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

[smallstreams.co.za]

I've been following this after my initial comments. I think there is no "correct" answer to this topic - it's just too subjective and too personal. Also, rods and requirements for a rod differs so much from venue to venue and specie to specie, that it's probably impossible to quantify it.

[Korrie]

I've been following this after my initial comments. I think there is no "correct" answer to this topic - it's just too subjective and too personal. Also, rods and requirements for a rod differs so much from venue to venue and specie to specie, that it's probably impossible to quantify it.

There is a correct answer, each one can decide which model will suit him best for his style of fishing.
But as Phillip said in another post, from a Shop selling point of view, you try and sell the "middle of the road" rod with as many applications as possible for the first time rod owner.

[smallstreams.co.za]

There is a correct answer, each one can decide which model will suit him best for his style of fishing.

Hence "subjectivity" coming into play. What is correct for you is not for another - so there is no one correct answer.

[dollar]

dry fly application on the vaal,
i prefer a soft tip, medium flex mid section rod in 8 ft 4wt. mainly single dry but sometimes dry dropper with 9 to 12ft long tapered leaders (6x). short to medium distance casting only. the only rod that i have that fits this criteria is a hardy jet #4 8ft and its a medium action.
would a 9ft be a better fit or...

[Korrie]

dry fly application on the vaal,
i prefer a soft tip, medium flex mid section rod in 8 ft 4wt. mainly single dry but sometimes dry dropper with 9 to 12ft long tapered leaders (6x). short to medium distance casting only. the only rod that i have that fits this criteria is a hardy jet #4 8ft and its a medium action.
would a 9ft be a better fit or...

The best wood be to take a 9' and even a 10" and fish each for 3 hours and then decide for yourself

[core fly]

Once again rod length all depends.I love a fast rod and have learned to fish it well for dries so now the day i take a 10ft redington with and the rod feels so slow i struggle to cast the far out fish,but up close it was great.

[dollar]

great Korrie, i have organised a 10ft for a day, gonna be fun, cast a rod while the spare is clinthed in between my legs awaitng it's turn. think i'll alternate after three or four casts.
i hear you Core Fly, long casts just kills me because i was try to have the leader drop with loads of slack.

btw, has anyone used, seen or heard of dry flying with bamboo for yellows? (not me)

[Korrie]

great Korrie, i have organised a 10ft for a day, gonna be fun, cast a rod while the spare is clinthed in between my legs awaitng it's turn. think i'll alternate after three or four casts.
i hear you Core Fly, long casts just kills me because i was try to have the leader drop with loads of slack.

btw, has anyone used, seen or heard of dry flying with bamboo for yellows? (not me)

I suggest a longer session with a rod, before you change.
Try to get the "Feel" of the rod, fish for an hour or so, then change, fish for an hour.
then you can do shorter stints.
Otherwise you will end up being completely confused, before you found the rhytm or the sweet spot you change etc

[Grant111]

Right where to start. So much info and advice, so here goes.

Korrie - I suspect it's time for a leader brand change. Check

Dollar - Stroft GTM it is then. I didn't realise you're actually fishing with the same breaking strain as me but the diameter is far thinner. So I'm sold on all the benefits that brings.
You see its all these little things that make a huge difference in the end.

Benzo - Thanks for the video. Problem is I'm lazy and not keen on swimming down stream.

Yella - why does leader to hand only catch small fish?

I do try to fish the deeper sections but I'm a type A personality and standing in quite water, sort or bores me to death. But saying that at Nationals, I was fishing in a "dead" area and left for the faster water and only caught 2 fish that session. The guy I left behind in the slow "dead" water caught 11 fish and came 2nd for the session....... I came second last!!!

I've been thinking of hitting the Vaal for winter but a little unsure how to approach it, as all I know is summer fishing. So any pointers would be helpful.

I also only fish Barbless so yes I should just get over it and if I pop a tippet it's not the end of the world, it will come out. Although I'm still not happy about it but that's my issue.

Mario - I think after all this I've realised that the rod is a small part of the overall solution and that my initial question "is it more sensitive" was actually irrelevant.

I guess the point of all this is to learn something. So to everyone who contributed, thank you.





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[Korrie]

Right where to start. So much info and advice, so here goes.

Korrie - I suspect it's time for a leader brand change. Check

Dollar - Stroft GTM it is then. I didn't realise you're actually fishing with the same breaking strain as me but the diameter is far thinner. So I'm sold on all the benefits that brings.
You see its all these little things that make a huge difference in the end.

Benzo - Thanks for the video. Problem is I'm lazy and not keen on swimming down stream.

Yella - why does leader to hand only catch small fish?

I do try to fish the deeper sections but I'm a type A personality and standing in quite water, sort or bores me to death. But saying that at Nationals, I was fishing in a "dead" area and left for the faster water and only caught 2 fish that session. The guy I left behind in the slow "dead" water caught 11 fish and came 2nd for the session....... I came second last!!!

I've been thinking of hitting the Vaal for winter but a little unsure how to approach it, as all I know is summer fishing. So any pointers would be helpful.

I also only fish Barbless so yes I should just get over it and if I pop a tippet it's not the end of the world, it will come out. Although I'm still not happy about it but that's my issue.

Mario - I think after all this I've realised that the rod is a small part of the overall solution and that my initial question "is it more sensitive" was actually irrelevant.

I guess the point of all this is to learn something. So to everyone who contributed, thank you.





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Grant
you mentioned that you did not catch any fish in the slower water.
Sometimes it has to do with different techniques.
The slower type of water can be very interesting and challenging.
Holding fish that is more difficult to catch.
It could have been the thicker tippet that spooked the fish or made them refuse the fly?