Looking for a winter project and am thinking of building a 6’6" 2wt. Not sure why, but i seem to have all the other wts covered and was looking for something different. To those who use a 2wt what type of fishing do you use them for? Is it a rod you reach for often? For some reason I have always thought of them as a novelty and have never given them much thought. I fish for gills in the summer and a 3wt sometimes seems too much on some ponds so it got me thinking…
Janus
I also own a 3wt. a 2wt couldn’t be that much different. at least I would think… prolly small bass gills or trout would be ok on it. to me my 3wt still doesn’t do the gills and smaller bass around here justice. they don’t take it to the reel hardly ever. only had 2 bass take me to my reel this year on the 3wt. i heard of a guy landing a great lakes steelie on his 4wt last week! he says he was bass fishing and it grabbed his bugger. almost got one on my 5wt tfo on a brown bugger bass fishing the same day but he missed the bugger when he came at it.
several of us fish a one weight rod. Mine is a Sage SLT (the first SLT model) and it is not a toy nor a novelty. THis is a strong rod and did just fine on 13" cutthroat trout. Go for it. When ya get into small fish it is a joy. There are many posts on the topic of 1 wt. rods, but I could get the search engine to cooperate. Built the 2 and fish the heck out of it.
I fish a lot for BIG gills with both my 8’ St Croix Legend Ultra 3 wt & my 6’6" 2 wt (Forecast 2pc blank) that good buddy Joe Valencic built for me. At least in my rods, there is QUITE a difference. The 3 wt is a good deal “faster” & casts MUCH better in the wind, but BOTH are a hoot when a 9" to 11" gill or 2 lb bass is on the other end. As much fun as the 3 wt is, there is a MAJOR difference with that “softer” 2 wt when a big ol’ honker is yankin’ away! I also love fishing the 2 wt fishing for brookies in the Virginia mountain streams. The foliage blocks the wind well there, so it’s really not an issue.
Build that 2 wt…you won’t be sorry. Then give me a holler & I’ll show you what REAL gills are, & they WILL test a 2 or 3 wt…here are a few examples…
The bottom picture is the 2 wt…the gill was 9" to 9 1/2"…the top pic is 11 1/4". Slightly longer & a LOT wider than the gill in pics 2 & 3. My buddy Gary told me I should also have had a “head on” pic of THAT monster.
Mike
I fished a new one weight at the Idaho Fish-In. Best fish on it was a 15 inch cutthroat trout. Nice casting rod. Not a toy or novelty.
Tuber, those are some huge “Gills”. Nicely done. Can I fish your pond?
REE
2 wt’s are a blast!!
Don’t pass up the oppeotunity to build one, and fish it.
I built a 4 piece 2wt, and have caught some decent sized fish on it; from trout to pike.
Go for it!!!
Be warned though; fishing them is very adictive.
Take care,
chris
I guess I have to be the dissenting voice…
I have a 7’9" 2wt that I use for trout. If I had it to do all over again I wouldn’t have bought it. It is a pain when it’s windy and just doesn’t do the things I need it to do when I need it to do them like turn over a really long leader with a decent sized fly. As a matter of fact I didn’t fish it at all this year. I have found that a 3wt works much better for me for those times when I feel a lighter line is important which really isn’t too often.
Yea you can catch big fish on it and yea it isn’t a toy but if half the time I’m compromising, why bother? As an convoluted example; yesterday I went fishing in a high fast cold stream on breezy day. I neglected to bring what I would normally use in those conditions a 9’0" 6wt. Instead I opted for a 7’6" more moderate action 5wt. Yea I caught fish and did all things fishermen do but I had a miserable time doing it. The rod just wasn’t the right tool for the job at the time. My buddy who brought a short 4wt had an even worse time. Bottom line; there are times when certain tackle choices will result in fun if you hook up, those same choices are the wrong choices if fun is desired BEFORE you hook up.
Of course YMMV.
Lighter lined rods don’t always equal the bigger fish feel. If I was looking to kick up the fun a notch I’d build a 3wt glass rod. A decent sized ANYTHING on a light line glass rod is a hoot!
