Your best stick?

[Brooktrout]

interesting. thx.

[mikeytwoshoes]

$2,500.


I guess people like them ok.

I think I can live w/out one.
the winston 3wt I built is a bit noodley though a nice caster.

glenn is a standup guy though I'll give him that.

[mickfly]

After years of fishing various bamboos by various makers, I got my first Winston bamboo this past week. It's a 7.5 ft two piece 5 wt, built by Glenn Brackett and Jeff Walker in the mid 1990s and sold by Winston to Rusty Gates of Gates Ausable Lodge in Michigan. I bought it from a Colorado fly fisher. It's in excellent condition and seems to cast as smooth as it looks. We've been plagued by high winds here in Dallas this week, so I haven't been able to give it a good test. Maybe when I get back from fishing the Guadalupe late next week.

[soupmix]

For me - a Scott A2 eight foot three weight - great all around rod. You can go from high-sticking in the Smookies to finesse fishing small streams in Michigan. It also has plenty of power to throw a bunch of line when fishing bigger streams such as the AuSable or Manistee.

[ofuros]

Own a varied motley crew, with the emphasis on compactness,
so they can fit IN (when negotiating through thick scrub/bush)
or on the OUTSIDE of my backpack when bushwalking
to remote headwaters or lakes (scrub free).
Not all the tracks I follow are welltrodden paths, some are pathless....you make your own.

Winston 7'9'' 2wt 5piece
Hardy 6' 2wt 3piece

Redington 7'6'' 4wt 6piece
March Brown 7' 4wt 7piece

Orvis 9' 6wt 7piece
Sage 9' 6wt 4piece

The pick of the bunch seems to be the March Brown,
just seems to suit my own unexplainable rhythm...
the more I fish with it, the more I grow to love it...

Cheers,
Ofuros.

[jmcg]

I'm not a very sophisticated rod sage only because I bought a few rods early in my fly fishing career and have settled on basically two for my use.
My first rod was a 5 wt Fly Logic that I bought while in Montana learning from the guide, who a friends son worked for in summers.
The guide sold those rods in his small shop and opined that for the money, it was a good one.
It was a two piece and when getting back home to NH after that first trip, I realized that I needed something that I could reasonably back pack with.

I ended with a 6 wt. Sage XP 4 piece rod and a 5 piece Redington Wayfarer as a 4 wt.

The XP is amazing for what it is intended for, but I loved that Wayfarer for most of my fishing.
It has since been replaced by a new 6 piece version that has a bit softer action.
I love it.

I have recently cast a couple of bamboo rods and what with an increasing awareness of and desire to 'feel' more from line and fish--I'm leaning toward a more relaxed action in a rod.

We'll see where the journey ends. As I get older, I seem to be getting soft in the head, but I like the idea of 'mating' the sublime of a stream experience with the tools; instead of the tool just simply being a tool that I use when enjoying waters.

[fdavis]

Did anyone mention the Scott Fibretouch... The #1 is a gorgeous little piece of glass for the small streams... The #4 is also a fantastic rod rod for stronger fish in a small stream environment - like the Clanwilliam Yellowfish of the Cederberg in SA.

I'm also lucky enough to have a Hardy JJTriumph that was my Grandad's - still with two tips and very fishable.

At the moment I'm fishing a #8 Scott SAS (notice a pattern?) on the flats and while is soft enough to put a charlie gently in front of a skittish bone, still has great backbone for chucking bigger flies and windy days...

[TROUTI]

I prefer my 7 1/2 foot 4 wgt Trout Bum, 4 piece.

[Mostyn]

I like using lightweight tackle most of the time on River or Stream!

My favourite stream rod is a 6ft.3in, #3,weight, Tim Harris (Harris Cane Fly Rods -UK) cane rod - Catanach Taper! it's very lightweight, comparable with carbon rods of the same length; and it's a joy to fish with, especially with a silk line! I also love my 6ft,#2,weight Hardy Flyweight; and will alternate my stream fishing between these two rods!

Also have a couple of 7ft,#3,weight rods, for those larger streams.

Rivers? I use an 8ft.6in, #3, #4./ 9ft, #4, /and a 10ft,#4, - #4,weight is my heaviest fly fishing combination!

[Lotech Joe]

My favorite is a 7 1/2 foot, 4 piece, 4/5 weight, Batson RX7 that I built myself. It has a half wells grip, with a down locking cap & ring teak wood reel seat. The stripper guide is a green agate double foot, with double foot snakes the rest of the way out with emerald green wraps. I wrapped the rod in a mottled green sock with a Christian fish embroidered emblem. I tried to imitate one of Orvis' older traditional Superfine rods, and I think I nailed it. The cost of the components was just over $160.