Ideal setup?

[swsmith]

I did see some potential there my boy.......

[gkieser]

I am one of the Vision 3zone 5wt 10ft converts. It is light for a 5wt and has some serious backbone. I really think it is a super rod for fishing the vaal. Not a bad caster either, when you need to.

I have held and cast the TFO professional 6wt 10ft and it is significantly heavier than my 6wt Vision 3zone, which is admittedly a foot shorter, but not short enough to explain the difference in weight.

[Byron]

I am one of the Vision 3zone 5wt 10ft converts. It is light for a 5wt and has some serious backbone. I really think it is a super rod for fishing the vaal. Not a bad caster either, when you need to.

I have held and cast the TFO professional 6wt 10ft and it is significantly heavier than my 6wt Vision 3zone, which is admittedly a foot shorter, but not short enough to explain the difference in weight.

I find the TFO rods too heavy - not dissing the rod at all, I just prefer something lighter. They are very popular on the Vaal because they are fast and have plenty of spine but I would rather fish a lighter rod.

Explorer make a 10ft 5wt guide series, but as far as I know this is the one with the exploding issue - it is a light rod though, their 9ft is more robust.

There are plenty of cheap options if cost is a factor...

Have you seen or tried any of the Horizon rods?

[ShaunF]

Have you seen or tried any of the Horizon rods?

I cast one of the new 9'0 5wt XRS Horizon's the other day. Replaces the TRS in weights below 7wt. It's a beast !

[KevinC]

I am one of the Vision 3zone 5wt 10ft converts. It is light for a 5wt and has some serious backbone. I really think it is a super rod for fishing the vaal. Not a bad caster either, when you need to.

I have held and cast the TFO professional 6wt 10ft and it is significantly heavier than my 6wt Vision 3zone, which is admittedly a foot shorter, but not short enough to explain the difference in weight.

Hey mate

I see that the TFO Professional 6wt 10ft weighs in at 136 grams (4.8 ounces) and the Vision 6wt 9'6 weighs in at 111grams. The Vision 6 weight 9 foot weighs in at 104 grams.

Taking the difference between the Vision 9ft and 9'6 6 weights one would assume that if Vision made a 6wt 10ft rod then it would weigh in the region of 118 grams which is 18 grams lighter than the TFO 10ft 6 weight.

Question is whether an extra 20 odd grams will affect you when fishing all day? I think, when looking at these stats, that the weight of the reel is probably much more important than the weight of the rod.

Interestingly, my 10ft 5wt gt4 weighs 98 grams and I initially thought that it felt rather heavy in comparisson to my old Vision 3zone 9'6 6 weight (which is actually 13 grams heavier!)

Makes for interesting reading.

[ShaunF]

Interestingly, my 10ft 5wt gt4 weighs 98 grams and I initially thought that it felt rather heavy in comparisson to my old Vision 3zone 9'6 6 weight (which is actually 13 grams heavier!)

Hey Kev,

I reckon finding a reel that balances the rod at the correct position on the grip where the rod pivots in your hand whilst casting is more important than either the rod weight or the reel weight in isolation. That's probably why your heavier rod felt lighter to you - you'll find that the reel you were using balances it better than it balances the other stick. Well, thats what I have found with my rigs.

[Andre]

Hi guys,

I've never fished for yellowfish before , I know.

What is the ideal setup to fish for yellows in the Vaal?

1. Rod length?
2. Rod weight?
3. Reel?
4. Line?
5. Leader?

Ideal, as is not breaking the bank, but not breaking the blank on the first outing either

Cheers

The question you should really be asking here, is what is the best technique for catching yellowfish on the Vaal in november......etc. Once you have the answer, match the rod, reel, line etc to the style of fishing you want to be doing. Will you be CZN'ing, making casts, short, long, fishing pools, rapids ....all these are going to influence your tackle setup.
Someone mentioned a camo line, if you are planning to do any type of short line nymphing, this is a sriously bad idea, as the line needs to be visible to you in order to see the takes. The best short line nymphing line is the yellowfish Airflo line and it is bright green, so there goes that theory. Someone else mentioned the Greys Missionarry series. This is a specialist Czech nymphing rod, and if you plan on making any type of reasonably long cast, don't buy this rod. If you are planning on CZN'ing the whole time, don't go for a TFO, too heavy, and not enough flexibility to effectively pick up the takes. Your leader length and setup, is different for the different styles of catching yellows. There is no generic best setup.

[gkieser]

Hey mate

I see that the TFO Professional 6wt 10ft weighs in at 136 grams (4.8 ounces) and the Vision 6wt 9'6 weighs in at 111grams. The Vision 6 weight 9 foot weighs in at 104 grams.

Taking the difference between the Vision 9ft and 9'6 6 weights one would assume that if Vision made a 6wt 10ft rod then it would weigh in the region of 118 grams which is 18 grams lighter than the TFO 10ft 6 weight.

Question is whether an extra 20 odd grams will affect you when fishing all day? I think, when looking at these stats, that the weight of the reel is probably much more important than the weight of the rod.

Interestingly, my 10ft 5wt gt4 weighs 98 grams and I initially thought that it felt rather heavy in comparisson to my old Vision 3zone 9'6 6 weight (which is actually 13 grams heavier!)

Makes for interesting reading.

Yeah it does! Now that you mention the reel, I was measuring the weight difference with two different reels on - The Vision had a Shilton CL2 and the TFO had one of those silver creeks which i think is a bit bulkier.

Where did you get the weights from? I am now interested to find out how much the vision 3zone 5wt 10ft weighs.

[Byron]

I cast one of the new 9'0 5wt XRS Horizon's the other day. Replaces the TRS in weights below 7wt. It's a beast !

That's my Vaal pole - I chose it purely for speed [Edit: on big still waters and for heavy yellows - I wanted a rod with a stiff spine that didn't reel like a broomstick,] it was faster than the MRS and TRS, but if you want a slightly slower rod then those are good options.

The Vision rods sound pretty sweet but I haven't seen any around here... maybe I'm not looking in the right shops. I really like lighter rods. Another one worth checking out is the Albright A5, they have such an awesome action - not as fast as the Horizon but they feel much lighter.

[Andre]

That's my Vaal pole - I chose it purely for speed it was faster than the MRS and TRS, but if you want a slightly slower rod then those are good options.

The Vision rods sound pretty sweet but I haven't seen any around here... maybe I'm not looking in the right shops. I really like lighter rods. Another one worth checking out is the Albright A5, they have such an awesome action - not as fast as the Horizon but they feel much lighter.

Byron, why would you choose Vaal rod for speed?