I have a 10 ft 2 wt that I use for pan fish in open water. It is a blast to fish provided there is little or no wind. However when the wind blows the 2 wt goes back into the tube in favor of a 4 or 5 weight.
I agree with the others in that you should give one a try.
Tim
I have a Sage SPL 8’2" 2wt and when I’m fishing graphite it’s one of my favorite trouting sticks!
And it does well on gills too, (along with an SPL 1wt!)
Jeremy.
I got my first 2 weight in the early 90’s and loved it. I still wanted something lighter, so I got my first 1 weight in the late 90’s and my second and favorite 1 weigh a year or so later. It’s an Orvis superfine 7’6" model. I’ve landed trout up to 6 pounds on it without hurting the fish. It’s my go to graphite rod most of the year. I’ve had no problems using a 15 foot leader with it on any day that a 15 foot leader could be cast on any other rod. My wife’s favorite rod is her 6’6" slow action 2 weight. I find it a little too short for my liking, but it is a nice rod. She’s had no problems with wild browns up to 5 pounds so far.
My experience with rods is that the slower they are the better the fight of the fish and is not necessarily related to line weight. The difference in my 1 weights is like night and day. I have 6 weights that are much slower and make the fight feel much better than my fast action 1 weight.
As a side note, my favorite 1 weight was still a little too much for brookie fishing in my neck of the woods where a 6 incher is a monster, so I had a 00 weight bamboo rod built and love it. The biggest trout I’ve brought to hand on it was a 17 inch brown I didn’t know was there. It did test the rod’s strengh and made me nervous, but it survived unharmed.
I built a Hook & Hackle 6’6" 2wt 2 piece that I love. Actually one of the best casting rods I have wind or not. I would recommend it highly; it is definitely my favorite rod!
I’ve got a seven foot Cabela’s Clear Creek two weight and it has become one of my favorite outfits. I regularly reach for it when brim fishing on relatively calm days. Any bass from half a pound on up to two pounds is a genuine, unforgettable thrill. I can regularly pop out 30-40 foot cast even when using #10 Gurgle Pops. It is a great rod for river fishing when seeking stand stocker trout. Your fish becomes a much less certain catch and much more challenging.
There are limitation and some common sense is required. Two weights can deal surprisingly well with some wind but not big WIND. Sinking tips, split shots and other weights are not nearly as pleasant on a two weight. The big consideration is the fact the you will be poorly equipped to handle the fish of a life time should it appear.
I probably have more fun with my two weight than any of my other fly outfits. 8T 
While I don’t fish a two wt I have followed this thread with interests. One of the thing that I really noticed with all rod wts is type of action makes as big a difference as recomended line wt. A perfect example is my friends 3 wt St. Croix, Avid and my Redington CPS 3 wt. Both are 3 wt but the Avid is much, much slower, doesn’t cast nearly as well in the wind and feels more like what I would think a 2 wt should feel like.
The point that I am trying to make is that recomended line wt is only part of the equation and the perception of feel is as much a part of action type as line wt. Do the others of you feel the same way or am I all wet?
By the way, I love his Avid and am not saying anything against it, just that the precevied feel is drastically different between action types even within the same line wt class.
The bottom line: cast the thing and see if it is what you are looking for.
Rick
Rick makes an excellent point. For example, I built a 6’ for 2/3 on a Sevier Tiger Eye blank for small stream fishing.
It’s a neat little rod that is very enjoyable to fish with a DT3F line. I put a friend’s DT4F line on it and it is even more fun to cast, would undoubtedly do better in the wind even though it feels slower, but loses some distance because it is overloaded at about 40’ ( which is irrelevant to me since I’ll never cast it that far on the kind of water I built it for ).
I can’t imagine how fast that rod would feel with a DT2F line on it, and I don’t think I would like it ??
The combination of line weight and rod action is critical to how a rod feels. Until you cast a particular blank with a given line, it’s pretty much a crap shoot ??
John
By the way John, I fish the 3 wt Redington CPS with a 4 wt line since it is SOOOOO fast and it really blasts through the wind well for a light wt rod.
