Posting this in “Sound Off” carries an implication that I’m “very” concerned" . Well, I’m not. It’s just curiosity as to a thought process. Why?, if probably 4 rods/reels cover almost all possible fishing situations, do you have 10,15 or 20 or even more ? Is it a “collectors” mentality ? Is it a " I’ have more than you" mindset? Is it I have a “Sage,Tomas, Kusse etc. oneupmanship kinda thing? Is this an investment with potential profit?. Or, are all the rods actually used ?Or is it unexplainable?
My curiosity stems from the disparity of posts stating " I bought a rod,a Sage, a Pflueger etc.” as opposed “I caught a fish” where the emphasis is on the “stuff” instead of the act.
I caught a fish the other day, a nice bow on my Bill Taylor 5wt bamboo with a furled leader. He fought nicely but no aerial displays. I netted him with an Orvis net and took a photo with a Nikon camera. He took an IPW with 2 microweights about 4 inches above the fly. I have given him several days rest and will go back today and try to catch him again but this time with my Sage SP 3wt with a CFO reel. Then in a couple days I will go back with my Winston Boron IIX 6wt rod and see if I can catch him again. Then again a few days later with my 4wt bamboo. Wouldn’t it be neat to catch that same bow on all those different rods. I would consider my TFO 8wt or Winston 9wt, but they are a little overkill don’t you think.
Dot
But seriously, my collection goes from 3wt to 9wt, 2 piece to 5 piece rods, high end and mid-range and they all have their slot and get used during a season, some more than others. I actually am glad to have enough rods that I can give one away when the need arises, just like last week when a friend’s house burnt down and all his gear went up in flames. I happened to have 3 5wts so I sent one to him.
I have a bunch of rods, nothing that’s going to impress anyone, but I like them
I even got two “new” ones this year.
The 45 year young glass rod I was using yesterday casts like a champ. I fooled a few trout and I had alot of fun using it.
Later today I’ll take the other new rod out for it’s baptisim.
It’s a 10’ 8wt IM6 that I bought for just fishing in high surf. I can’t wait to try it out.
I think this $20 rod that proudly says Made In Chinawill become this year’s favorite :lol:
Sometimes what is a hobby to one person may be a way of life to another. When a man or a women spends their entire adult life following their dream, lets say it is fly fishing, they will most like endeavor to better themselves with their avocaton wether it be with equipment enhancements or going where the action is, lets say the AuSable in Michigan for instance. I love fly fishing but I love ham radio a little bit more. I have over the years added to my equipment collecton, gone on what we call DX-Peditions to far away places to operate and in a nutshell “live the hobby”. I am sure the same can be said of Basket weaving or Deep Sea diving. My take is, let it be…I consider anyone who “liives their hobby” weather it be by having all the neat things that go with it, to be fortunate indeed. Maybe thats why we ham radio operators call the Radio Equipment store the “Candy Store”. Been to your candy store lately?
I have at least 18 in my garage and a Edwards “Quade” and Staddard “Never Break” bamboo in the den. I teach fly fishing to children and it seam every one has a rod their not using any more. BILL
What Jonezee said. Very well put. I would only pose one further question. Would you want to do all your fishing with a six weight rod? It would probably surfice for 90% of your fishing, actually 100% if you omit heavy saltwater. 8T
Fly fishing is as any endeavor that we humans undertake. That is, in time we tend to take pride in the equipment we use, almost as much as the endeavor itself. Golfers take pride in their clubs. Hunters - especially bird hunters - take pride in their guns. Cavemen took pride in their spears I bet. We all tend to own more that we use. It’s so we can sit in front of the fire in winter and dream about things past and things future. The sight and touch of quality - or at least the best quality we can obtain - helps to move those thoughts through our minds. There is nothing wrong with owning quality equipment and taking pride in it. There is nothing wrong with owning more equipment that you will use. There is an old sportsmans rule, “you can’t own too many guns.” Same applies to everything else. Who just ties enough flies to fish with. We all have fly boxes full of flies that we just look at and will never use. Go for as much and the best you can reasonable obtain. It is part of the experience.
That’s my opinion. And you all have figured out by now, I always have an opinion.
Maybe a more interesting way to ask this question is, how much of my enjoyment of fishing comes from the actuall fishing, and how much of it comes from the accumulation of the tools of fishing. The same can be said about fly tying or even casting. While all of us have a passion for a sport we call fly-fishing, what we enjoy about it, or at least what we most enjoy about it, is different for every one of us. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with that, indeed I don’t know how it could be any other way.
I am probably more like Marco, I derive less pleasure from the purchase, care and admiring of the tools than I do of the actual fishing. That is until its 6 am. on a snowy winter morning and I am drinking coffee and reading FAOL and looking at the newest toys at Hook & Hackle or on the for sale board.
