How many fly rods do you actually use?

[lucfish]

Just because my wife might read this someday, I’m going to say I use and need them all, all of the time!!!

Mark

Chicken

[BobK]

I have quite a few that get used each year. I like TFO and ECHO a lot probably do to the price and the guarentees. 2 12wts for Tarpon, a 10wt for Baby Tarpon, Jack Crevalle, Permit a 9wt Sage that hasn't seen much action in quite a while. 2 8wts, 1 I use in the Salt and the other for Steelhead A 7wt for Carp, Steelhead and some Bass, a,6, two 5's and a 4 for Trout and a 3/4 Bamboo for Trout The 7wt, the 5's and the Bamboo get the most use...Bob

[fflutterffly]

This post really should be a four part question.
#1 How many rods do you actually use
#2 How many rods do you actually want
#3 How many rods do you actually need
And most importantly....
#4 How many rods do you actually have!

I usually fish three rods: 410 sage z-axis, 710 sage z-axis (salt) and an Orivis 20 yr old Oh and 310 Allen Xa.
(In all fairness I use a Baily 1wt made for Karen by Jon...beautiful rod... for tiny bluegills and a 6.6'" TFO for tiny tight bushy streams.)

[duckdog]

I have 8 fly rods, would I like to have more- you bet. For Bass and the beach I have an old fenwick 9ft. 7wt.and an Orvis TL3 9ft. 8wt.
2 6wts.- a 9 ft. Loomis IMX and a Sage Z-axis also 9ft. Both of these come with me when I fish Crowley. I set up one with a 200 grain 25ft, sink tip and the other with a 10ft. intermediate sink tip(usually,depends on the fish)
2 5wts.-a 9ft.Orvis Helios and a 9ft. Orvis Zero Gravity. One of these will also come out on Crowley with me set up to midge. On streams like the Lower O,Hot creek or the East walker one of these will be set up to nymph(deep)
2 4wts.- a ( ft. Sage RPL and a 9 FT Sage ONE. The Sage One is my primary dry fly rod right now and on the creeks it will usually be set up with a dry with a nymph or floating nymph dropper, depends on what's going on bug wise.
For about 20 years the Loomis and the RPL were the only 2 rods that I used for trout. That made it kind of easy , both are great rods and are my sentimental favorites. I don't think that I could sell either-to many good memories.

I would love to have a little 7 ft. 1 or 2wt. for local creeks but I just don't do much of that kind of fishing.
I would love a 10 or 12 wt. for heavier salt but again I just don't do any of that either.
I would love a Sage One 6wt. But I have 2 good 6 wts. already.( unless some one is interested in a Z-axis)
A 10 ft. 4 or 5 wt nymph rod would be nice --- Yeah I don't have any 10 footers---I think that I could justify that one.

[NorcalBob]

<<<Yeah I don't have any 10 footers---I think that I could justify that one.>>>
10 footers make awesome nymphing rods!!!!
My last couple of rod purchases were 10 footers, and I'm using them a ton. Much lighter and easier to handle than my switch rods.
My "go to" NorCal trout nymphing rod is a 10' 5 WT.

[stanbery]

Duckdog

A 10 ft. 4 or 5 wt nymph rod would be nice --- Yeah I don't have any 10 footers---I think that I could justify that one.

Sounds like you need to get a least one more rod to me.
For you rod builder looking for a 10 rod see post
http://www.flyfishingaddicts.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8330

Jon

[planettrout]

See my tag line...ALL of them are used...


