent numbers of channel cats if you do not put the wood to them they bury themselves in the weeds or get around a snag in about 2 heartbeats
After reading this thread I dug out the H&H kit my brother bought to build for me and found a rod maker close by to build it for me. It is a 6’6" Xi series and it came out very nice. He used a deep maroon thread for the wrappings and it came out very understated. I have a Cortland Embassy 40 reel for it that balances very well. I will be in search of a fly line hopefully in time to play with the Put-and-take trout in the state stocked stream not too far away (about an hour’s drive) when they do the November stocking.
My favorite rod has been a Loop blank 3wt my brother built me some years ago. I have used it on the Casey Creek (the stocked stream) before, but being a 9’ rod extra care must be taken to not become a defoliant.
How large of a fly, like a bass popper, do you suppose would be the realistic upper limit to a 2wt rod?
Having landed a 35.5 lb fish on a 5wt, I have no doubt a 2wt could land most bass around here. A lighter rod REALLY protects the tippet better. Its the casting I wonder about. I moved from a 5wt to a 6wt with an Airflo 40+ WFF line to cast the blockhead poppers better. These are not aerodynamic flies, and the 6wt helped the casting immensely. I do break off more bass, however, because of the stiffer rod…even though I’m usually using 11 lb tippet, and most of the bass are probably less than 5 lbs.