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Post 31 Jul 2018, 15:23 • #1 
Guide
Joined: 11/27/13
Posts: 175
Location: Scotland
Hi Guy's

What's the shortest useful/practical fly rod you either own or have built ??

I have a Vision 5'9" 3wt which I love and thought was "short" till I built a one piece 5ft 4/5wt which let me get into places the vision wouldn't let me.

I've stumbled apon a lovely very old glass rod full bridge guides throughout I reckon the tip section feels perfect for converting into a short creek rod either two or one piece.

I'm just wondering how short would be too short !! ??

Stephen


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Post 31 Jul 2018, 20:18 • #2 
New Member
Joined: 08/05/14
Posts: 11
Location: Sw Colorado
I have a Cane and Silk 4'10" 2 wt. I really like for tight creeks. I got a 15" Cutthroat out of a creek that was only five foot wide.


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Post 31 Jul 2018, 22:05 • #3 
Master Guide
Joined: 05/30/13
Posts: 853
Location: Wisconsin Driftless
You make it sound like a 5' wide stream is small... that's half the creeks in the driftless lol


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Post 31 Jul 2018, 23:01 • #4 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/23/05
Posts: 4966
Location: US-MT
I've had a couple of 5ish ft fly rods and disliked em. I like long(er) rods.


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Post 31 Jul 2018, 23:13 • #5 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 11/30/11
Posts: 1231
Location: Fresno, CA
The Shortest rod I fish is a 6'3" 1wt fiberglass. I fish it on small creeks as well as for small panfish. Its also my go to rod for micro fishing. Its so limber and flexy it makes a 2.5" Stickleback exciting.


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Post 01 Aug 2018, 08:55 • #6 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 03/16/08
Posts: 3540
Location: Upstate-NY
I fish a 5'9" #3 Tiemco Bushmaster regularly.

It was tough to find a rod this short that also fishes well with the listed line weight.
Very hard to dial-in a taper with less than 6' of material length to work with.
Most short rods I've sampled really missed the boat on performing the way a rod that short should: excel at very short casts of 20' max and less.
And when I say "20' max" I mean the rod should really shine in the 10'-15' range.
Most short rods I've tried don't start to feel good *until* I get 20' of line out.


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Post 01 Aug 2018, 13:01 • #7 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 09/03/07
Posts: 2055
Location: Marble Falls, Texas
I’ve a 6 foot 3-piece Sceptre 5 weight I fish occasionally. While it is quite capable it’s also an education in casting, rods that short don’t lend themselves to casual. It would see more use if I was still willing to do brushbusting. Once had a 6.5 Wonderod (FY series) that was effective, as well.

About a year ago I built a 6 foot 4-piece 2 weight on an unknown but likely Asian glass blank sourced from Ebay. Casts max out at 20-25 feet and Corlay’s 10-15 is more practical but it is a blast with a 6 inch panfish.

These days I prefer 7 foot at the shortest with 7.5 to 8 as my go-to rods.


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Post 01 Aug 2018, 14:04 • #8 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 04/12/07
Posts: 1292
Location: western Massachusetts
I once jury-rigged a small stream fly rod by taping a reel to the lower part of a 7' glass fly rod tip, and caught a bunch of fish out of a stream no wider than 3-4' wide. Does that make it as a 3.5' rod?


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Post 01 Aug 2018, 16:24 • #9 
Guide
Joined: 11/27/13
Posts: 175
Location: Scotland
Hi Guy's

Having fished 7ft carbon thinking they were short then dropping to 5'9" commercial fiberglass being scared of wasting a couple of hundred £'s :eek i was delighted to discover it opened up water that was previously ”impossible " to fish, places in convinced had NEVER been fished !

Building my one piece 5ft 4/5wt not only taught me a vast amount about rod building cast testing etc but also further that these tiny and yes specialised limited use fly rods are priceless in the right locations.

My mate calls it ”Jungle fishing", chest waders climbing down into overgrown streams,burns,creeks so exciting and impossible without the right tool. A tool that's pretty much useless and unpleasant to use on larger waters.

