Been looking and reading about the TFO Clouser fly rods and was wondering if anyone here has fished one and could give me their input on what they are like. I was thinking more on the 6wt model for river smallmouth fishing. If you own one or have tried one I would appreciate your input. Pros and cons…
Thanks
Hello Warren, hope you are doing well.
For what it’s worth, I took a fly casting clinic at the VA fly festival with Bob himself two years ago, and was able to cast one of those rods. I liked it, Bob called it a “progressive taper”, not as fast as the BVK I think. It is a beautiful rod, blue I recall, it had an “inlay” above the handle, very nice looking rod. A possible downside is the overall weight of the rod, it isnt a light weight stick. I didnt notice the weight as excessive when casting the rod. Sometimes maybe there is too much emphasis on overall weight, but it isnt as light as similar sized BVK. I use an Orvis power matrix for poppers for smallies, it is a heavy rod, I really dont seem to notice after a couple casts. Maybe it tires me quicker than a lighter rod, or maybe I just get tired. I do think you will find the action slower than your BVK, although that may be good when casting the larger bugs. It is the rod he was using then on his guide trips for smallies and carp on the Sesquehanna, so it is designed for river smallie fishing. My impressions only, I am no expert. If you can attend an event that TFO has demos, they should have one to try.
pillcaster,
Thanks for the reply. I figured it would be a little heavier. Do you remember what weight the rod was that you tried? I am thinking a 6wt is what I would be interested in for the smallie fishing I do here and know that a lot of people use a lot heavier weight and the higher up you go, the heavier the rod would be.
Sorry, I dont remember. Harry Murray recommends 6 and 7 weight, he used to have an 8wt in his line of rods also. My popper rod is a 6wt, but it is a “tipflex” saltwater rod, and I have an 8wt bass line on it. I cast size 4 poppers for the smallies, the 8wt line turns them over for me.
http://www.murraysflyshop.com/recommended-fly-fishing-outfits-for-bass-and-trout/
Pillcaster describes the rod well. We have them in our shop. The rod series does kind of get lost in TFOs collection of $250 rod series. Not as fast as the BVK or TiCrX and heavier than the BVK. The composite burled cork trim rings make for a more durable handle. Most of our customers use 200gr integrated shooting heads locally for saltwater fishing with this rod. We like a SA GPX 6wt for all around floating line work or a 7 or 8wt line for close in bass bugging out to about 40ft. The heavier line helps carry they more wind resistant bugs as you know. We also like the rod with the Rio Outbound Short 6wt floater for shooting poppers 30+ feet.
The 6wt is a good all around medium wt rod that seems to do a lot of things well.
I have not tried the TFO Clouser but do use a BVK 5wt and TiCrX 5wt. I love these for nymphing trout in larger rivers. but I have thrown 18 dries with no problems. the 6wt would be great for bass in medium sized waters but if you need to really reach out there you may want a 7wt.