PT/TB

[RiverRat]

Own nineteen...use four of em. Bought a 7wt Winston BIIx last year and haven't casted it yet

shane

[RichardCullip]

Own nineteen...use four of em. Bought a 7wt Winston BIIx last year and haven't casted it yet

shane

Bring that 7wt down to SD Bay and I'm sure we could find something to put a nice bend into it

[Jimbo Roberts]

Right now my collection stands at 26 flyrods, I also have 22 baitcasting and spinning rods.
When I recently went on my flyfishing vacation, I took 15 flyrods with me, some of those were just backup rods in case I broke some of my favorite rods. Of those 15 flyrods I used 8 on the trip:
Sage 376 SLT
Sage 386 XP
Sage 476 XP
Sage 486 LL
Sage 490 XP
Sage 590 XP
Sage 5100 Z Axis
Sage 690 ONE

The ones that didn't make it to the water this trip were:
Sage 286 RPL+
Sage 389 LL
Sage 490 RPL+
TFO Finesse 7'9" 5wt.
Sage 590 SP
Sage 690 RPL
Sage 890 RPLXI

To that list I also fished these since January 1st, another 7:
Sage 286 RPL+
Floyd Burkett Bamboo 7' 10" 5wt.
TFO Finesse 7'9" 5wt.
Fenwick HMG 906
Sage 690 RPL
Sage 690 XP
Sage 890 RPLXI

Thus so far this year I have used 15 flyrods from my collection. Most of the rest from my collection are semi-retired but used from time to time. I am very fortunate to have so much time to go fishing and enjoy my time waving one of these magic wands in the air while my imagination seeks the next strike.

Jimbo

[Baughb]

Orvis Hydros 9' 4 wt tip flex; surprisingly good rod with backbone for long dry fly casts and fish so far into the 20" range.
about 70% 0f the time.
I wish I could find the same thing in a 6wt... pity they discontinued the Hydros rods.

Joe Bradley bamboo 4 wt 7'6"; when I wanna be cool and catch wild fish. Tougher to cast (SLOW DOWN) but handles fish so well... 7%

Tenkara 13'; Sierra brookies and goldens, bigger fish get hard to land... not like I'm complaining.THE backpacking rod for Sierra streams (imho)... 7%

Sage 8'6" 4wt LL 3 pc.; Love this rod on calm days, I tend to overpower it in the wind and it protects tippets so well that 7x and big boys have come to the net...7%

Sage 9' 6wt XP; drift boat rod and Loooong dry fly casts. Great rod...9%

6wt 8.5' Waterseal impregnated bamboo; heavy rod but fun... rarely bring this out anymore but I'm keeping it.

7pc 6wt Orvis traveler rod... she comes with me for the lakes on backpacking trips, easy to pack and a really far reach... just in case.

Just a note... I am very impressed at the quality of recent Orvis fly fishing products. I'm no longer embarrassed to use their gear that I have found to perform really well. I really don't care where it comes from anymore but, if it is quality and it works, I like it.

Bob

[csimcox]

I keep it pretty simple.

I always have a 9' 5wt (now Scott A3, previously a St.Croix) as my go to trout rod for rivers or streams where I may fish multiple nymph rigs or big flies. I also use this for bass and carp.

My second favorite/most used rod would be a 8'6" 2wt TFO. This thing is awesome on small streams. I loaded it up with 3wt sharkskin line and can really put out some distance with it when I need to. This may actually be my favorite rod to use, and is my go to for back packing. I'm really impressed with the quality of TFO.

I have a St. Croix 7'6" 4wt that used to be my small stream/backpacking rod. It's 2pc so not that compact and hasn't seen water in 2 years. I bought it when in college (a.k.a. broke) to fish the small streams in the Smokies and middle Tennessee.

Last on the list is a 9' 8wt Albright that is my surf rod. It's not a bad rod, but not a great rod by any means. Surprisingly it doesn't handle like a broom stick and even perch are a fun fight on it. I'm guessing this will become my Tiger Muskie/Carp rod in Colorado.

What I would like to have... a 10' 4wt for high stick nymphing. Especially now that I'll be fishing the S. Platte again, I'll be doing a good bit of this style fishing and a 10' rod seems like it would be great. A 4wt seems like a good weight that can quickly load up for short casts with a heavier nymph rig.
I guess if I had the spare dough, I'd probably pick up a nice 9' 6wt for streamer and still water fishing. Sometimes those heavy flies are a bit too much for the 5wt and something with a good backbone when searching for lunker browns would be nice. *, I've already got a Ross reel that was gifted to me that is loaded up with 6wt line...