If you can fish it with a 7ft or 6'3" then your waters too big :lol

Measured the section tonight it lends itself to a 4'4" one piece i was thinking of a two piece but I like the robustness of a one piece .

Now going to cast it with a few different line weights to get an idea reckon 3wt-5wt but have a feeling it will be a 4wt ??

Then going to strip off the lined framed top tip, the heavy cradle type guides figure REC Recoil guides will transform it........

Trouble is I've got two Kabutos on my bench right now but this little project has me really excited looking at the potential in this old broken tip section which will hopefully be my first sub 5ft fly rod :)

Stephen


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Post 01 Aug 2018, 16:41 • #10 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/23/05
Posts: 4966
Location: US-MT
One of the famous old fishing guys said something to the effect " a 6" brookie is a 6" brookie no matter what you catch it on"

Most all of my tiny crick fishing consists of strike and lift fish from water in one smooth motion :)


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Post 01 Aug 2018, 18:57 • #11 
Guide
Joined: 11/11/13
Posts: 129
Location: Sweden
I bought my son a two-piece 4 ft carbon rod several years ago, he used it his first few years fly fishing and it’s now being used by his little brother. I’ve fished it myself on numerous occasions and it is a good caster with a 4wt line.

Mending line is challenging and you have to remember to calculate the angle of the backcast but it’s a fishable rod. I really love the dimensions and feel of the small snubnosed fullwells handle, if it had a softer action and about a foot or so longer tip I’m sure it would be a really nice small stream rod for adult sized people as well.


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Post 01 Aug 2018, 18:59 • #12 
Master Guide
Joined: 02/09/13
Posts: 637
Location: US-TX
There are 4'6" bamboo rods and maybe fiberglass, I think. They work in the right circumstances. I used to have a graphite 5' "Little Streamer" that worked well.


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Post 01 Aug 2018, 22:09 • #13 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/19/08
Posts: 2462
Location: Seattle, WA
6ft but it's only for the most unusual conditions, otherwise 6.5ft. I have a couple 5ft and 5 1/2ft rods and they're nearly always inferior to longer rod in almost any situation.


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Post 02 Aug 2018, 06:19 • #14 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19076
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
The FF535 is a better rod than FF605.

If you look at the short Phillipsons, 6'6" shines.


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Post 02 Aug 2018, 07:15 • #15 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 10/09/09
Posts: 2796
Location: US-NM
6' 2/3 Steffen 3pc. Is the shortest small creek rod I fish works great with a 2or 3 wt. line and was able to handle a 16" cutt.I also been using a 6'3" Curt Gowdy parametic as a streamer rod for big trout on small streams......aurelio


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Post 02 Aug 2018, 08:01 • #16 
Guide
Joined: 12/16/15
Posts: 135
Location: MSP
If I fished dries more, I'd feel better about picking up a gorgeous little T&T 4'4" 4wt that I enjoyed casting last summer. It struck me as massively fun with 10-15' of line off the rod tip but anywhere over about 25-30 was too much and trying too hard.


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Post 03 Aug 2018, 14:14 • #17 
Guide
Joined: 08/19/16
Posts: 314
Location: Brazil
My favorite fly rods over the years have been between 6 ½ and 7 feet long for fishing small to medium streams. The shortest one that I fish with nowadays is 5’9” and it balances with a 38 grain DIY line. Someone in this thread mentioned micro-fishing, and that is what it is for.

In my opinion and experience, 5’ is about the shortest practical length. That said, one project in the works is a 4’10” bamboo banty.

My preference on those shorter rods is a full-size grip. Just because the fly rod is shorter doesn’t mean that my hands get any smaller.


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Post 03 Aug 2018, 16:40 • #18 
Guide
Joined: 11/27/14
Posts: 330
Location: US-NC
Does a 6 ft fly rod still have the ability to roll cast well?


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Post 04 Aug 2018, 05:33 • #19 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19076
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
dmiller328 wrote:
Does a 6 ft fly rod still have the ability to roll cast well?

6' Phillipsons with aplomb.
The reason I like the FF535 better than FF605 is that it roll casts better.
My 6' Lami 605 roll-casts beautifully.


