Though it would be fun to start a thread where we name our one and only favorite rod. The one that made you fall in love. The rod that you can not live without. Crack a beer and lets bs about our favorite stick.
Depends on the fishing but here are my favorites (that I currently own):
Small river fishing: Winston Boron III 8’6” 4 weight
Medium River fishing: Hardy Jet 9’ 5 weight
Big River fishing TFO BVK 9’ 6 weight
SRC Scott Radian 9’6” 6 weight
Beach Coho Sage One 9’6” 7 weight
Chum Sage One 9’6” 7 weight but my Sage X 9’6” 8 weight will pull most duties this fall (purchased this year). My guess is this will be my go too 8 weight.
I also enjoy fishing my Echo River glass 4 weight 8’6” quite a bit when it is a small medium River/ dries only affair.
If I was forced to pick only one though, it would probably the the Radian. Great combination of power and touch on that rod. I would be comfortable fishing dries with that rod as well as catching coho from the beach.
I've owned my 8' 4wt Redington Classic Trout for over 8 years and it is still my favorite rod of all time, despite being one of the cheapest rods I've ever bought. I've switched up my 5 and 6 weight rods pretty much every 2-3 years and have never felt particularly attached to any of them, but I'll only replace this 4wt if it breaks.
I was clearing out a closet during a bad time yrs ago. I found a rod tube I had no idea where or when I had collected it. turned out to be a 4 wt 9' 2piece rpl , for the last 6 or so yrs it's been my favorite high lake rod. Gary sold me some good stuff yrs ago but this 1 is my favorite. Never know what your going to find huh?
Meiser 11’1’ 7 wt S series switch. Light enough to be fun with trout. Can handle steelhead. Looks and feels amazing. Power and feel. I have several nice rods but this would have to be my #1!
Edit: Just realized it’s in my profile picture...and for good reason!
sage 99 5wt. hands down my favorite trout rod, though its not the best dry fly tool. but for me dry fly fishing is a rare treat, not the bread and butter of my time on the water.
My favorite is a Shakespeare Wonderod I bought used with my second paycheck in 1968. An 8 1/2’ 6 weight. Don’t use it much but it’s my favorite. Built in October of ‘62.
A late 1980s Powell Troutmaster - 9' 2 pc, with 2 tip sections, one 5-6 wt and one 6-7 wt. I put it together from Powell's blanks and used their cork grip and reel seat, and same thread colors. Great IM6 action, as the blanks were built by G Loomis for Powell. I've caught all kinds of trout with it, and it was my first Deschutes steelhead rod. Still using it on the beach for SRCs.
A mid 80's Powell Ultra 9' 4 WT, a superb little IM6 stick that I built about 35 years ago using all first class components. It still cast smooth and easy and is a delight for small stream fishing. My granddaughter is starting to sound interested in fly fishing and if so this will be her first rod.
Gatti
Blast from the past. Haven't seen that name brought up in a number of years.
I used to run into a couple while beach fishing for salmon that used those rods.
They may have been reps for that rod line or something like that. My memory isn't what it used to be.
SF
Yep, they (Jim and Deanna, aka Castwell and The Ladyflyfisher) were serious shills for the Gatti rods. IF you saw that couple on the beach, you had to take a few minutes to hear about how awesome the rods were. Beautiful rods that were well built and good performing rods that, apparently, the market just didn't feel really offer anything that differentiated them from other premium fly rods.
I didn’t read everything here, but my take is that I have been stuck on St Croix’s Imperial line for a decade.
I can afford more expensive rods, but I put a lot of faith in Yellowstone Angler’s shootout reports at one point. That report landed me my St. Croix five weight to start. Then a four. Then a three.
When I went to buy the five weight, the VERY SEASONED pro who owns the shop accidentally undersold himself. He brought me out in the parking lot to cast the Imperial five weight alongside a much more expensive Sage. I think his goal was to show me how much better the Sage would be, but...
He had obviously never had the Imperial in his hand before because he started making the kind of noises you might make over enjoying food that you paid a lot of money for. A lot of really “pleased guttural noises”. Some quiet “wows”. A few “oohs and aahs”. It was the kind of thing that made me realize, “oh yeah, he’s going to use an Imperial next trip, for certain (just to see if his parking lot demo transmitted to the river)”.
The Imperial line of rods has never let me down. All of them have been paired with Lamson reels.
Normally I'd say my Winston TMF for a 4 wt., but then I'd be leaving out my Redington NTi 5 wt. which is my SRC rod, and just discovered an absolutely delicious Sage RPL 7'9" 2 wt. that's been hiding in the tubes.
OOPS - need to mention some cane sticks to - - - - - -
I have the same rod,. Greg, and hadn't fished it for a while until last weekend of the season here, and it was like meeting an old friend and finding you still have a lot to talk about.
But my favorite rod is my 7'11" 4 weight Sage LL (not the new one, although I've cast it and it's wonderful). I'm sure many here will agree, it's the rod that gives you confidence that you like best, and the LL is that rod for me. Narrow streams, spooky fish, many undercuts mean you have to fish 25 feet upstream, and cast to the very edge of a 6 foot wide stream to have any chance of getting a lunker. This is the rod that gives me the confidence to do that.
Everyone talks about the 590 but unless you are casting as far as you can, this rod blows it away. Such a pleasure to fish
Switch
Sage TCX 5119-4
More baby spey than true switch but the most enjoyable rod to fish a floating line on I have ever cast.
Full Spey
Sage X 8140
Hardware and fit/finish leaves a lot to be desired but the rod is so good, that can be easily overlooked. I fish this rod on all sizes of rivers, not just the big ones.
PHW held a euronymph clinic on the Cedar this year. The instructor was the owner/designer of Master Nymph rods. I got to use his 10' 2wt. Although it's a specialized rod, I've never felt one that transfers feel like this one to the hand. We used 6x and 7x tippet and the rod was able to absorb every head-shake & run. They make a lake rod too, that I really want to try.
Maybe it is just me but looking at favorite rod lists/preferences here there is a strong tendency towards Moderate to Moderate-fast rods that are smooth and have soft tips yet a lot of backbone. Sage LL and RPL, Loomis rolled IM6, older Scott's, and of course fiber glass are mentioned a lot. The term for rod action has changed over the years. RPL's were Fast action but compared to today's rods I feel the fall into Moderate-fast. Quibble if you like but that is my opinion.
So are rod maker's missing the market with all these Fast action broomsticks with no 'life' feel of being able to play fish while protecting the tippet?
I feel like that pendulum has already begun to swing back to the middle in recent years. Sage's newest fast action offering, the Igniter, is much softer than the Method which was softer than its predecessor the TCX. In a few short years when it's replaced, I'm assuming that trend will continue.
Several I’ll never sell, but the Epic 686 touches all the bags, and is a blast when hooked up. I still like a good fast action rod, but I’ve grown to love glass.
My first graphite rod and still going strong......a Scott 904/4 for most trout
My first quality two-hander.....a Meiser MKS 13678 for winter steel head
Best rod for larger trout......Sage 690-4 XP
and so on......
My old orvis 4wt seems to be the one I grab most often.
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