Matching the rod with the fly.

[J.Z 0]

So I am looking to build two new rods for my upcoming move to either Florida or Louisiana. One of them will be a Helios 2 8'9 one piece and the other will be an 8'3 Sweetgrass Bamboo pentagonal three piece. Im having a tough time deciding which to make into a 9 and which to make into the ten. For the 9 I prefer to throw flies like the three little 2 inch tarpon flies and for the 10 id prefer not to cast anything much larger than that cuda popper. Has anyone had much experience with bamboo when fishing the salt, and if so, how do they cast bigger flies?

[saltydancindave 0]

The popper looks more like a #10 weight & larger like a #12 weight rod fly since there's no hook size mentioned. Used to be choose the fish to catch, match a fly size & then get an appropriate weight fly rod. As well as bamboo casts heavier line weight big bass flies, seems graphite would generate more line speed needed to cast larger flies.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

There's a reason you won't see any bamboo on the salt (at least I never have, and I've been working the long rod since 1976.... and began guiding full time in 1996 down here in south Florida) but that's something you'll have to learn for yourself.... For most inshore applications an 8wt and a 10wt will cover 90% of the things you'll be doing. If you add in big tarpon (or shark) or you're going out into bluewater then the real need for a 12wt will soon become apparent... For those who will only want a single rod for the salt the advice to get a 9wt (or build one) is right on the money.

 

The advice I give my anglers (whether they're buying a rod or building one....) is based much more on the flies they're needing rather than the fish they're hoping to connect with... Put simply, most days a fly on a 1/0 hook is about as large as an 8wt can manage comfortably. We'll step up to a 2/0 hook for close quarters work (back in the 'Glades or in any marshy areas you'll find yourself working a lot closer to fish than you will out on crystal clear bonefish or permit flats...). That 10wt really comes into its own with larger bugs - up to a 4/0 hook (with the added benefit of being your go to rod when the wind is howling and that 8wt just won't deliver the bug where it's needed...). We routinely take tarpon in the 'Glades up to 80lbs on just a 10wt to give you some idea of what that size range rod is capable of... For bigger fish an 11 or 12wt is a very good idea....

 

I've been building rods since 1971 (and every rod on my skiff each day is one I've built - the exception is fly rods since I simply can't build one quick enough to replace a broken rod - and we break some rods every year -my own or my customer's...). The warranty that most rods come with these days is a very handy proposition for a guide or anyone else on the water a lot. That said, when you have to ship the same rod back to Sage (or any other high end maker) more than once in a single year things get costly (but that's another story entirely...).

 

Rod building is a great hobby and I know a lot of folks who live north of me spend each winter building and repairing gear -since they won't be doing much on the water.... Down here in paradise we fish every day -year 'round if the weather allows (and even when it doesn't....). Before you build those dream rods you might want to spend a bit of time on the water down wherever you're re-locating to. You'll have a much better idea of what's really going to work for you before you go to the time and expense of building gear that might end up not working as well you think it will.

 

The only folks I know that were ever really satisfied with one piece fly rods are those that fish exclusively out of skiffs and aren't planning on doing any travelling to fish. A one piece rod can be a superb stick - but not if it ends up in several pieces before it ever sees the water... To give you a point of comparison the last two fly rods that I built were a matched pair of "cannons" each on a two piece nine foot Thomas & Thomas Horizon blank -one a 10wt, the other a 12wt. They were set up with Powell reel seats (years ago the Powell seats were top quality machined goods that were nearly bullet-proof - but not really expensive compared to Struble or others...) and with a custom turned foam butt. Both of those rods have each taken many big fish - and are actually still in commercial service almost twenty years later (if you can believe it....). I still have the Billy Pates that were the best I could find way back then ( a Bonefish and a Tarpon) but these days both rods have Nautilus reels mounted on them now....

 

I've done my share of rods that seemed like a good idea at the time... some worked out just fine -others were used once or twice then just gathered dust... Hope this helps.