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

**dollar** · 22-07-16

sometimes i wished i had a rod that could do everything, a rod with knots to adjust height and action of the rod like an home theater amplifier. when moving along a stretch of water one encounters many different scenarios, for this, a golf bag carring an assortment of rods would be ideal but in reality not. maybe most of us recreational flyers resort to underlining, overlining, drop to your knees, stand on a rock, leader set-up, the occassional butt section removal and reaching for the sky arm cast just to have that smile while driving home with thoughts of " i hooked the fish" or "i moved the fish", never or unlikely one thinks of a rod purchase unless the rod broke (purposely)

**Korrie** · 22-07-16

Originally Posted by dollar

sometimes i wished i had a rod that could do everything, a rod with knots to adjust height and action of the rod like an home theater amplifier. when moving along a stretch of water one encounters many different scenarios, for this, a golf bag carring an assortment of rods would be ideal but in reality not. maybe most of us recreational flyers resort to underlining, overlining, drop to your knees, stand on a rock, leader set-up, the occassional butt section removal and reaching for the sky arm cast just to have that smile while driving home with thoughts of " i hooked the fish" or "i moved the fish", never or unlikely one thinks of a rod purchase unless the rod broke (purposely)

LOVELY POST.
The Palu fly rods comes close to your description. The only down side, compared to most rods is that it is heavier.
I have a Palu rod, you can fish it from 6" to 12" 6'. From a #3 to a #7 line.
But it is not everyone's cup of tea/fly rod.

**Andre** · 22-07-16

I am of the opinion that the rod choice is very much an individual preference. I tend to fish a lot closer than most people on stream work, so i choose my rods based on their functionality at extremely short range. Im happy with a rod that is mediochre at middle distance, but it must be exceptional at very short range. Hence my preference for 2wt stream rods, over 3 wt stream rods, and because i seldom fish with any fly line, it is important to me that the rod has the tip and action to turn over a very long leader.

**dollar** · 22-07-16

Originally Posted by Korrie

LOVELY POST.
The Palu fly rods comes close to your description. The only down side, compared to most rods is that it is heavier.
I have a Palu rod, you can fish it from 6" to 12" 6'. From a #3 to a #7 line.
But it is not everyone's cup of tea/fly rod.

http://www.flyfishingpalu.com/canne/teleregolabili/
looks like a lovely rod and functional. a closer look at the bottom three eyes, these sections would be deciding factor for the length adjustment or not?

**dollar** · 22-07-16

Originally Posted by Andre

I am of the opinion that the rod choice is very much an individual preference. I tend to fish a lot closer than most people on stream work, so i choose my rods based on their functionality at extremely short range. Im happy with a rod that is mediochre at middle distance, but it must be exceptional at very short range. Hence my preference for 2wt stream rods, over 3 wt stream rods, and because i seldom fish with any fly line, it is important to me that the rod has the tip and action to turn over a very long leader.

Andre you are an very experienced flyer and with that experience you will share your findings openly. i learn and impliment new ways from the contributions like casting a long french leader, the rod i have, 3wt 10ft streamflex, is my partner in crime or should i say the rod i have closest to the attributes that is required for this type of fishing. realistically i'm not just gonna jump into buying a new rod to suit the style right away so we both (rod and i) will struggle just a little but can one adjust leader to make it work, i.e. your designed butt of the leader being 20lb (roughly 0,45mm in dia) to be replaced with 40lb (about 0,6mm dia.) then reduced to a small section of 20lb to make the cast work?
(in thought - maybe i'll have an imagenary esn 2wt

)

**Korrie** · 22-07-16

Originally Posted by dollar

http://www.flyfishingpalu.com/canne/teleregolabili/
looks like a lovely rod and functional. a closer look at the bottom three eyes, these sections would be deciding factor for the length adjustment or not?

When you "open" the rod, you start pulling from the tip top eye.
As you mentioned the bottom 3 eyes PLUS a Section that does not have an eye, that is below the last eye and shoves into the handle/grip part is what determines the length.
On the longest 3 settings it is not a casting rod, but more a reach rod for reaching further into the stream, under trees etc.
When Mr Palu demonstrated the rod to me, and explained how it takes a mind shift in the way you fish, and how your fly rod can become a "different tool" it was an eye opener for me.
I am not sure Mr Palu snr is still alive, about 2/3 years ago I heard he had a stroke and is very frail. His son was with him in the bussiness and was running the bussiness at that stage

**Andre** · 22-07-16

Originally Posted by dollar

Andre you are an very experienced flyer and with that experience you will share your findings openly. i learn and impliment new ways from the contributions like casting a long french leader, the rod i have, 3wt 10ft streamflex, is my partner in crime or should i say the rod i have closest to the attributes that is required for this type of fishing. realistically i'm not just gonna jump into buying a new rod to suit the style right away so we both (rod and i) will struggle just a little but can one adjust leader to make it work, i.e. your designed butt of the leader being 20lb (roughly 0,45mm in dia) to be replaced with 40lb (about 0,6mm dia.) then reduced to a small section of 20lb to make the cast work?
(in thought - maybe i'll have an imagenary esn 2wt

)

I went from a 3wt Streamflex, which i used for years, and felt that it was the only od at the time to do the long leader fishing. Mar Krige introduced it to me about 10 years ago. There was also the echo rod in 10 foot, but at the time I preferred the Streamflex. Sage was a little slow on the uptake with longer stream rods, and until they brought out the 99, they disnt actually have a decent long rod stream offering to do euro nymphing, and I was of the opinion that sage didnt have a decent nymphing rod at all. The 10 foot XP and the 10 Foot Z-axis didnt really suit me and were too fast for Vaal or Orange river fishing. I used a 5wt Streamflex for that as well. I loved the Sage 99, only problem it was lightest at 4wt, which is an awesome rod, but not so great on light stream work. Then...enter the ESN, and the World changed forever...and the rest is history. Needless to say the ESN declared the Streamflex absolutely and completely obsolete in my opinion. I started with the 3 wt ESN, and after about a year, moved to the 2wt, and never been happier, its my rod for life.
I found the Streamflex to be very leader dependent and your leader needs to be exactly right for it to work properly, perhaps the tip isnt quite ideal, but the ESN is far more leader friendly, and a variety of long leaders, both progressive and compound taper, work very well in various lengths.
The thing with the Streamflex that I never quite got used to, was the tip wobble...drove me nuts at times.

**Korrie** · 23-07-16

The one advantage of a long rod over a short rod is the amount of line you can keep of the water.
In very slow, flat water, it is not such a big problem.
But in slow flat water, the majority of fly fishers cast almost a straight leader.
Pascal Cognard showed us, how to really fish the long French leaders, and why it has such a long tippet section.
You cast a big upstream bow into the leader.
This way you do not line/leader the fish.
The fly always approach the fish first.
The rest of the leader and fly line is far removed from the fish.
This is not very easy with a shorter rod.
A long rod does this easier than a short rod.

With faster water, pocket water, broken water, the more line you can keep of the water the better.

You do not have to keep an eye on the line, the mending, the resulting drag etc.
You can only focus on your fly or indicator to watch for the take.
The faster the water, the quicker the take.
If you are mending the whole time, you are not focused on the fly/take.