Long rods, short rods, crisp rods, slow rods etc and your style of fishing.

[FlyCraft]

I found that when I started, I "out grew" my shorter softer rod that was sold to me, very quickly. To such an extent that I almost stopped fly fishing, as I did not "like" the feel of the rod or what it should do.
22 years ago, the way people fished and what was the "norm" and now is a lot different.
The exposure to external influences was a lot smaller. The only interaction you had was the CPS bar on a Thursday and later on Monday evening and everyone talked "dry fly" and "match the hatch" and "Drag free". Then the CFF magazine was launched and you could read about SA fly fishing.

Yip, for many years it was a 7'6" 3wt, that was the locally available option for many years. Orvis had some shorter rods, few guys owned rods like the Sage LL which was slightly longer, but for most part it was a 6' - 7'6" rod. It was only 10 years or so ago when longer lightweight rods started to appear on our local scene.

[Korrie]

Remember my first rod 7'6" #5 Think it was a Pluger
"Sales pitch: lovely short rod for the bushy cape streams, short accurate casts, a true accurate casting rod"
when I think back, it was only the Holsloot that was "bushy" The rest of our streams are OPEN.
Today, long casts, even when fishing pocket water is fished 20 or 30 feet away, dry or nymph.

Then a WHITE WOLF came on the the market 9"
that was the game changer for me
think that was 1999 or 2000.
Immediately my enjoyment changed.

[FlyCraft]

Remember my first rod 7'6" #5 Think it was a Pluger
"Sales pitch: lovely short rod for the bushy cape streams, short accurate casts, a true accurate casting rod"
when I think back, it was only the Holsloot that was "bushy" The rest of our streams are OPEN.
Today, long casts, even when fishing pocket water is fished 20 or 30 feet away, dry or nymph.

Then a WHITE WOLF came on the the market 9"
that was the game changer for me
think that was 1999 or 2000.
Immediately my enjoyment changed.

That was probably a Pfleuger Medalist, a browny/bronzy coloured blank, know they made a 5/6 wt 7'6".....? My first saltwater reel was also a Pfleuger, the "paint" chipped off after my first outing in the salt. Not that the reel got wet, it was the moist ocean breeze.

[FlyCraft]

"White Wolf'', dit klink blêddie gevaarlik, soos een of ander Mafia fly rod, waar het jy dié gekoop?

[Korrie]

"White Wolf'', dit klink blêddie gevaarlik, soos een of ander Mafia fly rod, waar het jy dié gekoop?

Kan nie meer onthou nie, maar dit was net na die "Wit Wolf" se stories in pretoria, heelwat chirps gehad.

[Korrie]

That was probably a Pfleuger Medalist, a browny/bronzy coloured blank, know they made a 5/6 wt 7'6".....? My first saltwater reel was also a Pfleuger, the "paint" chipped off after my first outing in the salt. Not that the reel got wet, it was the moist ocean breeze.

Yip, dit was die stok.

[FlyCraft]

Kan nie meer onthou nie, maar dit was net na die "Wit Wolf" se stories in pretoria, heelwat chirps gehad.

Het jy hom nog? Sal graag wil sien hoe lyk die gedoente.

[dollar]

for the salty stuff, crispy 8 and 9 wt 9 footers. for the vaal and similar rivers moderate 3wt 10 ft rods and moderately fast 4wt 10 ft rods. for the stream i have recently moved from 7' and 7'6" to 8 footers, 1 and 3wt rods, i found casting better/easier than the smaller rods. maybe its tall grass on the banks and havent really incountered "tight brush" yet.

[Korrie]

Het jy hom nog? Sal graag wil sien hoe lyk die gedoente.

Nee, dink die Wit Wolf was nog in die tronk of is dalk vry gelaat.

Die White Wolf stok en die Pluger is geleen deur 'n vriend en dit het op ge-eindig in sy motor se deur.

[Korrie]

Just reading thru some of the posts, it seems that migration to the longer rods are are the norm.
The one problem with long rods are the fast to very fast rods.
Especially in the lighter weights.
As most of the fishing is done on shorter distances, loading the rod is very very difficult.
There was a brand available at one stage that was a superb rod, as long as you fished more than half a fly line.
If you fished shorter, casting was a night mare.
Your timing had to be 100% with the back and forward cast.
Because the line did not load the rod, to stiff, you had to time your cast with the line extended on the back cast.
Another problem with long rods, is if your STYLE of fishing is lots of little quick upstream mends to counter drag, or if you use the fast little casts on short distances, the long rod and the swing weight/momentum becomes a problem. Long rods are not fun to fish, you prefer to fish this way.
Nothing wrong with fishing that way, as I know a number or guys that love fishing this way, This is how they fish, and what gives them enjoyment.