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Post 04 Aug 2018, 06:05 • #20 
Guide
Joined: 01/27/12
Posts: 210
Location: US-PA
In bamboo 5'-6" , in glass 5'-0" , much shorter and your casting the line instead of the rod casting the line. Short rods require more skill from the caster, that is why many start out not liking them but as they gain more experience become short rod enthusiasts.


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Post 06 Aug 2018, 13:35 • #21 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 12/05/06
Posts: 2086
Location: US-PA
I once fished a "crick" with a 6'6" rod with so much growth around it that just carrying the rod TO the creek and moving along it was a major hassle. At the time, I knew Winston had a 5' 3wt Retro hidden in a corner at the shop so when I got home I called and bought it.

Later I got Mike McFarland to make me a 5'6" 3pc 2 tip (light/heavy) 3wt and a 6'0" 2pc 3wt (with a nickel silver ferrule) Spruce Creek since even when I bought the 5 foot Retro, the Retro series had been done for a couple of years.

All of the rods take a while to adjust to and they all feel stiffer than anything I own over 6 foot but once I start casting I get the hang of things. A short (4'- 5') leader is KEY!!

All the "shorties" have a place in my arsenal for locations that are VERY overgrown however I haven't fished them recently as I haven't hit some of the really tight spots in years.

Bottom line, I always opt for the longest rod I can use without hassle wherever I go. I don't fish anything under 6"6" for the fun of it 'cause it really isn't that much fun when something longer works MUCH better.

YMMV


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Post 10 Aug 2018, 13:57 • #22 
Guide
Joined: 03/05/14
Posts: 187
Location: US-MS
I used to fish a 6-foot Fenwick for everything, small creek or bigger river. I was caught up in all that Lee Wulff stunt stuff 40-50 years ago. Over time, as I got older and wiser, I got used to longer rods and now when I use a 6-foot rod (I have 3 now), it feels like I'm trying to fill an inside straight. Admittedly, I am at an age where my knees argue against seeking out small, rocky, mountain pocket water where a small rod might shine, but on the smaller (admittedly more sedate) steams I still fish, I still occasionally use a 7-foot Fenwick, a 7.5-foot Sceptre, and a couple of 7.5-foot bamboo rods, which for me that's about a short as I'd like to go anymore.

Read "Fishing the Dry Fly as a Living Insect" by Leonard Wright for an impassioned rejection of short fly rods, under any circumstance.


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Post 10 Aug 2018, 15:50 • #23 
Master Guide
Joined: 02/24/12
Posts: 493
Location: Portland, Oregon
Earlier this year I purchased a 6' 6 weight Featherlight from a forum member and I just love it. I guess my tastes are changing as I age because lately I've been fishing smaller and smaller waters. Lots of bushwhacking for generally small trout, but LOTS of solitude. Anyway, the rod is a wonderful roll-caster with a DT6 and a lovely dry fly rod with a DT5. An extremely functional little rod in my opinion and it is currently the shortest rod I own. Someday I'd like to try the 5' and 5.5' versions because, you see, there is this tiny little I know of and, well......

I absolutely understand the argument for using longer rods on small creeks. I'm glad we have so many fly rod length/weights to chose from because there is something for everyone. If you fish the rod that makes you smile the most then you're doing it right. :)

David


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Post 10 Aug 2018, 18:49 • #24 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 11/30/11
Posts: 1231
Location: Fresno, CA
Anyone Fish with an A&F Banty 44? I have one complete with original line with Hardy reel and everything else it came with (mucilin, box of flies, and and A&F branded leader wallet). I never bothered to fish it because I always saw it as more of a collectable. But you guys have me thinking. Also my Banty is different then the ones I mostly see with Super-Z Ferrules. It has NS Phillipson style ferrules, and instead of coming with a silent check A&F Hardy reel its an A&F hardy with the normal click paw.


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Post 10 Aug 2018, 18:54 • #25 
Master Guide
Joined: 02/24/12
Posts: 493
Location: Portland, Oregon
I've never fished one of the A&F banty rods, but I've been tempted to pull the trigger when I've seen them for sale. If you do start fishing it I'd love to hear your thoughts about how it performs. I'll bet its a hoot to fish!

David


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