A post on the Items For Sale BB is “For sale is a sparingly used Sage grapite 7’9” 6wt".
My question is why would you want a 6wt rod that short? I like my heavier rods to be 9’ or longer and my lighter rods, say 4wt and below to be shorter.
What’s your opinion?
Close quarters but still the need to throw larger flys? I have a 7 1/2’ 6wt Fenwick glass rod that I still fish on occassions. Also, for some a shorter rod is easier to control.
What anglerdave said…lol…I like shorter rods for most of my fishing, Especially in the Mid wt’s, say 5 to 8 wt.
With 1 exception,My smallie rod for larger rivers is a 9’6" 7wt…Where I need to get big/Extremely heavy flies out there…
What might the heading of that post be…?..looked, cause now you got me thinkin I need a new rod…
“I’ve often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before” A.K.Best
“Wish ya great fishing”
Bill
[This message has been edited by billknepp (edited 27 July 2005).]
I have a short 5-6 wt that I used when bass fishing two persons in a canoe. Just easier to handle, less interference with the other fisher, and the canoe could get you in close to the fishing anyway.
Jim
My first bamboo rod, the Queen Mary, now owned by our very own Colston Newton, is a 7’6" 6 wt. rod. The above mentioned application of throwing larger flies and streamers on small streams with big fish in them is the ticket with this kind of rod. Works well too.
These are the idle thoughts that posses a man’s mind when he’s not able to fish.
My question is why would you want a 6wt rod that short?
Apparently they don’t!
When I choose a rod for the day, I try to imagine the conditions I’m going to use it for.
I’ve got a friend with at least 11 4wt rods. Does he use them all, no. But he does have short rods for meaty fish in tight conditions and longer ones for open areas.
If I’m wading deep or tubing, I want a longer rod. This also helps with windy days. I restrict my short rods to use in tight spaces, such as overgrown small streams.
I can only think of one place where I would need a short 6+ weight rod (more later). If the water is fecund enough to grow fish to match the rod, its probably fairly large. Big water, longer length.
I know of some open trickles on pasture land that I even use a 8’6" 2wt.
Oh, also, when I’m nymphing, I like a longer rod for the reach. I try to keep as much line off the water as possible.
The one place that might call for a short rod is whilst using heavy (11+ weight) tackle for big bill fish. The short casts after the lure is pulled in don’t call for the long rod and you can’t get the backbone used for a marlin out of anything long without it weighing a ton.
Frank Reid
I think that’s an ideal Bass rod for smaller rivers, like what we have in the Texas Hill Country. I usually use a 4wt in said conditions, but if I wanted to throw lead eye clousers or large topwater bugs, I’d rather have a six, or at least a five.
I like shorter rods for those conditions because I feel I can be more accurate with them. For precise casting under overhangs and such, I like a shorter rod.
kphume, RW here,
First off I’d make sure it wasn’t owned or used by rj’s brother-in-law.
Later, RW
“We fish for pleasure; I for mine, you for yours.” -James Leisenring on fishing the wet fly-
RW, you just made my day…evening!
Dear kphume,
It wasn’t all that long ago that a 5 weight rod was considered a “light trout” rod. In the 1980’s many rod manufacturer’s still called a 7 weight an “all around” Western trout rod.
Personally, I don’t like any rods shorter than 9 foot, but I do use a couple of them on occasion.
Regards,
Tim Murphy
I fish primarily with a 7’9" glass 6wt and a 7’ 4pc glass 6wt. I have no lighter rods anymore. I also have a 9’ 4pc 8wt in graphite.
Why?
I fish a wide variety of waters and travel by airline also. I want trout rods that can easily land big fish, are portable,flexible, and exceptionally durable. I fish a lot of anadromous waters including small streams where you can catch 5" trout up to 10lb steelhead and big searun cutts dolly varden and the occasional salmon. Brittle little light weight graphite rods will not due. A long light leader on my little Fenwick 7 footer will give me a very delicate presentation if needed and the soft rod flexes with 5 inch fish. On the other hand, I can put a heavy short leader on it and cast a size 2 or 4 weighted bugger or clouser with two beadhead droppers. Try that with your light little graphite.
When I travel, I can carry on in their socks two rods without risk of loss or damage along with a couple of reels and box of flies and wading boots and I’m ready to go anywhere.
Bottom line: Flexibility.
Varden
As Satchell pointed out, I have his “Queen Mary.” Old trollope is 81 to 84 years old. (You can tell by the logo). She did a whale of a job for me last spring throwing a heavily weighted Prince nymph and 1/2" indicator in heavy water. She also handled several rainbows nicely in that same heavy flow.
The bottom line is that 6 wt simply isn’t all that heavy. I have a Norm Thompson catalog from about 1961 that doesn’t list a single rod for less than 6 wt and most are 8 wts. The lighter rods are more of a marketing ploy than better than the somewhat heavier ones. (I have rods ranging from 3 wt to 9 wt. The mid-weights, 5-7 are much more versatile.)
[This message has been edited by Colston Newton (edited 30 July 2005).]
Hiya Colston,
Glad to hear the old Queen helped you out. It caught a few fish for me too…
These are the idle thoughts that posses a man’s mind when he’s not able to fish.