Definately agree that how a rod feels has many factors including rod length, action type, the line used to make the cast and what the manufacturer rates the rod as for line class such as a 2 wt rod or 3 wt rod. I’m sure that some fly fisherman can feel the difference between single foot and double foot guides but I make no such claim for myself. The point is that many factors go into selecting a rod. Enjoy the process and remember one very important thing: This is not your last rod, this is just your NEXT rod. 
Rick
Thanks for all the replies. I am looking at the Pac Bay blanks now. I gotta keep busy this winter so I might just give one a whirl. I have the guides and am going to look into these jannsnetcraft cork ring grips…should be fun.
Janus
2 wt.s are definitely fun.
I’ve built myself four of them, and several others for friends.
All rods are tools, though, and some of the posts here brought that up, if indirectly.
A 2 wt. is not the rod for a large salmon river in half a gale. Nor is it suitable for 2/0 rabbit strip pike flies under any circumstances.
But, for panfish and bass at the short ranges typical of such fish, with small to medium sized flies, it’s ideal. Not just ‘useable’, but ideal.
You can cast poppers and such ‘bulkier’ flies up to about a size 4 with a 2 wt. rod loaded with a WF3F line. At ranges to 40 feet they will turn over nicely. You can cast up to 30 feet in anything but a ridiculous wind (time to go home and take a nap type winds). A 2 wt. has the muscle to hook the fish, but is light enough that even the smaller fish will be enjoyable to catch.
For small stream trout fishing, those brush choked little places where the fish may be smaller but are plentiful and willing, the 2 wt. is in it’s element. A 6 inch brookie won’t put much of a bend in ANY rod in such circumsances, but hook a 10 to 12 inch fish and you will have a blast. Plus have the delicate touch and light weight to make such outings a pleasure.
Light rods are more fun to fish under the conditions where they are reasonable to use.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I usually drive to my fishing. I seldom, if ever, have only ONE rod with me. I ALWAYS take a two and three weight rod with me, as well as a heavier rod or two. You pick the rod based on the conditions you find when you get there. If you plan ‘for the worst’ every time, you are doomed to using heavy tackle in situations where you may have been able to use a lighter rod, which is way more fun.
And, as far as fish size goes, given that you can break the tippet with either rod, you can put EXACTLY as much pressure on a fish with a 2 wt. as you can with a 6 wt. if using the same tippet strength. It’s tippet strength, not rod weight, that determines how hard you can pull on a fish. I can break 8 pound tippet with my two weights (about 3x), so that is as heavy as I’ll go with it. You really don’t want the rod to be the weak link here, so if you need heavier TIPPET, then go with a heavier rod…
A 2 wt. is not an ‘all around rod’. I don’t want just one of those. I want to own lots of rods. If you only want one fly rod, then it shouldn’t be a 2 wt… If you already have a heavier rod, then a 2 wt. is lots of fun, and you will really enjoy fishing with it.
Buddy
I have a 6 1/2 foot 2 weight that I absolutely love to fish. I’ve caught a 20’ rainbow (didn’t expect anything that large), a 3 or 4 lb carp (not what I was targeting) and lots of bluegill on it. It is light, casts very smoothly, and is a blast to bring fish in on.
BUT, you can’t use it all of the time. As noted, it doesn’t do so well in wind, or with giant flies or on giant fish. When I can use it, I love it, but my 4 weight is always there just in case.
If you have the right place and right situation to use one, do so. It really is a fun way to catch small trout or panfish.
I have a Sage LL 7’9" 2 weight and to me NOTHING like a 3 weight. I do have a couple of 3 weights, with one being 6’ long but it is fast. A great rod fro small creeks, but the LL is much more fun.
I have landed a 18" brown in a fast moving river with the 2 weight, but I did have to run down the bank a ways.
The 2 is probably the smallest I will ever go. I understand the 00 and 1’s but, the 2 will work for me.
A 6’ 2 weight is all I ever use for headwaters brook trout. In this part of the world, headwaters implies you’re probably in a wooded canyon of some sort, so wind is seldom an issue, and I’m not likely to be casting double bunny flies at 6-8" fish.
You know you need one …