What a wonderful sport we share that it has so many ways to nurture and care for us, and all we have to do is give it our time, some portion of our money, and a bit of affection.
Marco, in my case i guess it’s more a case of an obsesssion and possibly “unexplainable”.
There is absolutely no rational reason for me to own as many rods as i do. I get to fish about 12 to 20 days per year.
I could use a different rod every time i went if i cared to. :shock: I guess there are two semi explanations for my collection.
I can’t pass up a “good deal” and often don’t.
I hope to someday have the time to fish enough to use them all and then maybe pare down to what i need. (doubtful)
I do think some redundancy is a good idea on trips far enough away from home that a trip would be ruined should a break occur. Other than that i guess it’s a hobby
and an obsession that isn’t harming anyone. (i’ve had the other kind too).
P.S. My wife wonders why i ever tie flies any more. “you’ve already got thousands , don’t they work?” :lol:
This past Sunday I was looking through all those unneeded, under used rods. It the group of rods is a Sage 389 LL. I haven’t had the rod out in likely 5 or 6 years. I took it out, found its reel, a nice little Ross click pawl reel, and cast it in the front yard for about an hour. The little rod cast like a dream. I got to where I could put the small cut off hook with a piece of yarn tied to it where ever I wanted within 50 feet. The “fly” would land so gentle that I doubt it would have made as much as tiny little ripple if it where landing on water. So what you may say. Well this is from a guy that spends most of his fishing time throwing 8 to 10 weight spey rods with heavy sink tips on 100 foot casts with no regard of how they may land on the water. I had a great time with my little light line 3 weight. Sorry didn’t catch a thing with it but that great time.
I have more rods than I need and I need to just sit down and give someone a good deal on about 5 rods. Why I have 5 too many? Well, I started out with a cheap outfit to see if flyfishing was something I would want to stay with after giving up on tournament bass fishing when the fun went out of it due to so much lake traffic plus the money that could be won got large enough that everyone took the sport too serious and turned into “cut throats”.
I learned that I absolutely love the sport of flyfishing and wish I had started 30 years ago with a fly rod. I upgraded to a custom built rod built on a rainshadow blank in 8’6" length and a 6 weight in 2 piece. I fished that rod for everything and loved it. A rod building friend insisted on building me a rod and he built me a 9’ 2 piece 5 weight from a St Croix blank. I liked that rod a lot too. Then he decided to build me another one in 9’ 2 piece 5 weight on a Sage VPS blank. Yes, I liked that one too! I liked both of them better than the Rainshadow because they were lighter in hand for all day fishing. My wife bought me a 7 1/2’ “Little Trout Special” in 2 piece rated as a 5/6 weight with case. I like it, but, never use it due to being use to a longer rod. Someone let me try out a Sage XP and I really fell in love with it due to the quickness of the rod and the very light weight. I liked it so much, I went to my rod building friend and told him to build me a Sage XP in 4 weight, 8’ 6" length and 2 piece and I would find the money to pay him somewhere! He built it and I use it 95% of the time and the other 5% I use a Sage XP 8’ 6", 5 weight in 2 piece which I bought off of FAOL For Sale board. So, I have fished long enough to know that I honestly love a Sage XP rod in 8’ 6" length and in 2 piece. If I had my other rods sold I would go to FAOL For Sale board and purchase the Sage XP that is listed there in a 6 weight. I want it real bad, but, do not have the cash at the moment. The way I look at it is that would give me a Sage XP in 4 weight, 5 weight and 6 weight. The XP is my kind of rod that I really enjoy using. All my other rods worked well, but, I just do not use them. On occasion I will get one out and cast it in the yard and it works real well, but, it is just not the Sage XP. I have narrowed it down through the process of elimination to: Sage XP is my kind of rod action, 8’ 6" length is the perfect length for me and I much prefer a 2 piece rod.
So I think we have all the other rods trying to find the rod that best fits our style of fishing. It is not that they are not any good or of lesser quality.
I have 6 rods & use all of them. One is a “camo” Diamondback 8 1/2’ 5wt that I bought from WarrenP…thanks to his one Sage acquisition! They all have their time & place, plus it keeps the boredom away.
Mike
Those of us old enough to rememger him , there was a very wealthy man named" J. Paul Getty" . An interviewer once asked him" Mr. Getty ,your the wealthiest man in the world. Sir, how much money is enough?
Getty’s reply" Just a little bit more".
Perhaps just one more is enough.
I have several rods and use them all. I may have six fly rods with me when I go out in the canoe.
That way I can just change rods and not flies. I have a 1 wt I built, two 3 wts and 2 5 wts that usually go with me.
