Small stream favorites:

3wt – 6’9” 2 piece/1 tip cane rod, slow and smooth but strangely powerful once you know the cadence. Will drop a small fly with delicacy, or throw a small streamer after tinkering with the leader. A gift from my friend Denny Hook, who made the rod.

4wt – 6’3” 2 piece/2 tip Paul Young Midge. A crisp cast with light leaders and small flies, and the power to bring in a bruiser. I wore out one reel with this one, but the rod is still in excellent shape. This rod was made in the early 1960’s. I bought it, until then unused, in 1981, for $95.

5wt – 6’9” 2 piece/1 tip homemade rod carved from hardwood store dowels. Medium fast, good in the wind and good with small to large trout flies. Grip and reel seat were carved from a piece of pine, and reel bands are ¾” copper tubing. Material costs estimated at $12.