The fly rod is the foundational element of gear for a fly fisher. If you have one fly rod, you need two. And if you have two, you definitely need two more. We love fly rods, and in this episode, we drill down into what we use and why. This is all about gear talk. Steve even goes so far to say that he doesn’t need another fly rod, but he must be developing a strange form of fly fishing dementia. Shame on him.
Listen now to For the Love of Fly Rods
Great Stuff from Our Listeners. At the end of each episode, we often include a feature called “Great Stuff from Our Listeners.” It’s the last segment of each episode, where Steve reads one of the comments from our listeners or readers. We enjoy hearing from you, and appreciate your advice, wisdom, and fly fishing experiences.
What is your favorite go-to fly rod or fly rods? Which fly rod do you like most – and why? Please post your comments below.
OUR SPONSOR: DR SQUATCH NATURAL OUTDOOR SOAP
We are big fans of Dr. Squatch soap products for guys who love the outdoors. Our favorite bar soap is Pine Tar.
Visit Dr. Squatch Outdoor Soap for Guys, fill your shopping cart with great outdoor products, and enter “2Guys” as the promo code. You’ll receive 20% off!
WOULD YOU REFER OUR PODCAST?
We’d love for you to refer our podcast to a friend, your TU chapter, or fly fishing club. Be sure to pass along our podcast to others.
That is the most simple way to help us grow!
Download a Podcast App on Your Smartphone
The most common app used by 2 Guys feed subscribers is “Podcasts.” Or you can simply subscribe to the RSS feed here:
Subscribe to 2 Guys and A River
To see every episode that we’ve published, click on “Fly Fishing Podcast” on the top navigation.
The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists
We’ve published a book for regular-Joe-and-Jane fly fishers called The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists: Life is short. Catch more fish.
One person who purchased the book called it “cliffsnotes for fly fishers.”
To switch metaphors, perhaps it’s more like a handful of potato chips. It’s an entire book of lists. The goal is to help you find practical help quickly and in an easily digestible format!
Buy it today on Amazon for only $13.99!
First things first. A guy can never have enough fly rods . Lol . I’ll start with my first rod before moving on to my favorite. My first rod was a LL Bean guide series 8.6 ft 6 7 wt graphite. Yes for some reason its marked both 6 7 wt. The rod is unique . Were the rod goes together is a boron post that slides into the female end. The salesman told me that was the new and upcoming thing . So he convinced me into buying it. The rod came with a reel and line for a whopping 120 US dollars back in 1982. Although the rod is a bit heavy compared to today’s rods I could cast that rod in any condition with streamers nymph or dries with pin point accuracy. It was a good universal rod for bass trout and salmon. I still have it today. I then got the bug to buy an upgraded much lighter rod . I had to save a little while before I could make the purchase. Prices changed quite a bit the year is now 1994.. I bought a rather unknown rod called Gatti. A friend of mine who worked at Scheels named Al Campbell. A new dealer for Gatti introduced me to their rods . The rod is an 8.6 4wt graphite. Its very light and yet still cast a pretty distance. It’s my winter fly rod still today . Then I went on a road trip from SD all the way to within a few miles of the Bay of Fundy Canada. So I of course had to buy a rod just for that occasion. A 9 ft Sage Z Azis 7 wt. A light Salmon rod the locals and guide told me . They use much larger rods a called them telephone poles. Heck Lee Wulff caught salmon on a 5wt 6 ft one piece bamboo rod which i will talk about more in a minute. So we are now in 2014 . I go into a much larger journey into the world o fly fishing. The world of bamboo . Something I always wanted to do. My next rod after saving for a long long time. Is a 7.6 ft 4wt complete with silk line and a hardy perfect reel . Now let’s talk my favorite fly rod . You know that Lee Wulff thing I was talking about. Well his story intrigued me to the point I just had to have a 1 piece 6. 2 ft 2 wt. Bamboo rod . You would think such a short light wt rod wouldn’t have the action to cast with any distance. But surprisingly I’m able to cast it quite well. And with accuracy. It’s the perfect rod for small streams . I absolutely fell in love with the rod . We were made for each other lol
You’re right, David. We always need ‘one more’ fly rod! Lol! I love your experience with the 6 ft, 2 wt. bamboo rod. Intriguing! Thanks as always for sharing.
DR SQUATCH NATURAL OUTDOOR SOUP
I thought it was soap not soup
Ha! It could be soup. Soup. Soap. As long as it is all natural, it’s all the same! Good catch!
Hi guys I enjoyed the fly rod podcast….expected it was going to be a “trip down marketing lane”…so was really pleasantly surprised when you just talked about your fly rods past and present…In saying that I do like to look over the fly rods whenever I’m in a good fly shop…looking forward to a trip to Montana this fall to do a little of “just that”…
Cheers from Tasmania
Rick
It’s great to hear from you, Rick. Yes, we like looking at fly rods in a good fly shop–especially the ones out of our price range. It’s the one time we get to handle them! Let us know how your trip to Montana goes this fall.