Donot know if was ever posted but the casting question post got me thinking on this. What is all your preferance on rod action: moderate, fast, med-fast? I donot have any fast action rods. I seem to prefer moderate or med-fast. Do these fast action rods help you cast farther? Or is it better to use an action you like?
Bill
I guess I’d have to say “medium fast”.
Allan
I have some of all, My preferance is a hispeed rod for most of what I do. I fish a lot of big flys and streamer with wet tip lines and I want a lot of BUCK WHEAT in the lower half of the rod for that. If I am going to a spring creek fishing small dry’s I like something slower so i don’t leave all my fly’s in the fishes face. Answer is some of everything is your best bet.
Rich
Hey Bill,
I like a medium fast rod for fishing my
foamies or foam and droppers in my warmwater
fishery. But when dries are acceptable to
my quarry, I really enjoy fishing them on a
slower action rod. No concentration for me.
It’s all feel and I love feeling the rod
load and unload and that little bit of fur
and feather seemingly reading my mind and
landing right where I want it to with nary
a ripple.G It’s a hoot! Warm regards,
Jim
Sorry, as for the distance differance, they all cast more line than you can realy fish with.
Rich
I have one fast action rod and like Rich seem to use it more with a sink tip line and bigger steamers. Most of my other rods are moderate with one slow and on moderate/fast. I seem to perfer a moderate action. It is easier for me to cast and like Jim I like casting by feel. With the fast action rod, I have to pay more attention with what I am doing.
I can learn to “like” almost any of um although a certain Tournament rod I have cast is beyond my fast action comfort zone. Also a relatives 9’ bamboo rod is so slow I could eat a sandwich waiting for it to load. Between those two extremes I find something to like in nearly every rod I cast. When you get in time with a rod most will preform.
Since I cut my eye teeth with fiberglass - long, long before graphite ever hit the market place, I’d have to say medium for most of my fishing. I do have a fast action 9’ / 9wt for heavy lures and heavy fish (and used also for salt water).
Dale
[This message has been edited by DaleW (edited 29 June 2005).]
My rods are medium.
I do everything in life “half-fast” (say it out loud)
Lux
Like Buzz, I’m not too fond of soft actions and the extreme fast rods just leave me in their dust 
I use the rod actions for what they are intended. Moderate for shorter casts and more delicate presentations. Faster rods for higher line speed, tighter loops and greater distances. Moderate fast for freshwater, reserving the Fastest for big bugs and sinking lines in saltwater.
Ursus,
“I would challenge someone to show me a super fast rod that can fish a size 20 dry with a 7x tippet in fast water for big trout and do anything but break off”
Your comments baffled me. I have caught trout on a fast rod with tiny flies and a 7X tippet without breaking off nor harming the fish. We’re not talking broomsticks and a fast rod doesn’t lose contact with the fish and the caster should be able to adjust for the tippet. Many fast rods have sensitive tips. The question is “Why would I want to?” They are not particularly useful for a delicate presentation to a sipping trout on a 20 ft wide creek!
Good think we have choices
I don’t know what all the fuss is about fast vs slow…soft vs…hard? There should be a method of categorizing rods so we know what we’re talking about and right now nobody knows what exactly the terms denote. And what they mean now may not be what they mean next year. Find a rod you like and test all of your friend’s and forget the hype. If I said that I had a fast soft rod would you know what I was talking about? If I said I had a slow taper…what’s that mean anyway?
Ol’ Bill
Fast!
Like others have said, it depends on the prey and conditions.
I reserve the super fast rods for others. I lean towards fast to moderate/fast but treasure the times the Scott ‘G’ and IM-6 are used.
I want to learn to double haul so I can fly fish Sandy Hook.
In learning to do this, I’m starting to gain a better appreciation of fast action rods. I believe they will assist you in getting it out there (as well as help out in the wind).
I have some problems casting with that rod at 30’ and less. But between 30’ and my top (which is right now 70’-75’), I’m liking the fast action right now.
Buzz, That’s a good one! I need a rod like that. I allllways get hungry when I’m fishin’.
Land Em’,
Carp
Hey Snipe:
You took the words right outta my mouth. I’ve been flyfishing and catching vast quantities of trouts for 30 odd years. I don’t have a clue or couldn’t care less about “rod action” except that which is caused when fishy takes my offering. I think I’m happier dreaming of the fish I caught and the beautiful places where I caught them rather than of what I caught them with. But that’s just me. I could be wrong.
Mark
I’d rather be in Wyoming!
[This message has been edited by Marco (edited 29 June 2005).]
Snipe,
There is a way of charcterizing any fly rod. It’s called the Common Cents System. Anyone can use it in the privacy of one’s own home and everyone can tell exactly what you mean by your results.
Unfortunately, this system is a subject about which followers of this forum have no interest. I would suggest you check out rodbuilding.org for further details. However, If you believe you know all you need to, and don’t want to use it, then don’t. However, the fact remains there is a system.
Medium is what I like for most of my fishing but I have the most fun with slow action rods.
Bill H.
I worked out a system back in the '80s which determines the “speed” a rod. It uses what I called a bending index, measured by flexing the rod a standard amount and taking some simple measurments. The amount of force needed to accomplish this gives a hint of which line the rod should be strung with, and the bending index translates into guide spacing. It works for me.
Ol’ Bill
Gosh…what did flyfishers talk about when there was only a choice between bamboo or glass? How fast their glass was?
here’s my answer though…CHEAP!