Information on custom fly rods for Fly Fishing.
Custom Fly Rods for Fly Fishing Every fly fisherman eventually wants a custom rod. Usually, after several seasons of fly fishing, a beautiful bamboo is acquired. Having gone through this phase of angling several times, I have some very decided opinions on the selection and fitting of a cus tom rod. As I see it, the first consideration is the selection of a reputable rod maker. This should be done with the same care used in selecting a family physician. And, like the family physician, your rod maker must put a very discerning finger on your angling "pulse" to come up with just the right cure for your rod ailments. A custom rod is never a matter of laying your money on the line and walking off with a fly rod that is the best possible selection for you. Individual differ ences in the approach to exactly the same angling situations preclude this. A good rod selection for one angler is often unsatisfactory for another, even though they both fish the same streams. My friend Dough Merrick of R. L. Winston Rods, one of the top craftsmen, has several questions which he likes to have answered before he begins the task of putting a custom fly rod together. "What.type of fishing do you do? Will you use this rod for dry flies, wet flies, or both? Have you some favorite line size? Do you play a fish in close, roughing frm> up, or do you prefer to wait out the situation, letting the fish tire?'* Those questions, honestly answered and followed out to their logical conclusions in handcrafted bamboo, will put you on a stream with a superior instrument in your hand. Of course, your preferred rod length, weight, and such are also important. But the over-all consideration is relating the rod to your peculiarities of fishing. I have such a rod, built by this craftsman Dough Merrick. This rod was the subject of several long letters, which enabled him to translate those basic questions into a finished bamboo. Take that first question, "What type of fishing do you do?" I explained that I wanted the rod for general stream work, trout mostly, using both dry and wet flies occasionally nymphs. But mostly for dry flies. See how that affects the action? Obviously, one cannot expect the utmost in a nymph or wet-fly rod with a very stiff tip-centered action. Wets and nymph patterns can be fished with such a rod, but it isn't the best for the purpose. I had in mind a rod for the back country, where it is impossible to carry two or three, changing from one to another as the exigencies of fishing demanded. Obviously, there had to be a whale of a compromise. I like a fast-action rod, but one which works well down toward the butt under stress. Dough Merrick simply took out the stiff action beyond that required for dry flies, and gave the rod just a bit more butt action. That made it a spang-up job for wet flies and nymphs, enabling me to fish it very fine, the sensitive tip translating the least touch of a fly by a trout into something felt by the rod. But still there was enough stiffness to make it a good dry-fly rod. I have used it on those back-country streams and like it so much that I find myself using it more and more in home waters, where my choice of rods is not so restricted. A general-purpose rod, to get back to our original thesis, indi cates a length and weight which are not tiring during a day's fishing; O3*e which, like this Winston, can be used on wets, nymphs, and dries. I asked for a rod not over eight feet in length, and not over 4Vfc ounces in weight; the closer this figure approached 4 ounces, the better, without changes in other specifications. The finished rod weighed in at 4 1/4 ounces and is a beautiful thing to cast plenty of backbone for distance, and plenty of delicacy for dropping a size 14 dry in upstream dry-fly fishing. Most of my casting falls within 40 feet; a little is done at 50. But when I am steelheading, and the water is low and clear, such as often happens on the Rogue River, then a cast of 80 feet is often imperative. The middle distances, however, are the important ones. Those middle distances make lines doubly important. I like nothing larger than an HCF for trout. Rods requiring larger lines than this make low, clear-water fishing very difficult because it is almost impossible to get the required delicacy of presentation. Find ing the best line for this superior piece of bamboo required a lot of testing and trying. Eventually it was found that a slightly oversized HCF Cortland fitted it like a glove. I like the long belly of this line. A shorter belly section, like that found on other three-dimensional lines, requires at least one size larger line for the same action rod. Lines are not very uniform in calibration. Little differences creep in, and one HCF will not handle exactly the same as the next, although a superior rod will handle these slight differences quite easily. The closer you come to just the ideal weight, however, the better will be the results from your rod. Casts of seventy-five feet were made with this rod and line with out the least forcing. And in upstream dry fly work, a cast of 20 to 80 feet could be put down with a delicacy unequalled by any rod I own. The finished outfit is one of the best all-around fly rods I have ever used. I have only taken two steelhead with it, but it handled excellently, displaying the required backbone needed to loll these big sea-run rainbows. Before you decide on a custom rod, get your fishing problem in focus. There is a best rod for your bass bugging, a best rod for nymphing, for dry flies, and for wet flies. A rod designed for dis tance casting on steelhead rivers cannot possibly be the best choice for average dryor wet-fly trout fishing. There are two extremes to avoid in a custom rod, or in any rod for that matter: the extremely heavy, powerful rod, and the ex tremely light rod, the use of which comes under the category of stunt fishing. I have a beautiful 9-foot, 5v-ounce steelhead rod which cost me $125. 1 doubt, however, if this rod is out of its case three times during a steelhead season. It is a man-killerslow, powerful action, using a GAF three-dimensional line. Sure, it will drop a steelhead fly well out beyond the hundred-foot mark, and it will fight a sea-run rainbow to a standstill in heavy water. But it is not a good companion for a full day's casting. More and more, even on steelhead rivers, I find myself in com pany with many other anglers using 8and 8y-foot, 4-to-5-ounce rods. I like the feel of my Winston 8-foot, 4 1 /-ounce rod for most steelhead. For a spare rod I carry a 5-ounce, medium-action, 9-foot rod. Occasionally you will read of some expert taking his Atlantic salmon on a 7-foot, 2-ounce rod. This is the other extreme an angler should avoid in selecting a rod. Taking such heavy fish on this extremely light bamboo sounds thrilling in the telling. But don't be too greatly influenced. That same angler hasn't reported how many times he has failed with this same rod. Such light rods have a place for dry-fly work on small streams where the trout are not large. In the hands of a truly great fly rod artist they will take Atlantic salmon or steelhead. Still, they are not the best selection. You limit yourself severely if you use them for fish beyond their capacity. The lower limit for weight in a rod designed for all-around trout and bass fishing should be about 3 1 A ounces. The top limit for com fortable, all-day casting is 5 ounces, and the best compromise is a rod around 7 ! /4 to 8 feet long, with a weight of from &A to 4V5 ounces. Stay within these limits and you will come up with a rod which is pleasant to use, and which will give a good account of itself. But don't expect to send a bass bug sizzling way out there with a rod designed for strictly dry fly, short-range upstream fishing. On the other hand, don't get one of those so-called bass bugging rods weighing 6 ounces and expect it to be very versatile. Com promise! Bass bugs can be made smaller, if you tie your own flies, or have a fly tyer who will listen to reason. They can also be handled much more pleasantly and effectively on a 4V-ounce, 8-foot rod. Last but not least comes the question of price. Custom-crafted fly rods are never cheap, but when you consider the many seasons of fishing built into each one, they are not expensive in the long run. Prices for top-grade rods will range from $75 on up-with plenty of up on the best grades. There simply isn't any substitute for quality, and that you get in a custom rod. I can think of nothing which will pay you greater dividends in downright pleasure than such a rod, matched to your particular angling and your particular manner of fishing.
|
